Ranma/Burning Rangers
Burning Sky Stage 4
"Burning Sky"
"[Big, we made it through the turbulence and ready to transport]"
"Okay Mousse stand ready," replied Big, "Professor, what do we need to do to stop Stormwatch?"
"Uh, first we'll need to manually override the levitation and propulsion systems, after that, we can shut down Stormwatch's Weather Regulations systems. It would not do to shut everything down and send everything crashing into the ocean. As much water as this station can displace and at the velocity it would hit, the effects would be catastrophic."
"Sir, the virus has commandeered all system controls from the deck, we can't do anything from here."
"Then we'll need to get to the secondary engineering deck and shut it down."
"Negative, Professor, the emergency security shutters have activated, we're trapped in this room for the time being."
"Perhaps our teleporter would be able to get you there," offered Big.
"[No, it won't, I'm having a problem as it is just reading you guys in there. Teleporting anyone around with all this weather and magnetic interference is not gonna work]" stated Emmanuel.
"Darn, well is there any way, and I mean ANY way, we can get to that room?" Asked Ranma.
"There are a series of ducts that can be accessed from the other side of the station, but they barely would fit anyone into them."
"Mousse, looks like you're gonna be the one to do it, can you handle it?"
"[I am prepared, Ranma.]"
"Well, this should be cake then," replied Ranma with heavy relief in her voice.
"No, there's still the problem of the virus to contend with. Even after we switch all controls over to the other deck, who's to say it won't just take over there also?" Asked Nabiki.
"Perhaps... perhaps the virtual maintenance interface, yes that could work!"
"What is it, Doctor?" Questioned Big.
"I designed a virtual reality interface for any non-physical problems that may arise. All system functions take a virtual form there in interpretation to whoever had entered it. The Virus would not be any different."
"Understood," replied the team leader, "Ranma, Courtney, both of you try to get through those shutters and gather anyone who was trapped in other areas."
"No," countered Ranma.
"What? Ranma this..."
"Listen, you have the heaviest artillery of all of us, getting through those doors would work better for you. I'm trained to move at the speed of thought, I'm the better choice to go in."
"Ranma..." breathed Nabiki, seriously worried for what her husband is volunteering for.
"I... okay Ranma, you do that. Just be careful"
"Gotcha, now how do I get hooked up into this giant video game?"
"Emmanuel, dock in the open area away from as much of the winds as possible. We'll meet you there to pick up the equipment."
_______________________________________________________________________
Stage 4; Part 1
"[Emmanuel, get as close as you can to the location listed on the map, and then let Mousse go,]"
"Gotcha, Emmanuel, out," the Hispanic replied, before turning to his teammate, "Hold tight, Mousse, this is gonna be a bumpy ride."
The Burning Ship's thrusters ignited, and pulled down range from their position. From the weather patterns, starting their part from where there were was not an option, with the winds impeding their path most from that angle.
The burning ship quickly circled around the massive space station for the point where it would be best to enter with the least turbulence.
"Here we go." Thrusters roared in challenge, increasing the velocity of the Burning Ship. Not more than a few seconds, Manuel tightly veered to the side, and then rose. Not too long after, a violent shake came over the craft.
"Shoot, turbulence pockets all over the place," The Hispanic announced, looking at the enhanced visuals. Seeming miniature vortexes riddled their path; the dramatic weather restructuring being centered around the massive floating complex being the reason. Not only that, debris was being shaken from the structure, and held aloft by the violent winds that crisscrossed around him. Emmanuel steeled himself for she fantastic flying.
_______________________________________________________________________
Stage 4; Part 2
Big raised his gun and fired two shots, causing the steel doors to buckle then fall.
"Who's there? Help! HELP!" a voice cried out from the wreckage around them.
"Hold on, I'll be there in a second," Big shouted, lifting piles of massive debris out of the way. He kept a level of confidence that made him renowned among his teammates, but inside he was despairing at the amount of damage that was about. How many people may have been trapped under it?
"Burning Rangers! Thank God!" The woman cried out when she caught sight of the massive African.
"Relax, Ma'am, we'll have you out, but you're only going to be teleported to the main room, not off the station.
"WHY NOT?" the woman yelled in panic, not wanting to be aboard the flying deathtrap anymore. Big couldn't answer as he teleported the woman to relative safety.
"Courtney, how is everything going for you?"
"[Not so good,]" Courtney stated in a somber voice over the comm. link, "[found quite a few people here heavily injured. Hopefully someone there has a lot of med experience, this is really starting to AAAAHHH!!!!]"
"Courtney, COURTNEY!" Big shouted over his link, fearing the worst.
"[I-I'm okay, but I need to build more energy for my shield. Fire's broken out here.]"
"Great Scott, if that fire spreads..." Big didn't finish, as several years of experience kicked in, causing him to flip back from the sudden eruption, he had been to preoccupied to notice the temperature rising.
_______________________________________________________________________
Stage 4, Part 3
"Now, just relax, and it will seem like you're falling asleep," One of the doctor's associates stated with a calm voice to the pigtailed woman.
"Okay, okay, just hurry up and let me save the world, alright?" Ranma snapped.
The doctor found Ranma's banter a bit refreshing, considering the circumstances, and pressed a button on the side of the console. The headdress on Ranma's head started a whining pitch, and Ranma drifted off into unconsciousness.
Ranma looked around, finding herself a him, and in his Burning Ranger uniform. It was like he was floating in a massive cylinder that rose farther than he could see, and was easily the size of a stadium. The walls looked like they were made of a giant computer motherboard, the wires flowing with a light akin to molten rock. A few seconds later, Ranma's feet were on terra firma, puzzling him a bit. His puzzlement was offset by the sight that appeared before him...
Furinkan High School...
On fire...
_______________________________________________________________________
The Burning Ship lifted up slightly higher to avoid an invisible vortex, and then pulled to the side to avoid a flat panel of metal. Inside the ship, Emmanuel's face was completely concentrated on the task, using extremely conservative movements to avoid any disaster. He pushed down on the controls slightly, causing the ship to drop slightly, and fired the ship's lasers to clear a piece of wreckage out of the way. The ship pitched to the side, avoiding another threat to its safety, and lifted at an angle away from another vortex. Emmanuel's crack flying almost had them at their destination, before a stray piece of debris caught him blindsided.
"What happened?" Mousse said, concerned.
"We took a hit, but it didn't do much damage, now chill so I can fly, vato." Emmanuel couldn't afford to be distracted, the damage was a bit heavier than he was going to tell Mousse, as he now fought the ship from slightly veering off to the side. Also another hit like that would probably take them off of commission.
Using a technique that Ranma had taught him, Emmanuel cleared his mind, finding his center, and focused on the task at hand even more so than before.
The ship rolled and pitched through all obstacles, towards its destination.
_______________________________________________________________________
"The situation has just gotten worse..." Courtney stated grimly over the comm. link.
Big leapt to the top of a pile of debris to avoid a burst of flame, "I'm listening."
"People, dozens of them, and the fire's enclosing on us. I'll have plenty of crystals from the oncoming fire, but I can't teleport them all by myself in time. Good news is they're telling me that they had pulled everyone they saw into the room with them, so there shouldn't be anymore stragglers around."
"Good, I got this area clear, I'll head over there as fast as possible."
Big fired his pulse rifle at the flame, causing the energy to reconvert into the crystals used to power his personal shield and teleporter, as he was going to need plenty. He jumped down once the path was clear, and made a mad dash towards his teammate's area. Belaying his size, Big deftly somersaulted over another ignition of flame, and before landing, ignited his jump pack, to glide him over debris that would have hindered him. He found the way he came a dead end; blocked by incredible amounts of debris that had fallen. Not letting that hinder him, Big braced himself, and powered up his cannon.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma ran into the front door, instinctively knowing that what he was looking for was somewhere around here.
He rushed through the halls, darting around the fire and wreckage as if he were born for this mission. As if in defiance, the flames became thicker to the point of almost overwhelming. Ranma maneuvered through the obstacles, his aura of cold in full activity to keep him from feeling the heat. He knew though that it would not protect him from the intenseness if he were to come in direct contact.
Ranma made it to the stairs, and leapt up to the second floor, "Door's jammed," Ranma noted out loud, before also noting the flame from the first floor bursting up the vertical hall. Ranma quickly leapt to the third floor and opened the door with ease.
He was glad to note this floor wasn't as intensely thick with flame, but it seemed to lead him on a path. Ranma obliged, running down the hall in the way the flames demanded, and found himself at a certain room that had changed his fate. The door began to open on it's own accord.
"Happy to see us, Airen?" A warped but familiar voice, like she was gargling on molten rock, called out smugly. Ranma's heart nearly stopped at the sight of the figure of Shampoo sculpted from flame.
He was so shocked, that he almost didn't react when Shampoo charged him with her bonbori forward.
Ranma back flipped from the strike, and instincts told him to duck, quickly.
"She meant *all* of us, Ranchan," an imitation of Ukyo brought her battle spatula of flame to bear.
"U-Ukyo?" Ranma muttered, dreading who was next to come.
"BAKA!" Ranma grunted from the heavy kick to his side, sending him crashing into a wall, "You left yourself wide open, you should always be on guard."
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma's body jerked in the stasis bed.
"What? What's happening?" Nabiki said with extreme worry. The scientist that had laid Saotome down into the chamber, turned from where he was looking at the monitors; having been appointed to another task, "He's run up against some opposition, but there's nothing I can really do about it now, I'm afraid."
"LIKE HECK!" Nabiki shouted with all the fury she could muster, "You're going to help my husband, or so help me..."
"[Me and the duck arrived at checkpoint; Ducky's entering the corridor entrance now,]" an indignant quack sounded over the comm. The scientist had been stationed to help direct Mousse to his destination, and couldn't get up from his post now. He looked worriedly between the angry wife, and his boss.
"Go, Mrs. Saotome can take you place here," Dr. Kimson stated, taking Nabiki's hand and leading her to where the other scientist had been sitting. "The path is already highlighted, all you have to do is tell him which direction to turn."
Nabiki nodded and put on the headset, "Mousse, you read me?"
"[Quack?]" The duck's voice enquired.
"Yup, I'm going to be your navigator for this flight."
_______________________________________________________________________
Big arrived to assist Courtney, trading off their tasks with complete competence. One would contain the fire as much as possible, and build up as many crystals as they could, then switch off once the other announced that they had run out and needed to charge for more.
Currently Courtney was the one busy teleporting while Big was stocking up on crystals and keeping the flames at bay.
"It's starting to get thick here," Big announced, finding it extremely difficult to keep up with the encroaching fires.
"We only have a few more to get out of here," The brunette woman called back, teleporting another one to safety.
Big leapt back, forced to give more ground to the fire, "Time is running OUT!"
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma pulled back from Ukyo's swing, then rotated and did a half gator over Akane's high roundhouse kick. As he landed beside his once love, Ranma spun out of the way of Shampoo's bonbori. Knowing they weren't real, Ranma started to retaliate, sending a roundhouse kick to Shampoo's back, causing her to tumble her and Akane onto the floor.
"Since when Airen hit womens?" Shampoo chided obnoxiously. Ranma held his pose, intending to not let them know how much pain that kick caused him, it was like kicking solid molten rock. In fact, every time they had touched him, had left him with a notable impression that any contact with them was folly.
"Looks like Ranma honey's lost a bit of chauvinism somewhere, maybe Nabiki had something to do with it," the fake Ukyo enquired snidely.
"Ranma, how could you? WITH MY OWN SISTER! YOU PERVERT!" Ranma did the leaping splits over the psuedo-Akane's charge, his mind racing through battle plans. He may have known they were real, but they still had a psychological advantage, plus his not being able to touch them, lest he receive punishment from the contact. Finally, they were like super enhanced versions of themselves, much stronger and faster than before.
Ranma considered his options, darting back from another one of Ukyo's attacks and back flipping over Shampoo, how tried to catch him from behind. The hall was too narrow for the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, the Gachigachi Ha would leave him open completely to an attack from the other two if he were to attempt it on one, same with the Mouku Takabisha, and all of his other attacks wouldn't be focused enough. One attack did come to mind, an unfinished one, but it may work.
"Airen, please be still so Shampoo can kill."
"Ranchan, it's not very sporting of you if we can't touch you."
"RANMA! STAND STILL AND FIGHT ME FOR REAL!"
All three girls attacked simultaneously from three different directions. Ranma waited for the last moment, then leapt straight into the air, and inverted himself just in time to see the girls stop just short of crashing into each other, and plant his feet against the ceiling.
"OBIKI KIREME REVISED...." Ranma shouted out, gathering oxygen towards him for fuel, and pushing off the hall ceiling as hard as he could, attempting to build enough friction for the next move, "REVERSE GREAT FIRE BREAKER!!!!!"
Ranma hit the ground, and instead of a nimbus of air spreading out, an explosion of flame erupted that was so potent, it robbed the digital oxygen from around his immediate area. Opposing fire couldn't find fuel it needed to continue burning, and was snuffed out in the void of air.
Ranma sat up, barely touched by the explosion he had caused, and looked at the stone statues of the three girls, each frozen in place and in poses attempting to protect themselves. A lone flicker of flame opposed Ranma; the pigtailed man smirked, and aimed his index finger at it. A blue beam of ki shot out, snuffing the last of his nemesis.
Suddenly the building started to shake heavily, and Ranma ran to the window to jump out. Much to his chagrin, he saw that the ground had fallen from under the building. There was only one direction to go.
Ranma grabbed onto the outside wall, pounding his fists into it to make footholds, as he climbed to the roof. Once he had made it, and climbed over the security fence, Ranma saw it.
The large seemingly mechanical Amoeba waved its digital tentacles about, before suddenly spinning on its axis. As it spun, fire from the mockup of Furinkan High drew up to it and gathered around what was most likely the virus. Once it was a sphere of fire, it congested into a humanoid shape.
"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!!!!!"
Ranma focused his cold aura as tight and strongly as he possibly could.
_______________________________________________________________________
"[Quack?]" The duck enquired, arriving to another fork in the path.
"Go left, then up," Nabiki replied, watching Mousse's progress on the monitor. The little red blip complied to the orders given.
_______________________________________________________________________
Mousse weaved in and out, just as it was in the Burning ship; debris was falling from the ceiling in attempts to impede his progress. Far accustomed to maneuvering in flight in his duck form, the cursed Burning Ranger deftly dodged the obstacles.
"[Go Right,]" Nabiki's voice said over the comm. Mousse went left.
"[YOUR OTHER RIGHT, YOU BLIND IDIOT!!!]"
Mousse gave an indignified quack, before giving a few more quacks to explain the situation.
_______________________________________________________________________
Nabiki understood the Morse code Mousse was quacking in, and sure enough, noted the panel was showing a blockage in the original route she was sending the duck on.
"Oh, great," Nabiki mumbled, gaining a worried quack over the comm. link. Nabiki looked at the display panel, noting the final location had more than one way out of it. Mrs. Saotome followed the complex maze of small corridors, and smiled, "Don't worry, just take another left here..."
_______________________________________________________________________
Instead of attacking, the fire sculpted Ryoga leapt onto the floating puzzles that suddenly appeared in the air. He leapt to higher ones, and the ones he had already been on started to pull apart, like two rigid pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Ranma gave chase, and just in time, as the roof started to crumble under his feet.
The first few platforms Ranma barely managed to keep himself on, and closed in on the virus. Once at a sufficient height, the virus turned and dropped down, attacking Ranma with a falling ax kick. Ranma had no choice but to bring his forearm to block, and strangely noticed that it didn't really hurt when the leg of molten rock connected with him. Ranma retaliated with an uppercut with his free hand to Ryoga's jaw.
Ryoga reeled back, and then jumped to a higher platform. Ranma quickly followed in pursuit, this time catching up. The fire creation spun with a back fist, which Ranma ducked under, then kicked Ryoga in the ribs. It may be faster than the true Ryoga was, and possibly stronger, but it fought with a skill level Ranma recalled his once rival to have possessed.
It couldn't defeat him then, either.
The fake Ryoga almost slide off the edge of his part of the platform, but quickly fought for balance, and leapt to a higher level. A blur passed by the retreating virus, landing on the platform above it. Before Ryoga could gain footing on the platform, Ranma's double fisted blow pounded it down, intending to send it into the abyss below.
The virus did fall, for a few feet, before it changed form.
Ranma stared at the minataur with crane wings, an eel for a tail, and horns. The fire Tarou charged At Ranma; crashing through the platform he was standing on and shattering it like glass. Ranma had managed to leap to another one just in time, watching as the virus flew upwards to crash through the one he was standing on.
Ranma hopped right before Tarou went through it, then stomped down as hard as possible. Ranma used the momentum from slamming his heel into Tarou's head to catapult him to another platform.
The beast shook it off, and was enraged. It flew off into the distance, and suddenly flew back, charging after the Burning Ranger. Ranma timed it just right, leaping up to Tarou's back, and slamming both feet into him, again launching to another platform.
Again the creature wailed and flew off into the distance. Ranma leapt up to another platform, once the one he was standing on began to dissipate. This time Tarou charged at him with both fists forward, ready to intercept Ranma if he attempted the same stunt again. Ranma didn't leap this time; he braced himself, with his fist at his side for a straight reverse punch.
The mock Tarou was sent crashing into the cylinder's walls, imbedding into it. Once Ranma thought the virus was out, it transformed again. This time into a large bird of flame, that then again reshaped itself into a man with wings.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Okay, they're clear!" Big shouted, transporting the final rescuee out of danger.
"Good, we just have one problem now," Courtney said nervously, fighting as hard as possible against the flame, "how are 'we' going to get out of here?"
Big then realized that the fire had blocked all the potential exits, and was quickly swallowing ground around them.
Big lifted his gun, and started charging it, aiming for one of the exits of the room, "Keep in close to me, and we'll get out of this yet..."
_______________________________________________________________________
"[QUACK!]" Mousse said, elated over the comm. He had made it to the secondary control room. Stormwatch was shaking much more heavily than before, and thick and dark storm clouds rolled around the outside of the glass panels.
"Mousse made it!" Nabiki exclaimed.
"Good, now have him transmit the priority controls over to us."
_______________________________________________________________________
Mousse splashed himself with the hot water container he had stored in weapons space and quickly dressed himself. He attempted to do what was needed.
"We have a problem..."
"[Huh? What?]" Professor Kimson's voice enquired, a bit worried.
"I think the virus is locking me out here, we're gonna have to wait until Ranma secures everything." Mousse then mumbled to himself, "Come on, Ranma."
_______________________________________________________________________
The construct of Saffron glided up to Ranma, and looked at him with a smirk. Ranma said nothing, as he faced down his opponent's new form.
As if on a silent command, Ranma leapt to a higher platform while Saffron flew upwards. This time Ranma kept moving, while Saffron flew around his target, lobbing fireballs. Ranma knew that he couldn't touch the virus this time; its aura of heat was almost suffocating even from a distance. Fortunately, Ranma had invented a counter against Saffron's attacks that was similar to what he used on Saffron before. The Hiryuu Hyou Toppa.
Ranma moved his fist in a tight circle that became a spiral, and before the fireball impacted with him, his fist shot out into the ball of flame. A small funnel of wind erupted from the impact, and it connected with the mock Saffron, blowing a bit of his flame out, and showing a bit of the true virus.
Ranma blinked as it was quickly covered by flame, then came to a realization.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Huh? How peculiar," The scientist watching over Ranma's prone form stated.
"What's wrong with my husband?" Nabiki stated with heavy concern, before seeing Ranma-chan's face. Ranma was smirking.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma kept jumping from platform to platform, dodging fireballs and waiting for just the right one. Saffron complied, and Ranma used his new Hiryuu Shoten Ha counter again, blowing off a bit of flame. This time, before it could recover the exposed spot, Ranma leapt after it, kicking it squarely in the exposed area.
The disguised virus gave off a mechanical/animalistic wail as it covered the area it had been hit with by flame. This time it started throwing a higher barrage of fireballs. Ranma weaved in and out of them, while leaping from platform to platform before they weren't stable enough to stand on. Once again the opportunity arose, and Ranma countered again, immediately following up with a kick to the exposed area.
It was extremely ticked now, as it flew up into the air above Ranma, and put it's hands together.
"TENKA SHUNMETSU KOUKYUU DAN!" A massive fireball headed straight down for Ranma, and caught him flatfooted.
The mock Saffron smirked, then grew shocked as it saw it's opponent hunched over, faintly glowing blue.
"There is no way I can take another one of those hits," Ranma thought, hopping to another platform.
"TENKA SHUNMETSU KOUKYUU DAN!" Saffron had the same suspicions. The second massive fireball impacted with the platform Ranma was on, and when the flames cleared, the pigtailed Burning Ranger was not there.
"HEY! BIRDBOY!" Ranma shouted, on a platform near level with the fake Saffron. He had managed at the last second to slip through the platform's part just before the fireball impacted. In Saffron's distraction, Ranma circled around and to the side.
"TENKA SHUNMETSU KOUKYUU DAN!" The fireball was fired straight at Ranma. Ranma jumped into the path of the fireball, his body horizontal and spinning on axis with his arm perpendicular, his fist held out and being brought closer to him.
The fireball exploded on impact, and the explosion preceded a horizontal tornado that was heading straight for the virus. The massive winds blew all of the flames out, exposing the virus completely. Through the tornado came Ranma, almost seeming to surf the winds, with his hands at his side as if gathering something.
"SHIN MOUKU TAKABISHA!" Ranma waited until he was close, and shoved his attack at point blank range into the virus. A moment lapsed, then the virus started to shatter like glass. It was finally destroyed.
Suddenly the whole place began to shake, and the platforms below that had disappeared, were now reappearing and reassembling. Ranma looked up and saw the orange lights that lined the vertical corridor's walls were going out, the may not be a good sign.
Ranma took his cue, and started to descend the platforms as rapidly as possible. He found himself on the school roof again, and ran into the roof's door. Ranma came to a grinding halt as he noted the surreal form the inside of the school took, more exits and paths to take than before.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Everything's back online!" a scientist exclaimed, as lights went on the control panels.
"Oh no," the scientist monitoring Ranma whispered, before turning back to Nabiki, "The digital reality interface is collapsing, it's not even interpreting information it's receiving correctly."
"Huh? What does that mean?" Nabiki was almost near hysterics, nobody found it in their hearts to answer her.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma felt extremely lost as he rushed from door to door; window to window. Nothing seemed like an exit, and some seemed to get farther away as he approached him, like a dream of sorts.
"Ranma, go left..."
Ranma perked at the voice, "A... Akane?"
"Are you deaf, idiot? I said go LEFT!"
Ranma blinked, but complied. The corridor was almost to an end, "Ranma-honey, go right, then forward." Ranma smiled at his childhood friend's voice, obeying her orders.
"Is Shampoo's turn to help beloved, yes?"
Akane's voice sighed, "Yes, now just give him the directions."
"Aiyah! Shampoo so happy to save airen life!" Ranma could almost hear her hopping from foot to foot, clapping her hands.
"Get ON with it, you bimbo!" Ukyo's voice was less than amused at the other girl's antics.
"Ranma go right!" Ranma complied, finding himself at a stairwell. He quickly descended to the bottom stairs, and opened the door to a hallway just as surreal as the last.
"Now what?"
"Ranma, go left." Ranma took Akane's directions, before hearing a voice stop him midway.
"Airen now go left again."
"HEY! It was MY turn, you hussy"
"Nyeah!" Shampoo's raspberry to the deceased cook was her retort.
"Come on you two, cut it out!" Akane tried to be the sensible one.
"Uh, guys? Minor crisis here?" Ranma made mention, having reached the end of the hall he had turned down and had two directions to go down.
"Oh, just keep your pants on, Ranchan, I gotta deal with the Bimbo..."
"Shampoo no mind if Ranma drop pants..."
"Oh, for Kami's sakes, go right!"
"Akane no fun."
"I don't want the idiot to die! That's all."
"Shampoo think if airen die, he get to be with us."
"SHAMPOO!" Three voices cried out in unison, Ranma's being one of them.
"Mmm, Shampoo only thinking out loud..."
Ranma saw down the hall what looked like to be the exit of the psuedo-Furinkan High, the lights down the end of the corridor were quickly blinking out behind him. He pushed himself faster.
"Say Mousse hello for Shampoo!"
"Are you ever gonna learn to speak Japanese correctly?" Ukyo asked, exasperated, "Take care Ranchan, I love you."
"You better take care of my sister, or you're gonna get SUCH a pounding!" Akane stated firmly and threateningly, "And... I love you too."
"Shampoo love you more than Violent girl and Spat..." That was as far as she got before the sounds of conflict came up.
Ranma reached for the door, just as all the lights went out...
_______________________________________________________________________
The man watching the monitor that displayed Ranma's readings paled. Nabiki noted the reaction.
"What's wrong, she's safe now, right? She made it out, why isn't she waking up?"
Big and Courtney had made it back, and were gently pulling Nabiki back.
"Saotome-san..." Big started. Courtney's voice had caught, and she turned away so Nabiki couldn't see her tears.
"[Hey, what's going on up there?]" Mousse asked over his comm. unit.
"Ranma, he's..." Big didn't need to continue, and Mousse never gave a reply.
"NO!" Nabiki shouted, in full-fledged hysterics, "HE'S RANMA SAOTOME! HE NEVER LOSES, HE, HE HAS TO..." Big firmly grabbed a hold of Nabiki. In the grasp of the large man, Nabiki broke down, "He, he can't be, not Ranma... not Ranma."
One of the scientists started towards the control panel of the digital reality interface, and before she could open it up to remove the body, she let out a startled gasp.
The lights of the pod started flashing all over, and Ranma's fist punched through the glass covering.
"RANMA!" Nabiki shouted, completely elated. She almost fell to the ground, if not for big supporting her. The pigtailed woman sat up and smirked.
"Interesting fact; didja know that you can use Ki to power electronics?"
"Heh, never would have considered it," Big said with a smile of immense relief.
Ranma looked straight at Nabiki, the redhead's smirk turning into a sincere and loving smile, "I made it back, Nabiki."
"Welcome home," Mrs. Saotome replied.
Burning Sky Stage 4
"Burning Sky"
"[Big, we made it through the turbulence and ready to transport]"
"Okay Mousse stand ready," replied Big, "Professor, what do we need to do to stop Stormwatch?"
"Uh, first we'll need to manually override the levitation and propulsion systems, after that, we can shut down Stormwatch's Weather Regulations systems. It would not do to shut everything down and send everything crashing into the ocean. As much water as this station can displace and at the velocity it would hit, the effects would be catastrophic."
"Sir, the virus has commandeered all system controls from the deck, we can't do anything from here."
"Then we'll need to get to the secondary engineering deck and shut it down."
"Negative, Professor, the emergency security shutters have activated, we're trapped in this room for the time being."
"Perhaps our teleporter would be able to get you there," offered Big.
"[No, it won't, I'm having a problem as it is just reading you guys in there. Teleporting anyone around with all this weather and magnetic interference is not gonna work]" stated Emmanuel.
"Darn, well is there any way, and I mean ANY way, we can get to that room?" Asked Ranma.
"There are a series of ducts that can be accessed from the other side of the station, but they barely would fit anyone into them."
"Mousse, looks like you're gonna be the one to do it, can you handle it?"
"[I am prepared, Ranma.]"
"Well, this should be cake then," replied Ranma with heavy relief in her voice.
"No, there's still the problem of the virus to contend with. Even after we switch all controls over to the other deck, who's to say it won't just take over there also?" Asked Nabiki.
"Perhaps... perhaps the virtual maintenance interface, yes that could work!"
"What is it, Doctor?" Questioned Big.
"I designed a virtual reality interface for any non-physical problems that may arise. All system functions take a virtual form there in interpretation to whoever had entered it. The Virus would not be any different."
"Understood," replied the team leader, "Ranma, Courtney, both of you try to get through those shutters and gather anyone who was trapped in other areas."
"No," countered Ranma.
"What? Ranma this..."
"Listen, you have the heaviest artillery of all of us, getting through those doors would work better for you. I'm trained to move at the speed of thought, I'm the better choice to go in."
"Ranma..." breathed Nabiki, seriously worried for what her husband is volunteering for.
"I... okay Ranma, you do that. Just be careful"
"Gotcha, now how do I get hooked up into this giant video game?"
"Emmanuel, dock in the open area away from as much of the winds as possible. We'll meet you there to pick up the equipment."
_______________________________________________________________________
Stage 4; Part 1
"[Emmanuel, get as close as you can to the location listed on the map, and then let Mousse go,]"
"Gotcha, Emmanuel, out," the Hispanic replied, before turning to his teammate, "Hold tight, Mousse, this is gonna be a bumpy ride."
The Burning Ship's thrusters ignited, and pulled down range from their position. From the weather patterns, starting their part from where there were was not an option, with the winds impeding their path most from that angle.
The burning ship quickly circled around the massive space station for the point where it would be best to enter with the least turbulence.
"Here we go." Thrusters roared in challenge, increasing the velocity of the Burning Ship. Not more than a few seconds, Manuel tightly veered to the side, and then rose. Not too long after, a violent shake came over the craft.
"Shoot, turbulence pockets all over the place," The Hispanic announced, looking at the enhanced visuals. Seeming miniature vortexes riddled their path; the dramatic weather restructuring being centered around the massive floating complex being the reason. Not only that, debris was being shaken from the structure, and held aloft by the violent winds that crisscrossed around him. Emmanuel steeled himself for she fantastic flying.
_______________________________________________________________________
Stage 4; Part 2
Big raised his gun and fired two shots, causing the steel doors to buckle then fall.
"Who's there? Help! HELP!" a voice cried out from the wreckage around them.
"Hold on, I'll be there in a second," Big shouted, lifting piles of massive debris out of the way. He kept a level of confidence that made him renowned among his teammates, but inside he was despairing at the amount of damage that was about. How many people may have been trapped under it?
"Burning Rangers! Thank God!" The woman cried out when she caught sight of the massive African.
"Relax, Ma'am, we'll have you out, but you're only going to be teleported to the main room, not off the station.
"WHY NOT?" the woman yelled in panic, not wanting to be aboard the flying deathtrap anymore. Big couldn't answer as he teleported the woman to relative safety.
"Courtney, how is everything going for you?"
"[Not so good,]" Courtney stated in a somber voice over the comm. link, "[found quite a few people here heavily injured. Hopefully someone there has a lot of med experience, this is really starting to AAAAHHH!!!!]"
"Courtney, COURTNEY!" Big shouted over his link, fearing the worst.
"[I-I'm okay, but I need to build more energy for my shield. Fire's broken out here.]"
"Great Scott, if that fire spreads..." Big didn't finish, as several years of experience kicked in, causing him to flip back from the sudden eruption, he had been to preoccupied to notice the temperature rising.
_______________________________________________________________________
Stage 4, Part 3
"Now, just relax, and it will seem like you're falling asleep," One of the doctor's associates stated with a calm voice to the pigtailed woman.
"Okay, okay, just hurry up and let me save the world, alright?" Ranma snapped.
The doctor found Ranma's banter a bit refreshing, considering the circumstances, and pressed a button on the side of the console. The headdress on Ranma's head started a whining pitch, and Ranma drifted off into unconsciousness.
Ranma looked around, finding herself a him, and in his Burning Ranger uniform. It was like he was floating in a massive cylinder that rose farther than he could see, and was easily the size of a stadium. The walls looked like they were made of a giant computer motherboard, the wires flowing with a light akin to molten rock. A few seconds later, Ranma's feet were on terra firma, puzzling him a bit. His puzzlement was offset by the sight that appeared before him...
Furinkan High School...
On fire...
_______________________________________________________________________
The Burning Ship lifted up slightly higher to avoid an invisible vortex, and then pulled to the side to avoid a flat panel of metal. Inside the ship, Emmanuel's face was completely concentrated on the task, using extremely conservative movements to avoid any disaster. He pushed down on the controls slightly, causing the ship to drop slightly, and fired the ship's lasers to clear a piece of wreckage out of the way. The ship pitched to the side, avoiding another threat to its safety, and lifted at an angle away from another vortex. Emmanuel's crack flying almost had them at their destination, before a stray piece of debris caught him blindsided.
"What happened?" Mousse said, concerned.
"We took a hit, but it didn't do much damage, now chill so I can fly, vato." Emmanuel couldn't afford to be distracted, the damage was a bit heavier than he was going to tell Mousse, as he now fought the ship from slightly veering off to the side. Also another hit like that would probably take them off of commission.
Using a technique that Ranma had taught him, Emmanuel cleared his mind, finding his center, and focused on the task at hand even more so than before.
The ship rolled and pitched through all obstacles, towards its destination.
_______________________________________________________________________
"The situation has just gotten worse..." Courtney stated grimly over the comm. link.
Big leapt to the top of a pile of debris to avoid a burst of flame, "I'm listening."
"People, dozens of them, and the fire's enclosing on us. I'll have plenty of crystals from the oncoming fire, but I can't teleport them all by myself in time. Good news is they're telling me that they had pulled everyone they saw into the room with them, so there shouldn't be anymore stragglers around."
"Good, I got this area clear, I'll head over there as fast as possible."
Big fired his pulse rifle at the flame, causing the energy to reconvert into the crystals used to power his personal shield and teleporter, as he was going to need plenty. He jumped down once the path was clear, and made a mad dash towards his teammate's area. Belaying his size, Big deftly somersaulted over another ignition of flame, and before landing, ignited his jump pack, to glide him over debris that would have hindered him. He found the way he came a dead end; blocked by incredible amounts of debris that had fallen. Not letting that hinder him, Big braced himself, and powered up his cannon.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma ran into the front door, instinctively knowing that what he was looking for was somewhere around here.
He rushed through the halls, darting around the fire and wreckage as if he were born for this mission. As if in defiance, the flames became thicker to the point of almost overwhelming. Ranma maneuvered through the obstacles, his aura of cold in full activity to keep him from feeling the heat. He knew though that it would not protect him from the intenseness if he were to come in direct contact.
Ranma made it to the stairs, and leapt up to the second floor, "Door's jammed," Ranma noted out loud, before also noting the flame from the first floor bursting up the vertical hall. Ranma quickly leapt to the third floor and opened the door with ease.
He was glad to note this floor wasn't as intensely thick with flame, but it seemed to lead him on a path. Ranma obliged, running down the hall in the way the flames demanded, and found himself at a certain room that had changed his fate. The door began to open on it's own accord.
"Happy to see us, Airen?" A warped but familiar voice, like she was gargling on molten rock, called out smugly. Ranma's heart nearly stopped at the sight of the figure of Shampoo sculpted from flame.
He was so shocked, that he almost didn't react when Shampoo charged him with her bonbori forward.
Ranma back flipped from the strike, and instincts told him to duck, quickly.
"She meant *all* of us, Ranchan," an imitation of Ukyo brought her battle spatula of flame to bear.
"U-Ukyo?" Ranma muttered, dreading who was next to come.
"BAKA!" Ranma grunted from the heavy kick to his side, sending him crashing into a wall, "You left yourself wide open, you should always be on guard."
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma's body jerked in the stasis bed.
"What? What's happening?" Nabiki said with extreme worry. The scientist that had laid Saotome down into the chamber, turned from where he was looking at the monitors; having been appointed to another task, "He's run up against some opposition, but there's nothing I can really do about it now, I'm afraid."
"LIKE HECK!" Nabiki shouted with all the fury she could muster, "You're going to help my husband, or so help me..."
"[Me and the duck arrived at checkpoint; Ducky's entering the corridor entrance now,]" an indignant quack sounded over the comm. The scientist had been stationed to help direct Mousse to his destination, and couldn't get up from his post now. He looked worriedly between the angry wife, and his boss.
"Go, Mrs. Saotome can take you place here," Dr. Kimson stated, taking Nabiki's hand and leading her to where the other scientist had been sitting. "The path is already highlighted, all you have to do is tell him which direction to turn."
Nabiki nodded and put on the headset, "Mousse, you read me?"
"[Quack?]" The duck's voice enquired.
"Yup, I'm going to be your navigator for this flight."
_______________________________________________________________________
Big arrived to assist Courtney, trading off their tasks with complete competence. One would contain the fire as much as possible, and build up as many crystals as they could, then switch off once the other announced that they had run out and needed to charge for more.
Currently Courtney was the one busy teleporting while Big was stocking up on crystals and keeping the flames at bay.
"It's starting to get thick here," Big announced, finding it extremely difficult to keep up with the encroaching fires.
"We only have a few more to get out of here," The brunette woman called back, teleporting another one to safety.
Big leapt back, forced to give more ground to the fire, "Time is running OUT!"
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma pulled back from Ukyo's swing, then rotated and did a half gator over Akane's high roundhouse kick. As he landed beside his once love, Ranma spun out of the way of Shampoo's bonbori. Knowing they weren't real, Ranma started to retaliate, sending a roundhouse kick to Shampoo's back, causing her to tumble her and Akane onto the floor.
"Since when Airen hit womens?" Shampoo chided obnoxiously. Ranma held his pose, intending to not let them know how much pain that kick caused him, it was like kicking solid molten rock. In fact, every time they had touched him, had left him with a notable impression that any contact with them was folly.
"Looks like Ranma honey's lost a bit of chauvinism somewhere, maybe Nabiki had something to do with it," the fake Ukyo enquired snidely.
"Ranma, how could you? WITH MY OWN SISTER! YOU PERVERT!" Ranma did the leaping splits over the psuedo-Akane's charge, his mind racing through battle plans. He may have known they were real, but they still had a psychological advantage, plus his not being able to touch them, lest he receive punishment from the contact. Finally, they were like super enhanced versions of themselves, much stronger and faster than before.
Ranma considered his options, darting back from another one of Ukyo's attacks and back flipping over Shampoo, how tried to catch him from behind. The hall was too narrow for the Hiryuu Shoten Ha, the Gachigachi Ha would leave him open completely to an attack from the other two if he were to attempt it on one, same with the Mouku Takabisha, and all of his other attacks wouldn't be focused enough. One attack did come to mind, an unfinished one, but it may work.
"Airen, please be still so Shampoo can kill."
"Ranchan, it's not very sporting of you if we can't touch you."
"RANMA! STAND STILL AND FIGHT ME FOR REAL!"
All three girls attacked simultaneously from three different directions. Ranma waited for the last moment, then leapt straight into the air, and inverted himself just in time to see the girls stop just short of crashing into each other, and plant his feet against the ceiling.
"OBIKI KIREME REVISED...." Ranma shouted out, gathering oxygen towards him for fuel, and pushing off the hall ceiling as hard as he could, attempting to build enough friction for the next move, "REVERSE GREAT FIRE BREAKER!!!!!"
Ranma hit the ground, and instead of a nimbus of air spreading out, an explosion of flame erupted that was so potent, it robbed the digital oxygen from around his immediate area. Opposing fire couldn't find fuel it needed to continue burning, and was snuffed out in the void of air.
Ranma sat up, barely touched by the explosion he had caused, and looked at the stone statues of the three girls, each frozen in place and in poses attempting to protect themselves. A lone flicker of flame opposed Ranma; the pigtailed man smirked, and aimed his index finger at it. A blue beam of ki shot out, snuffing the last of his nemesis.
Suddenly the building started to shake heavily, and Ranma ran to the window to jump out. Much to his chagrin, he saw that the ground had fallen from under the building. There was only one direction to go.
Ranma grabbed onto the outside wall, pounding his fists into it to make footholds, as he climbed to the roof. Once he had made it, and climbed over the security fence, Ranma saw it.
The large seemingly mechanical Amoeba waved its digital tentacles about, before suddenly spinning on its axis. As it spun, fire from the mockup of Furinkan High drew up to it and gathered around what was most likely the virus. Once it was a sphere of fire, it congested into a humanoid shape.
"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!!!!!"
Ranma focused his cold aura as tight and strongly as he possibly could.
_______________________________________________________________________
"[Quack?]" The duck enquired, arriving to another fork in the path.
"Go left, then up," Nabiki replied, watching Mousse's progress on the monitor. The little red blip complied to the orders given.
_______________________________________________________________________
Mousse weaved in and out, just as it was in the Burning ship; debris was falling from the ceiling in attempts to impede his progress. Far accustomed to maneuvering in flight in his duck form, the cursed Burning Ranger deftly dodged the obstacles.
"[Go Right,]" Nabiki's voice said over the comm. Mousse went left.
"[YOUR OTHER RIGHT, YOU BLIND IDIOT!!!]"
Mousse gave an indignified quack, before giving a few more quacks to explain the situation.
_______________________________________________________________________
Nabiki understood the Morse code Mousse was quacking in, and sure enough, noted the panel was showing a blockage in the original route she was sending the duck on.
"Oh, great," Nabiki mumbled, gaining a worried quack over the comm. link. Nabiki looked at the display panel, noting the final location had more than one way out of it. Mrs. Saotome followed the complex maze of small corridors, and smiled, "Don't worry, just take another left here..."
_______________________________________________________________________
Instead of attacking, the fire sculpted Ryoga leapt onto the floating puzzles that suddenly appeared in the air. He leapt to higher ones, and the ones he had already been on started to pull apart, like two rigid pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Ranma gave chase, and just in time, as the roof started to crumble under his feet.
The first few platforms Ranma barely managed to keep himself on, and closed in on the virus. Once at a sufficient height, the virus turned and dropped down, attacking Ranma with a falling ax kick. Ranma had no choice but to bring his forearm to block, and strangely noticed that it didn't really hurt when the leg of molten rock connected with him. Ranma retaliated with an uppercut with his free hand to Ryoga's jaw.
Ryoga reeled back, and then jumped to a higher platform. Ranma quickly followed in pursuit, this time catching up. The fire creation spun with a back fist, which Ranma ducked under, then kicked Ryoga in the ribs. It may be faster than the true Ryoga was, and possibly stronger, but it fought with a skill level Ranma recalled his once rival to have possessed.
It couldn't defeat him then, either.
The fake Ryoga almost slide off the edge of his part of the platform, but quickly fought for balance, and leapt to a higher level. A blur passed by the retreating virus, landing on the platform above it. Before Ryoga could gain footing on the platform, Ranma's double fisted blow pounded it down, intending to send it into the abyss below.
The virus did fall, for a few feet, before it changed form.
Ranma stared at the minataur with crane wings, an eel for a tail, and horns. The fire Tarou charged At Ranma; crashing through the platform he was standing on and shattering it like glass. Ranma had managed to leap to another one just in time, watching as the virus flew upwards to crash through the one he was standing on.
Ranma hopped right before Tarou went through it, then stomped down as hard as possible. Ranma used the momentum from slamming his heel into Tarou's head to catapult him to another platform.
The beast shook it off, and was enraged. It flew off into the distance, and suddenly flew back, charging after the Burning Ranger. Ranma timed it just right, leaping up to Tarou's back, and slamming both feet into him, again launching to another platform.
Again the creature wailed and flew off into the distance. Ranma leapt up to another platform, once the one he was standing on began to dissipate. This time Tarou charged at him with both fists forward, ready to intercept Ranma if he attempted the same stunt again. Ranma didn't leap this time; he braced himself, with his fist at his side for a straight reverse punch.
The mock Tarou was sent crashing into the cylinder's walls, imbedding into it. Once Ranma thought the virus was out, it transformed again. This time into a large bird of flame, that then again reshaped itself into a man with wings.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Okay, they're clear!" Big shouted, transporting the final rescuee out of danger.
"Good, we just have one problem now," Courtney said nervously, fighting as hard as possible against the flame, "how are 'we' going to get out of here?"
Big then realized that the fire had blocked all the potential exits, and was quickly swallowing ground around them.
Big lifted his gun, and started charging it, aiming for one of the exits of the room, "Keep in close to me, and we'll get out of this yet..."
_______________________________________________________________________
"[QUACK!]" Mousse said, elated over the comm. He had made it to the secondary control room. Stormwatch was shaking much more heavily than before, and thick and dark storm clouds rolled around the outside of the glass panels.
"Mousse made it!" Nabiki exclaimed.
"Good, now have him transmit the priority controls over to us."
_______________________________________________________________________
Mousse splashed himself with the hot water container he had stored in weapons space and quickly dressed himself. He attempted to do what was needed.
"We have a problem..."
"[Huh? What?]" Professor Kimson's voice enquired, a bit worried.
"I think the virus is locking me out here, we're gonna have to wait until Ranma secures everything." Mousse then mumbled to himself, "Come on, Ranma."
_______________________________________________________________________
The construct of Saffron glided up to Ranma, and looked at him with a smirk. Ranma said nothing, as he faced down his opponent's new form.
As if on a silent command, Ranma leapt to a higher platform while Saffron flew upwards. This time Ranma kept moving, while Saffron flew around his target, lobbing fireballs. Ranma knew that he couldn't touch the virus this time; its aura of heat was almost suffocating even from a distance. Fortunately, Ranma had invented a counter against Saffron's attacks that was similar to what he used on Saffron before. The Hiryuu Hyou Toppa.
Ranma moved his fist in a tight circle that became a spiral, and before the fireball impacted with him, his fist shot out into the ball of flame. A small funnel of wind erupted from the impact, and it connected with the mock Saffron, blowing a bit of his flame out, and showing a bit of the true virus.
Ranma blinked as it was quickly covered by flame, then came to a realization.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Huh? How peculiar," The scientist watching over Ranma's prone form stated.
"What's wrong with my husband?" Nabiki stated with heavy concern, before seeing Ranma-chan's face. Ranma was smirking.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma kept jumping from platform to platform, dodging fireballs and waiting for just the right one. Saffron complied, and Ranma used his new Hiryuu Shoten Ha counter again, blowing off a bit of flame. This time, before it could recover the exposed spot, Ranma leapt after it, kicking it squarely in the exposed area.
The disguised virus gave off a mechanical/animalistic wail as it covered the area it had been hit with by flame. This time it started throwing a higher barrage of fireballs. Ranma weaved in and out of them, while leaping from platform to platform before they weren't stable enough to stand on. Once again the opportunity arose, and Ranma countered again, immediately following up with a kick to the exposed area.
It was extremely ticked now, as it flew up into the air above Ranma, and put it's hands together.
"TENKA SHUNMETSU KOUKYUU DAN!" A massive fireball headed straight down for Ranma, and caught him flatfooted.
The mock Saffron smirked, then grew shocked as it saw it's opponent hunched over, faintly glowing blue.
"There is no way I can take another one of those hits," Ranma thought, hopping to another platform.
"TENKA SHUNMETSU KOUKYUU DAN!" Saffron had the same suspicions. The second massive fireball impacted with the platform Ranma was on, and when the flames cleared, the pigtailed Burning Ranger was not there.
"HEY! BIRDBOY!" Ranma shouted, on a platform near level with the fake Saffron. He had managed at the last second to slip through the platform's part just before the fireball impacted. In Saffron's distraction, Ranma circled around and to the side.
"TENKA SHUNMETSU KOUKYUU DAN!" The fireball was fired straight at Ranma. Ranma jumped into the path of the fireball, his body horizontal and spinning on axis with his arm perpendicular, his fist held out and being brought closer to him.
The fireball exploded on impact, and the explosion preceded a horizontal tornado that was heading straight for the virus. The massive winds blew all of the flames out, exposing the virus completely. Through the tornado came Ranma, almost seeming to surf the winds, with his hands at his side as if gathering something.
"SHIN MOUKU TAKABISHA!" Ranma waited until he was close, and shoved his attack at point blank range into the virus. A moment lapsed, then the virus started to shatter like glass. It was finally destroyed.
Suddenly the whole place began to shake, and the platforms below that had disappeared, were now reappearing and reassembling. Ranma looked up and saw the orange lights that lined the vertical corridor's walls were going out, the may not be a good sign.
Ranma took his cue, and started to descend the platforms as rapidly as possible. He found himself on the school roof again, and ran into the roof's door. Ranma came to a grinding halt as he noted the surreal form the inside of the school took, more exits and paths to take than before.
_______________________________________________________________________
"Everything's back online!" a scientist exclaimed, as lights went on the control panels.
"Oh no," the scientist monitoring Ranma whispered, before turning back to Nabiki, "The digital reality interface is collapsing, it's not even interpreting information it's receiving correctly."
"Huh? What does that mean?" Nabiki was almost near hysterics, nobody found it in their hearts to answer her.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma felt extremely lost as he rushed from door to door; window to window. Nothing seemed like an exit, and some seemed to get farther away as he approached him, like a dream of sorts.
"Ranma, go left..."
Ranma perked at the voice, "A... Akane?"
"Are you deaf, idiot? I said go LEFT!"
Ranma blinked, but complied. The corridor was almost to an end, "Ranma-honey, go right, then forward." Ranma smiled at his childhood friend's voice, obeying her orders.
"Is Shampoo's turn to help beloved, yes?"
Akane's voice sighed, "Yes, now just give him the directions."
"Aiyah! Shampoo so happy to save airen life!" Ranma could almost hear her hopping from foot to foot, clapping her hands.
"Get ON with it, you bimbo!" Ukyo's voice was less than amused at the other girl's antics.
"Ranma go right!" Ranma complied, finding himself at a stairwell. He quickly descended to the bottom stairs, and opened the door to a hallway just as surreal as the last.
"Now what?"
"Ranma, go left." Ranma took Akane's directions, before hearing a voice stop him midway.
"Airen now go left again."
"HEY! It was MY turn, you hussy"
"Nyeah!" Shampoo's raspberry to the deceased cook was her retort.
"Come on you two, cut it out!" Akane tried to be the sensible one.
"Uh, guys? Minor crisis here?" Ranma made mention, having reached the end of the hall he had turned down and had two directions to go down.
"Oh, just keep your pants on, Ranchan, I gotta deal with the Bimbo..."
"Shampoo no mind if Ranma drop pants..."
"Oh, for Kami's sakes, go right!"
"Akane no fun."
"I don't want the idiot to die! That's all."
"Shampoo think if airen die, he get to be with us."
"SHAMPOO!" Three voices cried out in unison, Ranma's being one of them.
"Mmm, Shampoo only thinking out loud..."
Ranma saw down the hall what looked like to be the exit of the psuedo-Furinkan High, the lights down the end of the corridor were quickly blinking out behind him. He pushed himself faster.
"Say Mousse hello for Shampoo!"
"Are you ever gonna learn to speak Japanese correctly?" Ukyo asked, exasperated, "Take care Ranchan, I love you."
"You better take care of my sister, or you're gonna get SUCH a pounding!" Akane stated firmly and threateningly, "And... I love you too."
"Shampoo love you more than Violent girl and Spat..." That was as far as she got before the sounds of conflict came up.
Ranma reached for the door, just as all the lights went out...
_______________________________________________________________________
The man watching the monitor that displayed Ranma's readings paled. Nabiki noted the reaction.
"What's wrong, she's safe now, right? She made it out, why isn't she waking up?"
Big and Courtney had made it back, and were gently pulling Nabiki back.
"Saotome-san..." Big started. Courtney's voice had caught, and she turned away so Nabiki couldn't see her tears.
"[Hey, what's going on up there?]" Mousse asked over his comm. unit.
"Ranma, he's..." Big didn't need to continue, and Mousse never gave a reply.
"NO!" Nabiki shouted, in full-fledged hysterics, "HE'S RANMA SAOTOME! HE NEVER LOSES, HE, HE HAS TO..." Big firmly grabbed a hold of Nabiki. In the grasp of the large man, Nabiki broke down, "He, he can't be, not Ranma... not Ranma."
One of the scientists started towards the control panel of the digital reality interface, and before she could open it up to remove the body, she let out a startled gasp.
The lights of the pod started flashing all over, and Ranma's fist punched through the glass covering.
"RANMA!" Nabiki shouted, completely elated. She almost fell to the ground, if not for big supporting her. The pigtailed woman sat up and smirked.
"Interesting fact; didja know that you can use Ki to power electronics?"
"Heh, never would have considered it," Big said with a smile of immense relief.
Ranma looked straight at Nabiki, the redhead's smirk turning into a sincere and loving smile, "I made it back, Nabiki."
"Welcome home," Mrs. Saotome replied.