PART 5
What's happened so far: Jeff Anderson, 'retiring' super hero, has come to Nerima for reasons involving a dead colleague and Mishima Heavy Industries. He has arranged a cover as a student teacher at Furinkan High School. He's met most of the Ranma cast, and thinks that Ranma and Ryoga are meta-humans like himself. Nabiki manipulates Kuno into challenging Jeff to a duel. Jeff accepts and wins, taking Nabiki for 18,279 yen in the process. While walking to Ucchan's, Jeff sees Ranma transform. He immediately figures out Ryoga is P-Chan. Ranma tells him about Jusenkyo, and convinces Jeff not to blab to Akane. It's the next morning and Jeff is getting ready for the aftermath.
-----
Riding to school, I think it's kind of weird. Normally, Japanese schools have a half day on Saturday two or three times a month. But apparently, Furinkan is having full days on Saturdays to make up for some lost time. It's annoying, but understandable.
The kilometers fly by this morning, but Ucchan's is closed by the time I get there. Dang. I had got up early just to eat here. Then I remember Ukyo said she was going to talk to Nabiki. I hope she didn't close down just for that. Sighing, I ride the rest of the way to the school. One of the energy bars I bought Thursday night becomes breakfast. After my shower, I head back outside. Kuno will be coming along sooner or later. I _have_ to end this and delaying won't make it any easier.
I'm waiting for Kuno when Nabiki and Ukyo walk up to me. "Ohayoo Kuonji-san, Tendo-san."
"Ohayoo Anderson-sensei," they say more or less in unison.
Ukyo nods at me, I nod back, she heads for the school doors, leaving Nabiki with me. Neither of us want to go first, but I'm not interested in wasting time. "Have you spoken to Kuno-san yet?" I start.
"Hai."
"Will he attack me anyway?"
She pauses a moment to think. "Hai."
I sigh. "I _should_ dislocate your shoulder, just for drill." She glares at me icily. "But it wouldn't help," I continue. It would just make her madder at me anyway. Before anything else can be said, a voice rings out from across the grounds.
"Stand aside from Tendo Nabiki so that the 'Blue Thunder' may smite thee!" It's Kuno all right. Dressed in his hakama, right shoulder bound in a sling and left hand holding his trademark bokken pointed straight at me. I have to admire his tenacity, if not his intelligence. I step away from Nabiki, just in case.
"You did not defeat the great 'Blue Thunder'! T'was some sorcerous trick that held fast my limbs!" he rants as he strides toward me.
I raise my voice so I'm sure he can hear me say, "You're right, it was a trick. One that I'm ready to use again."
"Eh?" The puzzlement is clear in Kuno's tone as he slows to a stop. Whether it's because I agreed with him or that I'm ready to 'trick' him again, I don't know. So in the coldest voice I can muster, I give the speech I came up with last night.
"Kuno-san. Hear these words and know them to be true. Point that thing at me _ever_ again and I will remove _any_ chance of your EVER fathering children. IS... THIS... CLEAR." My declaration gets the attention of most of the surrounding crowd.
Kuno focuses himself on the here and now like I've never seen him do in class. Somewhere in the fantasy land he normally resides in, my message has reached his brain. His face betrays the inner battle he is having with himself, his instinct for self preservation at war with his ego. It's a long battle, but his bokken slowly drops to his side. Resettling his warrior persona, he turns and strides away.
Nabiki looks at the retreating kendoist before turning to me. "Nice bluff," she tells me.
"Bluff?" I deadpan before heading to the school doors. I can't see her face at this point, but I do think she gets the message too.
-----
The morning goes without major problems for me. The English Lit quizzes are returned and questions discussed. Lunch rolls around and I head outside to see what today's fight will be about. I notice Ranma running from some pretty girl in a gymnast's outfit during lunch, but figure he can handle it himself. I find out from a student that the gymnast is Kuno's younger sister Kodachi, who goes to an all-girl school somewhere nearby. So that's what she looks like. Must have only had a half day today. A bit later, female Ranma runs past in the other direction chased by both Kunos. As long they leave me alone, I'm going to enjoy my lunch.
Through lunch, the play stays the same, but the actors keep changing. At one point the purple haired girl I saw a few days ago, Shampoo from Ranma's description last night, is in the mix. She is being chased by a long haired young man dressed in white robes. Must be Mousse. Ukyo and her giant spatula are involved in a couple of run-bys and Akane appears every so often swinging various large blunt objects. Other than a large hole in one of the first floor classrooms, not much damage is done. Once the warning bell rings, the action breaks up with Akane getting the last lick in, clonking Ranma (male again) with her mallet. (Where _does_ she keep that thing?) As soon as the fight is over, repair crews start rebuilding the broken wall. Pretty efficiently too. I could use folks like them to clean up after some of the fights I've been in.
Later, I find out why Serizawa-sensei agreed to let me have the last hour of class on Saturday. The students are all busy thinking about having tomorrow off and not paying much attention. I work my way through a brief statistics paradox and the start the four fours problem when I figure out a way to get some of their attention back.
"Just to make it a little more interesting, I'll give 2000 yen to whoever can take the four fours problem the farthest by Monday. Start at 1 and hit each integer. You can't use logarithms, infinity or rounding functions." Well that worked, if they won't give you their attention, it can still be bought. Most of the heads in the class bend over desks and furious scribbling can be heard.
"You have to bribe students to perform in America Mr. Anderson?" Serizawa-sensei asks in his British sounding English.
"I believe in one thing when it comes to education. Whatever works, go with it. They'll work harder for cash than for a pat on the head."
"What if you cannot afford to keep bribing them?"
"I'll burn that bridge when I come to it." My mixed metaphor may have confused him. His response takes a few seconds to begin.
"Remember, I will still be working with these students long after you leave. Please do not make my job any harder than it already is."
While there are many things I'd _like_ to say in response to that, what I actually tell him is, "As you wish Serizawa-sensei. No more cash scholarships." That's as close to a dig as I can get away with. The Japanese spend a lot more time in school than I ever did. From what I've seen this week, this helps with rote learning and recall speed, but isn't so great for lateral thinking, interpretation and creativity.
Class ends for the day and the student body disappears like a mirage. I stay for a while, writing a report on my weekly activities as if I were a real student-teacher. Attention to detail is the key to maintaining a successful cover. Theoretically, this report gets filed with the school, and a copy is faxed to CUNY, along with a copy of Serizawa-sensei's comments on my performance. Actually, the fax gets routed to one of my data drops. Memo to self, see what Serizawa-sensei has to say about me. It might be good for a laugh. Memo to self, remember to extract local copies prior to departure.
I change clothes and ride over to the Tendo Dojo. Kasumi lets me in, and once again I'm amazed by her quiet beauty. I see where Akane gets her smile from. Tendo Soun and a large panda are playing shogi on the porch. Since I know about the transformations now, I guess Saotome-san isn't bothering to stay human for me.
"Ah, Anderson-san. I had Akane bring out a selection of staves for your use," Soun informs me. While his head is turned, the panda takes a moment to rearrange the pieces on the shogi board.
"Thank you very much Tendo-san," I respond, bowing to him. As I turn to head to the dojo, he begins speaking again.
"Ranma tells me you are married Anderson-san."
What the?? Where did _that_ come from? "Uh... Yes Tendo-san." I pull out my wallet, and fish out my one picture of Anne and Lil' Bill. Holding the picture out, I tell him, "My wife, Anne, and my son, William."
From nowhere, Kasumi pops up, taking the picture from my hand. "Oh, he is so cute," Kasumi gushes before asking, "How old is he?"
"Four months. That picture was taken last month." I'm not sure, but the panda looks relieved. Soun looks ready to cry though. What the heck is going on? Kasumi shows her father and Genma/panda the photograph and looks at it again before handing it back to me.
"That is a beautiful wife and son you have there Anderson-san," Tendo says.
"Oh, that is such a cute outfit," Kasumi observes.
"Uh... thank you, thank you both." I put the picture back where it belongs and excuse myself to the dojo.
When I enter, neither Akane or Ranma are there, but there are a dozen staffs of various sizes propped against the wall. I run through a quick workout before checking them out. I take a few practice swings with four of them before I find one that I like. A little light, but I can work with it.
I set up a practice dummy and make a few experimental strikes. Definitely not as strong as what I use back home. But this is wood after all, not hardened aluminum alloy. Might accidentally break this with a full power strike. Probably break it with a TK backed strike. I test a few of the other staffs, looking for something stronger, but settle on the one I had been using. I bow to the dojo and the tatami and get to work.
I begin twirling the staff at high speed and limber up. These aren't really fighting moves, these are for fun. Spin, spin, turn, spin, spin, strike, spin. Spin, kick, kick, spin, strike, spin, spin, leap, spin. Spin, switch hands behind my back, spin, kick, strike, strike, block, turn, spin. Ho! He! Ha! Guard, turn, parry, spin, thrust. Spin, spin, notice Ranma enter the dojo, stop.
"Sorry, didn't wanna interrupt," Ranma tells me.
"That's o.k., I was just fooling around a little." There are only two reasons he would be here right now.
"Wanna spar?"
And it's reason number one. "Is this your idea or your dad's?"
"Mine," he states with a trace of annoyance.
"Well go ahead and pick a staff."
"I'll use that one," he says pointing at the one in my hands.
"This one's mine." It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he'll say next.
"Not for long."
Since I was expecting it, I survive his first attack. He's moving fast, but not as fast as he was when he was dodging Kuno or punching Ryoga. Maybe the fact that I'm warmed up is what's saving me. I attack with short thrusts and other moves intended not to let him attempt a disarm. None connect. He moves in close and tags me three times before I can adjust. They ain't love taps either. I go low line, he attempts to jump over my swing, but I adjust fast enough to catch him in mid air. Not hard, but it's enough to put him off balance for a split second.
I follow up as fast as I can with strike to his shoulder, but he simply moves ahead of the blow, not allowing it to connect. I block his foot sweep with my staff and he grabs the lower end. A brief test of strength leaves the staff in two pieces.
"What ya gonna do now your weapon's broke?" Ranma asks me while he steps up the speed of his attacks. So far, I'm still able to dodge or block with what is left of the staff. I feint a kick, but he doesn't bite. Before I can follow up, Ranma slams a double punch past my guard that knocks me halfway across the dojo. I sit up and Ranma is in the middle of a flying kick destined for my head.
First mistake he's made. Without anything to brace himself against, he can't do much about my next move. Dropping the remains of the staff, I grab his lead foot in both hands, throw myself onto my back and _heave_. I don't get to hold on too long, as he kicks my hands off with his free foot. Ranma reorients himself in mid air and makes a credible landing, skidding a bit on impact.
"Against you... lose real bad," I say as I prepare for the next round. Although I might be a bit stronger, and the speed seems closer to equal than I thought, Ranma's technique is far superior to mine. It's not that he's so much faster, it's he knows exactly what to do and when to do it. As the match goes on, I find his endurance compares well with mine. After his second aerial attack winds up with him face down on the mat, he stays on the ground and proceeds to pick me apart. Maybe one punch in six of mine is hitting him when he's defending, and he's connecting about one in three when I defend all out. When I try to go on the attack, his counter moves connect at will. Only when I grapple does Ranma seem to have any problems at all, but he adapts quickly.
Finally, he downs me with a kick and I tap the mat twice, indicating I don't want to continue. "As your father said the last time I was here, 'You were holding back.'" That attack against Ryoga was much faster than the punches he threw at me.
"Maybe a little. We're just sparrin', I wasn't using any special techniques."
"Like that chestnut thing?" It's _not_ a meta-human ability?
"Yeah, or that strike you used against Kuno."
Looks like he caught me at it after all. "That wasn't a special technique, that was a trick."
"Looked like a chi technique."
"Huh?"
"I'm not sure if I can explain it. Everybody has chi, ya see. Martial artists and a few other folks can focus their chi and use it various ways," Ranma says while leaping up to the ceiling and grabbing on to a cross-beam. Nothing I couldn't do myself, but it's still impressive.
"You mean 'Use the Force, Luke'?"
"No... well sorta... maybe... no. I'm no good at explainin' stuff. The old ghoul knows more about it than I do." He lightly drops to the floor next to me.
"Who?"
"Shampoo's great-grandmother, Cologne. I just call her 'old ghoul' cause that's what she reminds me of."
"Ah..." After a moment I ask what can be done with chi. The list is fairly long. Super-human leaping is a basic chi skill. Strength or speed enhancements are almost as common. Visible battle auras seem to be a side-effect if not a chi ability. Increased endurance and accelerated healing rates are possible. Special attacks like the Kacchu Tenshin Amiguriken and others like the Bakusai Tenketsu. Tendo Soun is supposed to have a special technique or two. Projecting your chi is possible, but Ranma says he can't do that. Yet.
It seems almost as flexible as magic, to which I'm guessing it's related. I think back over the long list of people I've fought with and against. Could some of those been conscious or unconscious chi users? It's possible, and the concept helps explain a few things I've always wondered about. Definitely going to have to make a report back to the home office about this. It opens up a whole new area to consider.
Ranma has stopped talking and is looking at me look distracted.
"Sorry about that Ranma, it's just this chi thing has given me a lot to think about."
"Why should it bother ya? Ya already use the stuff."
"Ranma, I assure you, that wasn't chi. I admit it was a trick, but it wasn't chi."
"Ya mean like a pressure point?"
Bless him, he's given me an out, even if I don't know what he's talking about. "Something like that, but it's a secret, so please don't ask me to explain or even demonstrate."
"That's O.K." he shrugs, continuing, "Ya know, ya did pretty good. Most people can't hit me at all."
"Oh please, you wiped the floor with me. And by your own admission, you weren't going all out."
"Well, I think you'd do better in a real fight."
No doubt. But in a real fight I use weapons and telekinesis, of course I'm better. Curious, I ask Ranma, "How well do you fight when you're a girl?"
Ranma looks upset for a second or two before he calms down enough to answer me. "Not as strong, shorter reach, my endurance drops, but I'm much faster. Better pain resistance too. You'd have hit my girl form a lot less often. But my hits on you wouldn'ta been as hard. It's o.k. for defense, but not much else." A surprisingly forthright admission. Shows that he knows his limitations as well. My respect for the young man goes up another notch.
Finally, I decide to bring up the topic that's been bugging me since I got here. "Ranma, why does Tendo-san care if I'm married?"
Ranma laughs out loud. "Well ya know how he and Pops got me and Akane engaged? I think Tendo-san was scopin' ya out for Nabiki or Kasumi," he tells me with a giant grin on his face.
"WHAT!!" My jaw drops to somewhere just off the floor.
Ranma holds on for a few seconds before he breaks out laughing again. I break out laughing a few seconds later. It's a long while before I get back under control.
"Nabiki is _really_ not my type," I inform Ranma with as straight a face as I can manage. I can't imagine _dating_ Nabiki let alone marrying her. Heck, I can't imagine _anyone_ dating Nabiki. Not unless they've got _really_ deep pockets. If I weren't already married, I could imagine spending time with Kasumi though.
"Yeah, and the only reason Tendo-san would set you up with Kasumi is to get Tofu-sensei off his butt."
"Who?"
"Tofu-sensei... He's our family doctor. She likes him, I think, and I _know_ he likes her. But... he acts kinda weird when she's around."
"Sounds like the man needs to get a grip." Anyone who doesn't ask Kasumi out the first good chance they get is an idiot.
"Seriously." Ranma starts cracking up again. Why, I don't know.
Well, I got my curiosity bump scratched, but I'm no longer in the mood to practice. So I pack up my stuff and head to my rented room a little earlier than expected. I need to do laundry, so I head off for the laundromat I spotted when I moved into this place.
The Japanese have vending machines everywhere and you can get just about anything out of them. While my clothes are washing, I score dinner. Not that great, but it's food I don't have to cook. While my clothes are drying, I rough out my report on chi for the home office. I throw in a rough estimate of Ranma's combat abilities, and fine down some calculations of Ryoga's estimated strength level.
Let's see. g = 980 cm/sec/sec... h = 600 cm... t = 0.5... Ignoring air friction... For t to = 0.5 and h = 600, the maximum height of the leap is in... the 10.5 to 11 meter range. Assume he came off the fence, so subtract 2 meters... He landed about 10 meters from the fence so his initial velocity had to be... around 13.5 meters/sec. That's faster than me running full out. I can't even guess how much of that jump can be attributed to chi. Without chi, I'd estimate Ryoga's strength somewhere in the 1.5 to 2 ton range. That's if the leap he made was near his maximum effort and all my assumptions are correct.
Even if his strength is aided by chi, he'd _still_ have to be strong to wave around that umbrella so effortlessly. Not to mention cracking the sidewalk with the umbrella and smashing Ranma into the school wall the way he did. Didn't see him at the dojo today. If I had, I'd have splashed him and had a nice long talk with P-Chan. Kicked his ass some too. Against somebody as dangerous as him, I'm not worried about fighting fair.
After getting everything dried and folded, I head back to my room and fire up the computer and the modem. Maybe I can catch a movie or a ball game or something if it's quiet.
When I connect with Monster, I find some very good news. The back door into Mishima Heavy Industries was used today. Monster even got part of the access key. This should cut a couple of months work down to a couple of weeks tops. He was also able to trace the origin of the hack to a residential apartment complex on the west side of Nerima. Unfortunately, not to the exact apartment. Looks like my fun and games are canceled. It's recon night and I've got work to do.
First things first though. I dictate a report on chi to the home office, and throw in descriptions of Ranma and Ryoga along with estimates of what they can do for the files. All of us in MATRIX report on the various meta-humans, bad guys and other interesting people we meet. Comes in handy in case we cross paths again. Ranma has what it takes to be one of the good guys, and I'm afraid Ryoga has what it takes to turn into a threat.
Afterwards, I head to the nearest mall. At a costume shop, I buy the largest black ninja costume they have in stock and a supply of stage make-up. A shoe store provides all black tennies. A men's store provides a pair of black leather gloves. I pick up a small tool kit at an electronics store. A hardware store provides a mini-flashlight, some duct tape and some electrical tape. A kiosk provides some badly needed peanut butter fudge ice cream in a waffle cone. Man's gotta eat. I buy a cell phone, but confuse the clerk by not buying a cellular calling package. I tell him it's a gift to get him to back off. Finally, I pick up a first aid kit, sewing kit, black thread, some black broadcloth and some adhesive velcro patches at a craft shop. "That should do it," I tell myself on the way back to my room.
I sew some straps onto the back of the ninja costume to hold one of the baseball bats I purchased earlier. They're too bulky to put both of them there. Some more straps fix the wooden rods into my sleeves. Some pockets and some velcro provide storage for the binoculars, flashlight, first aid kit and tool kit. I whip together a large pouch to hold the tape and rig a tie down around my leg to keep it from flopping about. I fold the rest of the broadcloth up and stuff it in the pouch. The catcher's mask I bought from the sporting goods store Thursday night won't fit under the ninja mask. Guess I'll have to leave it here.
I put the whole thing on, and decide to redo the straps holding the baseball bat. It's too awkward like this. Plus the metal of the barrel shows up too much. The handle is all right, being covered in black padding, but the barrel could give me away. By the time I get this fixed to my liking, it's already ten. Now to build the phone tap.
I crack open the cell phone's case and start pulling out parts. Battery, definitely going to need that. Memory chip, that'll help. I pull the backup modem and few other modules from my laptop and break out the toolkit.
-----
Two painstaking hours later, I'm done. What I wind up with is something that'll digitally record the first 30 seconds of any call made through a given phone line and record the number called. If the back door is used, the access codes should be among the earliest data transmitted. Get those, and I should have no problem getting into the Mishima network. Only problem is that it will only hold 10 calls and I'll can't download from a remote site. Of course, someone could find it too. Not really the way I want to do this, but if it works I could be out of here by Tuesday.
I get dressed again, and carefully place the gizmo into my pouch. I chow down on a couple of energy bars for a quick snack and check my bathroom mirror to see where I need to apply black face-paint. After that, I wash my hands and slip on the leather gloves. Time to head out.
END PART 5
In Part 6: Night moves.
What's happened so far: Jeff Anderson, 'retiring' super hero, has come to Nerima for reasons involving a dead colleague and Mishima Heavy Industries. He has arranged a cover as a student teacher at Furinkan High School. He's met most of the Ranma cast, and thinks that Ranma and Ryoga are meta-humans like himself. Nabiki manipulates Kuno into challenging Jeff to a duel. Jeff accepts and wins, taking Nabiki for 18,279 yen in the process. While walking to Ucchan's, Jeff sees Ranma transform. He immediately figures out Ryoga is P-Chan. Ranma tells him about Jusenkyo, and convinces Jeff not to blab to Akane. It's the next morning and Jeff is getting ready for the aftermath.
-----
Riding to school, I think it's kind of weird. Normally, Japanese schools have a half day on Saturday two or three times a month. But apparently, Furinkan is having full days on Saturdays to make up for some lost time. It's annoying, but understandable.
The kilometers fly by this morning, but Ucchan's is closed by the time I get there. Dang. I had got up early just to eat here. Then I remember Ukyo said she was going to talk to Nabiki. I hope she didn't close down just for that. Sighing, I ride the rest of the way to the school. One of the energy bars I bought Thursday night becomes breakfast. After my shower, I head back outside. Kuno will be coming along sooner or later. I _have_ to end this and delaying won't make it any easier.
I'm waiting for Kuno when Nabiki and Ukyo walk up to me. "Ohayoo Kuonji-san, Tendo-san."
"Ohayoo Anderson-sensei," they say more or less in unison.
Ukyo nods at me, I nod back, she heads for the school doors, leaving Nabiki with me. Neither of us want to go first, but I'm not interested in wasting time. "Have you spoken to Kuno-san yet?" I start.
"Hai."
"Will he attack me anyway?"
She pauses a moment to think. "Hai."
I sigh. "I _should_ dislocate your shoulder, just for drill." She glares at me icily. "But it wouldn't help," I continue. It would just make her madder at me anyway. Before anything else can be said, a voice rings out from across the grounds.
"Stand aside from Tendo Nabiki so that the 'Blue Thunder' may smite thee!" It's Kuno all right. Dressed in his hakama, right shoulder bound in a sling and left hand holding his trademark bokken pointed straight at me. I have to admire his tenacity, if not his intelligence. I step away from Nabiki, just in case.
"You did not defeat the great 'Blue Thunder'! T'was some sorcerous trick that held fast my limbs!" he rants as he strides toward me.
I raise my voice so I'm sure he can hear me say, "You're right, it was a trick. One that I'm ready to use again."
"Eh?" The puzzlement is clear in Kuno's tone as he slows to a stop. Whether it's because I agreed with him or that I'm ready to 'trick' him again, I don't know. So in the coldest voice I can muster, I give the speech I came up with last night.
"Kuno-san. Hear these words and know them to be true. Point that thing at me _ever_ again and I will remove _any_ chance of your EVER fathering children. IS... THIS... CLEAR." My declaration gets the attention of most of the surrounding crowd.
Kuno focuses himself on the here and now like I've never seen him do in class. Somewhere in the fantasy land he normally resides in, my message has reached his brain. His face betrays the inner battle he is having with himself, his instinct for self preservation at war with his ego. It's a long battle, but his bokken slowly drops to his side. Resettling his warrior persona, he turns and strides away.
Nabiki looks at the retreating kendoist before turning to me. "Nice bluff," she tells me.
"Bluff?" I deadpan before heading to the school doors. I can't see her face at this point, but I do think she gets the message too.
-----
The morning goes without major problems for me. The English Lit quizzes are returned and questions discussed. Lunch rolls around and I head outside to see what today's fight will be about. I notice Ranma running from some pretty girl in a gymnast's outfit during lunch, but figure he can handle it himself. I find out from a student that the gymnast is Kuno's younger sister Kodachi, who goes to an all-girl school somewhere nearby. So that's what she looks like. Must have only had a half day today. A bit later, female Ranma runs past in the other direction chased by both Kunos. As long they leave me alone, I'm going to enjoy my lunch.
Through lunch, the play stays the same, but the actors keep changing. At one point the purple haired girl I saw a few days ago, Shampoo from Ranma's description last night, is in the mix. She is being chased by a long haired young man dressed in white robes. Must be Mousse. Ukyo and her giant spatula are involved in a couple of run-bys and Akane appears every so often swinging various large blunt objects. Other than a large hole in one of the first floor classrooms, not much damage is done. Once the warning bell rings, the action breaks up with Akane getting the last lick in, clonking Ranma (male again) with her mallet. (Where _does_ she keep that thing?) As soon as the fight is over, repair crews start rebuilding the broken wall. Pretty efficiently too. I could use folks like them to clean up after some of the fights I've been in.
Later, I find out why Serizawa-sensei agreed to let me have the last hour of class on Saturday. The students are all busy thinking about having tomorrow off and not paying much attention. I work my way through a brief statistics paradox and the start the four fours problem when I figure out a way to get some of their attention back.
"Just to make it a little more interesting, I'll give 2000 yen to whoever can take the four fours problem the farthest by Monday. Start at 1 and hit each integer. You can't use logarithms, infinity or rounding functions." Well that worked, if they won't give you their attention, it can still be bought. Most of the heads in the class bend over desks and furious scribbling can be heard.
"You have to bribe students to perform in America Mr. Anderson?" Serizawa-sensei asks in his British sounding English.
"I believe in one thing when it comes to education. Whatever works, go with it. They'll work harder for cash than for a pat on the head."
"What if you cannot afford to keep bribing them?"
"I'll burn that bridge when I come to it." My mixed metaphor may have confused him. His response takes a few seconds to begin.
"Remember, I will still be working with these students long after you leave. Please do not make my job any harder than it already is."
While there are many things I'd _like_ to say in response to that, what I actually tell him is, "As you wish Serizawa-sensei. No more cash scholarships." That's as close to a dig as I can get away with. The Japanese spend a lot more time in school than I ever did. From what I've seen this week, this helps with rote learning and recall speed, but isn't so great for lateral thinking, interpretation and creativity.
Class ends for the day and the student body disappears like a mirage. I stay for a while, writing a report on my weekly activities as if I were a real student-teacher. Attention to detail is the key to maintaining a successful cover. Theoretically, this report gets filed with the school, and a copy is faxed to CUNY, along with a copy of Serizawa-sensei's comments on my performance. Actually, the fax gets routed to one of my data drops. Memo to self, see what Serizawa-sensei has to say about me. It might be good for a laugh. Memo to self, remember to extract local copies prior to departure.
I change clothes and ride over to the Tendo Dojo. Kasumi lets me in, and once again I'm amazed by her quiet beauty. I see where Akane gets her smile from. Tendo Soun and a large panda are playing shogi on the porch. Since I know about the transformations now, I guess Saotome-san isn't bothering to stay human for me.
"Ah, Anderson-san. I had Akane bring out a selection of staves for your use," Soun informs me. While his head is turned, the panda takes a moment to rearrange the pieces on the shogi board.
"Thank you very much Tendo-san," I respond, bowing to him. As I turn to head to the dojo, he begins speaking again.
"Ranma tells me you are married Anderson-san."
What the?? Where did _that_ come from? "Uh... Yes Tendo-san." I pull out my wallet, and fish out my one picture of Anne and Lil' Bill. Holding the picture out, I tell him, "My wife, Anne, and my son, William."
From nowhere, Kasumi pops up, taking the picture from my hand. "Oh, he is so cute," Kasumi gushes before asking, "How old is he?"
"Four months. That picture was taken last month." I'm not sure, but the panda looks relieved. Soun looks ready to cry though. What the heck is going on? Kasumi shows her father and Genma/panda the photograph and looks at it again before handing it back to me.
"That is a beautiful wife and son you have there Anderson-san," Tendo says.
"Oh, that is such a cute outfit," Kasumi observes.
"Uh... thank you, thank you both." I put the picture back where it belongs and excuse myself to the dojo.
When I enter, neither Akane or Ranma are there, but there are a dozen staffs of various sizes propped against the wall. I run through a quick workout before checking them out. I take a few practice swings with four of them before I find one that I like. A little light, but I can work with it.
I set up a practice dummy and make a few experimental strikes. Definitely not as strong as what I use back home. But this is wood after all, not hardened aluminum alloy. Might accidentally break this with a full power strike. Probably break it with a TK backed strike. I test a few of the other staffs, looking for something stronger, but settle on the one I had been using. I bow to the dojo and the tatami and get to work.
I begin twirling the staff at high speed and limber up. These aren't really fighting moves, these are for fun. Spin, spin, turn, spin, spin, strike, spin. Spin, kick, kick, spin, strike, spin, spin, leap, spin. Spin, switch hands behind my back, spin, kick, strike, strike, block, turn, spin. Ho! He! Ha! Guard, turn, parry, spin, thrust. Spin, spin, notice Ranma enter the dojo, stop.
"Sorry, didn't wanna interrupt," Ranma tells me.
"That's o.k., I was just fooling around a little." There are only two reasons he would be here right now.
"Wanna spar?"
And it's reason number one. "Is this your idea or your dad's?"
"Mine," he states with a trace of annoyance.
"Well go ahead and pick a staff."
"I'll use that one," he says pointing at the one in my hands.
"This one's mine." It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he'll say next.
"Not for long."
Since I was expecting it, I survive his first attack. He's moving fast, but not as fast as he was when he was dodging Kuno or punching Ryoga. Maybe the fact that I'm warmed up is what's saving me. I attack with short thrusts and other moves intended not to let him attempt a disarm. None connect. He moves in close and tags me three times before I can adjust. They ain't love taps either. I go low line, he attempts to jump over my swing, but I adjust fast enough to catch him in mid air. Not hard, but it's enough to put him off balance for a split second.
I follow up as fast as I can with strike to his shoulder, but he simply moves ahead of the blow, not allowing it to connect. I block his foot sweep with my staff and he grabs the lower end. A brief test of strength leaves the staff in two pieces.
"What ya gonna do now your weapon's broke?" Ranma asks me while he steps up the speed of his attacks. So far, I'm still able to dodge or block with what is left of the staff. I feint a kick, but he doesn't bite. Before I can follow up, Ranma slams a double punch past my guard that knocks me halfway across the dojo. I sit up and Ranma is in the middle of a flying kick destined for my head.
First mistake he's made. Without anything to brace himself against, he can't do much about my next move. Dropping the remains of the staff, I grab his lead foot in both hands, throw myself onto my back and _heave_. I don't get to hold on too long, as he kicks my hands off with his free foot. Ranma reorients himself in mid air and makes a credible landing, skidding a bit on impact.
"Against you... lose real bad," I say as I prepare for the next round. Although I might be a bit stronger, and the speed seems closer to equal than I thought, Ranma's technique is far superior to mine. It's not that he's so much faster, it's he knows exactly what to do and when to do it. As the match goes on, I find his endurance compares well with mine. After his second aerial attack winds up with him face down on the mat, he stays on the ground and proceeds to pick me apart. Maybe one punch in six of mine is hitting him when he's defending, and he's connecting about one in three when I defend all out. When I try to go on the attack, his counter moves connect at will. Only when I grapple does Ranma seem to have any problems at all, but he adapts quickly.
Finally, he downs me with a kick and I tap the mat twice, indicating I don't want to continue. "As your father said the last time I was here, 'You were holding back.'" That attack against Ryoga was much faster than the punches he threw at me.
"Maybe a little. We're just sparrin', I wasn't using any special techniques."
"Like that chestnut thing?" It's _not_ a meta-human ability?
"Yeah, or that strike you used against Kuno."
Looks like he caught me at it after all. "That wasn't a special technique, that was a trick."
"Looked like a chi technique."
"Huh?"
"I'm not sure if I can explain it. Everybody has chi, ya see. Martial artists and a few other folks can focus their chi and use it various ways," Ranma says while leaping up to the ceiling and grabbing on to a cross-beam. Nothing I couldn't do myself, but it's still impressive.
"You mean 'Use the Force, Luke'?"
"No... well sorta... maybe... no. I'm no good at explainin' stuff. The old ghoul knows more about it than I do." He lightly drops to the floor next to me.
"Who?"
"Shampoo's great-grandmother, Cologne. I just call her 'old ghoul' cause that's what she reminds me of."
"Ah..." After a moment I ask what can be done with chi. The list is fairly long. Super-human leaping is a basic chi skill. Strength or speed enhancements are almost as common. Visible battle auras seem to be a side-effect if not a chi ability. Increased endurance and accelerated healing rates are possible. Special attacks like the Kacchu Tenshin Amiguriken and others like the Bakusai Tenketsu. Tendo Soun is supposed to have a special technique or two. Projecting your chi is possible, but Ranma says he can't do that. Yet.
It seems almost as flexible as magic, to which I'm guessing it's related. I think back over the long list of people I've fought with and against. Could some of those been conscious or unconscious chi users? It's possible, and the concept helps explain a few things I've always wondered about. Definitely going to have to make a report back to the home office about this. It opens up a whole new area to consider.
Ranma has stopped talking and is looking at me look distracted.
"Sorry about that Ranma, it's just this chi thing has given me a lot to think about."
"Why should it bother ya? Ya already use the stuff."
"Ranma, I assure you, that wasn't chi. I admit it was a trick, but it wasn't chi."
"Ya mean like a pressure point?"
Bless him, he's given me an out, even if I don't know what he's talking about. "Something like that, but it's a secret, so please don't ask me to explain or even demonstrate."
"That's O.K." he shrugs, continuing, "Ya know, ya did pretty good. Most people can't hit me at all."
"Oh please, you wiped the floor with me. And by your own admission, you weren't going all out."
"Well, I think you'd do better in a real fight."
No doubt. But in a real fight I use weapons and telekinesis, of course I'm better. Curious, I ask Ranma, "How well do you fight when you're a girl?"
Ranma looks upset for a second or two before he calms down enough to answer me. "Not as strong, shorter reach, my endurance drops, but I'm much faster. Better pain resistance too. You'd have hit my girl form a lot less often. But my hits on you wouldn'ta been as hard. It's o.k. for defense, but not much else." A surprisingly forthright admission. Shows that he knows his limitations as well. My respect for the young man goes up another notch.
Finally, I decide to bring up the topic that's been bugging me since I got here. "Ranma, why does Tendo-san care if I'm married?"
Ranma laughs out loud. "Well ya know how he and Pops got me and Akane engaged? I think Tendo-san was scopin' ya out for Nabiki or Kasumi," he tells me with a giant grin on his face.
"WHAT!!" My jaw drops to somewhere just off the floor.
Ranma holds on for a few seconds before he breaks out laughing again. I break out laughing a few seconds later. It's a long while before I get back under control.
"Nabiki is _really_ not my type," I inform Ranma with as straight a face as I can manage. I can't imagine _dating_ Nabiki let alone marrying her. Heck, I can't imagine _anyone_ dating Nabiki. Not unless they've got _really_ deep pockets. If I weren't already married, I could imagine spending time with Kasumi though.
"Yeah, and the only reason Tendo-san would set you up with Kasumi is to get Tofu-sensei off his butt."
"Who?"
"Tofu-sensei... He's our family doctor. She likes him, I think, and I _know_ he likes her. But... he acts kinda weird when she's around."
"Sounds like the man needs to get a grip." Anyone who doesn't ask Kasumi out the first good chance they get is an idiot.
"Seriously." Ranma starts cracking up again. Why, I don't know.
Well, I got my curiosity bump scratched, but I'm no longer in the mood to practice. So I pack up my stuff and head to my rented room a little earlier than expected. I need to do laundry, so I head off for the laundromat I spotted when I moved into this place.
The Japanese have vending machines everywhere and you can get just about anything out of them. While my clothes are washing, I score dinner. Not that great, but it's food I don't have to cook. While my clothes are drying, I rough out my report on chi for the home office. I throw in a rough estimate of Ranma's combat abilities, and fine down some calculations of Ryoga's estimated strength level.
Let's see. g = 980 cm/sec/sec... h = 600 cm... t = 0.5... Ignoring air friction... For t to = 0.5 and h = 600, the maximum height of the leap is in... the 10.5 to 11 meter range. Assume he came off the fence, so subtract 2 meters... He landed about 10 meters from the fence so his initial velocity had to be... around 13.5 meters/sec. That's faster than me running full out. I can't even guess how much of that jump can be attributed to chi. Without chi, I'd estimate Ryoga's strength somewhere in the 1.5 to 2 ton range. That's if the leap he made was near his maximum effort and all my assumptions are correct.
Even if his strength is aided by chi, he'd _still_ have to be strong to wave around that umbrella so effortlessly. Not to mention cracking the sidewalk with the umbrella and smashing Ranma into the school wall the way he did. Didn't see him at the dojo today. If I had, I'd have splashed him and had a nice long talk with P-Chan. Kicked his ass some too. Against somebody as dangerous as him, I'm not worried about fighting fair.
After getting everything dried and folded, I head back to my room and fire up the computer and the modem. Maybe I can catch a movie or a ball game or something if it's quiet.
When I connect with Monster, I find some very good news. The back door into Mishima Heavy Industries was used today. Monster even got part of the access key. This should cut a couple of months work down to a couple of weeks tops. He was also able to trace the origin of the hack to a residential apartment complex on the west side of Nerima. Unfortunately, not to the exact apartment. Looks like my fun and games are canceled. It's recon night and I've got work to do.
First things first though. I dictate a report on chi to the home office, and throw in descriptions of Ranma and Ryoga along with estimates of what they can do for the files. All of us in MATRIX report on the various meta-humans, bad guys and other interesting people we meet. Comes in handy in case we cross paths again. Ranma has what it takes to be one of the good guys, and I'm afraid Ryoga has what it takes to turn into a threat.
Afterwards, I head to the nearest mall. At a costume shop, I buy the largest black ninja costume they have in stock and a supply of stage make-up. A shoe store provides all black tennies. A men's store provides a pair of black leather gloves. I pick up a small tool kit at an electronics store. A hardware store provides a mini-flashlight, some duct tape and some electrical tape. A kiosk provides some badly needed peanut butter fudge ice cream in a waffle cone. Man's gotta eat. I buy a cell phone, but confuse the clerk by not buying a cellular calling package. I tell him it's a gift to get him to back off. Finally, I pick up a first aid kit, sewing kit, black thread, some black broadcloth and some adhesive velcro patches at a craft shop. "That should do it," I tell myself on the way back to my room.
I sew some straps onto the back of the ninja costume to hold one of the baseball bats I purchased earlier. They're too bulky to put both of them there. Some more straps fix the wooden rods into my sleeves. Some pockets and some velcro provide storage for the binoculars, flashlight, first aid kit and tool kit. I whip together a large pouch to hold the tape and rig a tie down around my leg to keep it from flopping about. I fold the rest of the broadcloth up and stuff it in the pouch. The catcher's mask I bought from the sporting goods store Thursday night won't fit under the ninja mask. Guess I'll have to leave it here.
I put the whole thing on, and decide to redo the straps holding the baseball bat. It's too awkward like this. Plus the metal of the barrel shows up too much. The handle is all right, being covered in black padding, but the barrel could give me away. By the time I get this fixed to my liking, it's already ten. Now to build the phone tap.
I crack open the cell phone's case and start pulling out parts. Battery, definitely going to need that. Memory chip, that'll help. I pull the backup modem and few other modules from my laptop and break out the toolkit.
-----
Two painstaking hours later, I'm done. What I wind up with is something that'll digitally record the first 30 seconds of any call made through a given phone line and record the number called. If the back door is used, the access codes should be among the earliest data transmitted. Get those, and I should have no problem getting into the Mishima network. Only problem is that it will only hold 10 calls and I'll can't download from a remote site. Of course, someone could find it too. Not really the way I want to do this, but if it works I could be out of here by Tuesday.
I get dressed again, and carefully place the gizmo into my pouch. I chow down on a couple of energy bars for a quick snack and check my bathroom mirror to see where I need to apply black face-paint. After that, I wash my hands and slip on the leather gloves. Time to head out.
END PART 5
In Part 6: Night moves.