PART 9
What's happened so far: Jeffery Anderson, 'retiring' super hero, has come to Nerima for reasons involving a dead colleague and Mishima Heavy Industries. His cover is as a student teacher at Furinkan High School. He's learned about Jusenkyo and thinks Ryoga/P-Chan is a meta-human like himself. He's fought a group of thugs, Kuno, Poison 02 and had some run ins with Shampoo. Ranma caught Jeff floating in the dojo, so Jeff explained a few things about himself and swore Ranma to secrecy. His partial hack of the Mishima computer network was discovered by Natsume Kyusaku, but after an early morning talk, Natsume has agreed to look into the incident in question.
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The day begins heavily overcast, but I'm in too good a mood to give a rat's ass. If Natsume comes through for me, this trip is as good as over. I'm feeling so good, I do an extra fifty pushups.
The threatening skies mean I'm not going to bicycle to school though. I grab a large and expensive "Western" breakfast at a small restaurant since I can only eat so much okonomiyaki, no matter how much I like it. Four jumbo eggs over hard, sausage, bacon, home fries, a giant blueberry muffin and a pitcher of orange juice. No pancakes, but still worth every yen.
Since the train is actually faster than bicycling, I still make it to school with plenty of time to spare. A little damp though as the rain finally starts falling when I'm a couple hundred meters away from the school. Still doesn't shake my mood.
The rain continues off and on all morning. During English Lit, I don't make a single mistake in Japanese or English. Even Kuno doesn't annoy me as he gives a _flawless_ recital of Shakespeare's Sonnet XXX. The Bard seldom sounds so good. Even though everyone in the class knows he's a complete jerk, a few of the female students are giving him puppy dog eyes by the time he finishes.
"Kuno-san, that was extraordinarily well done."
He gives me a cautious look before replying, "Thank you Anderson-sensei. The works of the immortal Bard doth hold a special place in the heart of the great and noble Blue Thunder. Indeed..."
"Don't push it," I interrupt with a slight edge to my voice. He mercifully shuts up and and retakes his seat. Inspired by the level of Kuno's performance, the rest of the class cranks it up a notch and the time until lunch is enjoyed by all. I even catch Nabiki and Serizawa-sensei smiling once or twice.
When the lunch bell does ring and the students file out, Serizawa-sensei asks me to wait for a moment.
"Thank you, young man. It's not often I see moments like this. An entire class doing their very best, not because there is a test or because it's expected of them. Just out of... exuberance and the joy of a job well done."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you should be thanking Kuno-san, not me."
"I would, but I don't want to swell his head any more than it is."
I crack up. I can't help it. Serizawa-sensei leaves the room before I pull myself together. Turns out the man is human after all. I'm singing under my breath as I head down to the cafeteria. Even eating cafeteria food doesn't spoil my mood. Although it does put a slight dent in it.
The afternoon session bogs down a bit, but then Japanese students have to spend a lot of time learning their own written language. With hiragana, katakana, kanji, Arabic numerals and romanji (or the English alphabet) it is one genuine bitch kitty to learn. Mostly because of the kanji. I've been paying attention in this class, but my reading and writing skills are still trailing far behind my verbal skills. Give them a century or two and I bet they phase out kanji entirely.
Math class rolls around, but the groove from English Lit is gone. The sun does finally come out though, so it makes lessons on integrating the volume of a martini glass a little less tedious. After we finally get through the whole thing, I remind them that from geometry, the volume of a cone is 1/3 base times height. Whether it's right side up or not.
"The moral of the story is, not every solution has to be difficult and different types of approaches may work better for certain problems. Things that are difficult to solve algebraically, might be easier to solve graphically. Long, drawn out integrations might collapse down to simple functions as we have just seen. Mind you, this doesn't always work, some solutions can only be found in certain ways. So don't spend too much time looking for an easy way out. There may not be one."
Homework is assigned and everyone is reminded of the test tomorrow. The groans that these announcements cause are cut off by the bell. Timed that pretty well I think.
I change into sweats and meet up with Akane and Ranma for the walk to the Tendos. Ranma is in female form due to a water fountain with more than necessary water pressure. We stop for hot water at a doctor's office on the way home.
Akane introduces me to a handsome, glasses wearing, brown haired man in his mid to late twenties. "Ono Tofu-sensei, this is Jeffery Anderson. He's a student-teacher here from America."
I bow formally, "Pleased to meet you Ono-sensei. Ranma says good things about you."
He returns my bow before speaking. "Oh, just call me Tofu, everyone does. And this," he says, pointing to a short skeleton on a hook, "is Betty-chan."
All right, I'll play along. I bow to the skeleton and "Pleased to meet you Betty-chan."
"Oh, you two are so silly," Akane points out while smiling. Silly is good. Nothing wrong with silly. I like silly. Beats doom and gloom any day.
"Have you and Ranma been getting along all right?" the doctor asks Akane. "I have not seen my star patient much in the last two weeks."
Ranma, male once again with tea kettle in hand, returns to the room. "Nah, the tomboy's still hittin' me." After he says that, the flash of anger I see in Akane's eyes guarantees it'll happen again. "Jeff's been catchin' some of the weirdness instead of me since he got here."
I think Akane doesn't nail him because she would have to go through Tofu and myself to reach him. Every time I've seen her go at him, there hasn't been anyone between them. But I think Ranma's curse may include foot in mouth disease.
"Oh? You haven't run screaming from the madhouse that is Nerima yet?" Tofu asks jokingly.
"I'm from New York City Tofu-sensei. This is just a different type of weird. Besides, I've met a lot of nice people here. Ranma, Akane, Tendo-san, Ukyo, Kasumi..."
"K-K-Kasumi..." I don't know how, but his glasses fog over. He walks over to his skeleton and takes it off the hook. "Did you hear that Betty-chan? Jeff says Kasumi is a nice person." He waltzes with the skeleton for a few steps before returning it to it's hook. His glasses clear up again and he turns toward me like nothing happened.
"Oh yes, there are lots of nice people here in Nerima," Tofu says in a perfectly normal tone of voice.
"uh... yeah," I manage to get out. There is a fine line between silly and weird. Tofu-sensei has indeed crossed it. "Ranma, you ready to go?"
"Yeah," he responds, apparently amused. "Thanks for the hot water doc."
"No trouble at all Ranma. Pleasure to have met you Anderson-san."
"Mine as well doctor." Akane makes her goodbyes as well, then the three of us start walking again.
No wonder Ranma laughed when I said this guy needed to get a grip. He's got it _bad_. Kasumi might be better off with someone who doesn't fall apart around her though. If he's as bad as that just from hearing her name, how bad does he get when they are together? Ranma says he acts 'weird' but considering Nerima, 'weird' may be a lot stranger than I think.
Ranma hops up on a fence and starts walking. I can hear Akane mutter "showoff" under her breath. Ranma hears it as well from his slightly pained reaction.
"You know Ranma, there is a reason why Akane doesn't walk on fences."
"Yeah, she's got no balance," Ranma retorts.
"Hey!" interjects Akane, "I have balance! I'll show you, I'll show both of you! Here!" She shoves her book bag into my hands and using a bench as a stepping stone, gets to the top of the fence. She's leaning heavily against a telephone pole as Ranma turns and looks at the proceedings. She takes a few seconds to get her balance and once she has it, says, "This won't be so tough!" and takes a couple careful steps.
"Uh... Akane... It's because you're wearing a dress." Time stands still for the longest three seconds I can remember.
"Eep!" Akane flushes red in embarrassment and brings her hands down to her sides to keep her skirt from fluttering in the light breeze. Unfortunately, this causes her to lose her balance. Before she can fall, Ranma is there to steady her.
"Stupid tomboy," Ranma mutters after equilibrium is restored. Bad move. Akane punches him into the canal, pivots on both feet, walks back to the telephone pole and steps down to the bench before reaching the ground. All without a moment of hesitation or loss of balance.
"Jerk!" Akane shouts at the now female Ranma and then she stomps off in the direction of her home.
"That one, you had coming," I tell Ranma as he pulls himself out of the water.
"stupid macho uncute tomboy... not my fault she was wearin' a dress..." Ranma mutters once he is back on top of the fence. We start heading to the Tendo home ourselves. Akane is about 50 meters ahead and she hasn't looked back once.
Both of them need to listen first, then react. Unfortunately, I think all their martial arts training has taught them to react first. But the incident does provide evidence for a couple of theories. No one was between the two when Akane slugged him and Ranma definitely has foot in mouth disease. Akane may not have thought it through first, but she did get up on that fence and take a couple of steps. If Ranma would have admitted he was wrong or said "good going" or done anything positive, he wouldn't be female right now.
From the way he prevented her fall, it's obvious Ranma cares for Akane. Too bad he acts as if he'll be struck dead if he says one nice thing to her. Saotome Genma... I think I hate you. You've created a near perfect martial arts machine. If Ranma wasn't a nice guy at heart, you would have created a monster. Thousands of days of martial arts training and practice. Did you spend even one day teaching him to deal with someone who isn't his next opponent? Sigh.
Ranma _is_ a nice guy. Incredibly so for all the crap he has to put up with. Unfortunately, his social skills are worse than mine, and mine suck. From the look on his face, I can tell he doesn't want to talk about it. So we finish walking to the Tendo home in silence.
"Taidama!" Ranma calls out upon returning home. I hand him Akane's book bag and tell him I'll wait out by the pond. I don't really feel like taking my shoes off when I'll be putting them back on two minutes later.
As I walk around the compound to the koi pond, I see Genma and Tendo-san bent over the shogi board as usual.
Soun notices me first. "Ah, Anderson-san. Have you changed your mind about training here?" Genma moves a couple pieces while Soun speaks.
"No Tendo-san. Honor forbids me to train in the dojo. But it doesn't prevent me from sparring out here. Ranma says he and Saotome-san usually spar out here anyway."
"Will you be sparring with Ranma?" Genma asks interestedly. (And while doing so, Soun move a few pieces of his own.)
"Maybe. I promised Akane I would spar with her. After that, we'll see." Actually, what I want to do is see how Ranma handles multiple opponents. So after Akane and I spar, I'll see if Ranma is up for a little two on one.
Akane steps onto the porch, wearing her gi and with a determined look on her face. We face off and bow. I get caught flat footed when Akane launches a fast punch that knocks me back a bit and throws off my balance. She follows with a snap kick to my chest that sends me stumbling. I teeter on the edge for a moment before falling into the koi pond.
When I resurface, Genma and Soun have a good laugh and Akane looks at me in shock. "Gomen Jeff," Akane says before she starts giggling.
"Don't apologize. You got me fair and square." The force of her blows indicates she not holding back much, if at all. I pull myself out of the pond, re-tighten the drawstring on my sweats and pull off my soaked t-shirt.
"Round two," I say as I walk around the pond. Akane drops to a ready stance. This time, I launch the attack. My punch connects, but her countering kick is enough to force me to adjust my stance. Our defenses start firming up after that. After a few minutes of feints, blocks and evasions, I force a open handed blow past her defenses to strike her ribcage. Her return kick is a clean miss. I notice Ranma's arrival on the porch. He's male again.
Akane and I go through another long flurry of blows, moves and counter moves. This time, I come out the worst of it, as Akane's response to my connecting strike catches me off-guard and knocks me back, almost into the koi pond again. Which gives me an idea. I wrench myself erect and wait for Akane to attack. She stalks up, waiting for me to do something and then, impatient, attempts a snap kick. I grab her foot and smile. A look of horror appears on her face, but she doesn't have the strength or leverage to break free. I simply pull, twist and drop her into the koi pond. Akane hits the water, splashing me in the process, but I don't mind.
I take a few steps back as Akane pulls herself from the water. She resettles her gi while frowning at me. "Round Three" is all she says as she rushes me. I was expecting this so I hop forward and left. Grabbing her by the right arm before she can adjust, I swing her around and throw her back in the koi pond.
Ranma laughs at this, but wisely shuts up before Akane resurfaces. She's sputtering and fuming like a dynamite fuse when I tell her, "I win, two dunkings to one."
She abruptly stops and begins to laugh herself. Pulling herself out of the pond she turns and says, "Ranma, I'll never make fun of you getting knocked into the koi pond again. That water is _cold_!"
Which is why I threw her in there. Petty and vindictive? Maybe. But I've never claimed to be a saint, just one of the good guys. "Akane, you still need to work on your grappling defense. Plus, you ran straight in at me when you _know_ I'm fast enough to dodge you. Other than that, you did better than last time. Caught me napping with that first punch and you followed up nicely."
"Uh, thanks I guess..." Akane says in a distracted voice before continuing more firmly, "I'm going to get cleaned up." She heads off, exchanging a few words with Ranma on the way.
"My turn I guess," Ranma says, leaping down from the porch to a spot about 3 meters away from me. He doesn't drop into a stance, but then he doesn't need to. From what I found out the last time I sparred with him, he's fast enough to make any move he wants from almost any position, so he won't give away anything by preparing a stance. Genma and Soun look on with interest and are muttering something between them, the shogi game forgotten.
As we stand, waiting for one of us to make the first move, part of the wall surrounding the Tendo compound gets blown to bits.
It's Cologne, with Shampoo and Mousse standing behind her. Mousse looks as love-struck as ever, but Shampoo looks like she would rather be anywhere else instead of here. At least until she spots Ranma. Cologne pogoes through the hole, taking in the scene.
"Ah, the both of you are here, very good," Cologne states.
"What do you want old ghoul?" Ranma asks, obviously annoyed.
"Son-in-law, you were present when this man fought Shampoo on two occasions," Cologne says while pointing at me.
"Yeah. So what?"
"Tell me what you saw. The truth."
Ranma hesitates, giving me a brief glance. One that I'm certain Cologne noticed. "I didn't see nuthin' the first time. After Jeff tried ta pour water on us, I was too busy poundin' Kuno into the ground ta see how he turned Shampoo inta a c- c- ca-, got her wet." True, very true.
"Very well, and on the second occasion?"
"That ended with Shampoo standing and him on the ground." Also true, if not complete.
Her eyes narrow in concentration, but before anything else can be said, a rounded red metal shape punches through the wall of the Tendo compound. Followed by another and another and another. Two more punch through near the top of the wall as I throw a repeller field around me. The six shapes flex, destroying the parts of the wall between them.
When the dust clears, I see a group of 3 armored figures in front of a large, red, 6 armed mecha in front of a group of 20 or so men wearing riot gear and carrying a variety of weapons.
An amplified, semi-familiar female voice comes from the large mecha. "No One Move. Jeffery Anderson, Lady Akiko Wishes To Speak With You. Come Quietly And You Will Not Be Hurt."
I remember, "Hostile action is to be considered a last resort." If this was their first resort, what do they consider hostile? I don't want to find out. While I could care less about what happens to some of those present, I don't want any harm coming to Ranma or the Tendos. I'm preparing to surrender when the Tendo daughters all rush out onto the porch. In response to all the noise is my guess.
Kasumi: "Oh my, I'll have to get the dustpan. And make some more tea."
Nabiki: "Someone's going to pay for this mess."
Akane: "Ranma, you jerk! What did you do this time?"
Ranma raises his hands in defense and cries out, "It's not my fault!"
Stomping down from the porch Akane retorts, "Right, likely story! It's always your fault!"
"They're after Jeff!" Ranma yells, taking a step back and pointing toward me.
"Excuse Me?" the amplified voice interjects.
Both Akane and Ranma turn and shout at the mecha, "You stay out of it!"
This results in a momentary stand off that is broken by the sound of a engine gunning in the distance. A loud horn begins honking and getting closer with each repetition. Through the hole in the wall I see the miscellaneous troops scatter and the red mecha ponderously turn toward the approaching noise.
I must admit to some surprise when a Land Rover smashes into the mecha knocking it several meters away to land on it's back.
A different, male, amplified voice cries "Attack!" and things get very busy indeed.
The mecha isn't a threat right now, but before the rest of the opponents can get organized, I start shouting orders out of reflex. "Ranma, take the gray suit! Shampoo, take the green suit! Black suit's mine! Akane, Mousse, the rest are yours. Tendo-san and Saotome-san are backup!"
The combat suits are smaller than the ones we fought on the mission that Rich died on. That doesn't mean much. They could be a different model, or they could be improved models that don't mass as much. That time, the gray suit was the fast one with stunning weapons, the green one was strong and heavily armored and the black suit was electronic warfare and lotsa guns. No flame throwing red suit or laser equipped white suit this time I hope.
Ranma nods and starts heading for his target. I notice Shampoo say something to Cologne before she bounds over what is left of the wall, Mousse following her. As she runs for the nearest hole to the outside, Akane shoots me a look of... gratitude? I'm the last one to the street.
"Take out their sensors to blind them, then take out their joints to immobilize them!" I shout out to no one in particular. I notice Natsume Kyusaku crawl out of the Range Rover right before I get too busy to notice much of anything other than the black armored suit in front of me.
A stream of bullets shoot from the suit. They don't penetrate the repeller field. I notice something odd about the deflected shots. Rubber bullets? I reach out with my TK to grab the suit. Feedback provides me with some good news. This suit is a lot lighter than the old suits we fought. Feels about 220 kilos, but that's still over the mass limit to be affected by a repeller field. Most of my concentration is required to force the arms of the suit toward the ground.
I leap for the helmet of the suit. I can hear servos whining and feel the pressure in my mind as the arms of the suit start coming up despite my best efforts to hold them down. I touch the helmet of the suit and once I have tactile feedback, I'm able to focus all my own strength and telekinesis to the task of slamming this thing into the pavement.
It isn't enough. I don't have the leverage. More rubber bullets as well a couple of cartridges erupt from the suit. None come anywhere near hitting me, but the cartridges start billowing out a yellowish gas. I settle for snapping off a couple of handy antennas before disengaging to get away from the gas. Probably tear gas, or if they play nasty, a regurgitant or something worse.
I catch a glimpse of Akane running into a group of three armed men and clocking all three of them before I have to return my attention to the matter at hand.
Another hail of rubber bullets is handled by the repeller field. If these were conventional rounds, I'd be worried about the ricochets. Nice to know they want me alive. The suit charges me to be met with a TK backed kick. Much to my surprise, this puts a small dent in the suit's chestplate. Hurts my foot some though. Feels like I've kicked a steel wall.
I avoid several punches and a kick made by the suit while maneuvering around to keep an eye on the entire battlefield. Shampoo has cracked her opponent's face plate and pretty much smashed anything that looks like an exterior sensor. Ranma is fighting rings around his opponent, but doesn't look to have hurt it much. Mousse has at least half a dozen people wrapped up in chains. I no longer see Akane.
The fact I can't find Akane distracts me enough to let my opponent score a glancing hit on me. Since he's over the mass limit, the repeller field doesn't do to much to soften the blow. A solid hit that strong could have broken bones. I try to reach in for a grappling attempt, but fail miserably. We exchange a few more swings with no result before I manage to slap a TK enhanced grip on him. Since my feet are planted this time, I muster the leverage to slam my opponent into the pavement twice before the suit shakes itself free of my grip.
Before the suit can regain it's feet, I'm behind it making a two fisted TK backed blow to it's helmet. It's an all or nothing shot that connects. The suit smashes back to the pavement and I hear a cracking noise. My follow up kick misses as the suit rolls out of the way. I notice the faceplate of my opponents armor has fallen off and the face underneath looks scared.
A stray shot comes from behind me, just missing both of us. Now that I have an unarmored spot to aim for, I launch a jab right at his face. It connects and he stumbles back 3 or 4 meters before righting himself. Before he can train his guns on me again, I rush in. He catches me on the way in and knocks me back a step. He follows with a blow to my stomach. Good thing I didn't stop at Ucchan's or I'd be tossing my okonomiyaki. I'm not sure I can take another hit like that. In desperation, I jump up and launch a snap kick to his head. I connect and he's unconscious before he hits the ground.
My conscience forces me to check his pulse and respiration before turning to the rest of the battle. Ranma is still playing with his opponent, but Shampoo is on the receiving end of a blow from her green armored foe. She falls. I start sprinting as fast as I can toward Shampoo and her opponent. "Quit screwing around!" I shout at Ranma on my way past.
A green armored fist rises high in the air. It's intended destination, the fallen Amazon's head. I'm not going to make it in time running, so I start flying. Mousse flashes in from the opposite direction, snatches up Shampoo and leaps away while I grab the green suit by the arm as I fly past, dragging it the opposite direction a moment before letting go. Feels heavier than the one I fought. I manage a sloppy landing, somewhat surprised I haven't fallen over from the damage I've taken so far.
A shout of "Kacchu Tenshin Amiguriken Revised! Quick Change!" draws my attention. I look over and see Ranma smirking. His opponent is no longer wearing a set of gray armor. He's wearing a T-shirt and pair of boxer shorts. The armor lays in various sections scattered on the ground. The former wearer turns and flees at high speed.
The sound of high powered servos gets my attention and I turn to see the green armored suit bearing down on me. I duck under a punch designed to remove my head from my shoulders. While I'm down there, I pick up one of Shampoo's dropped bonbori. Rising, I swing for the fences, another all or nothing shot. The bonbori crashes into the chest of the green armored figure and lofts it farther than I would have guessed possible. It crashes into the fallen red mecha and doesn't move after that. It may be my imagination, but I could swear there was a wisp of blue aura around the bonbori when it hit.
With all three of the armored suits out of commission, I have a chance to look around the rest of the battlefield. Mousse has pulled a pillow and bandages out of his voluminous sleeves and is treating Shampoo. Of the guys in riot gear that I find, 9 are tied up in chains, and 7 are unconscious. I check vitals for the unconscious ones. The ones who are awake seem to be all right except for a few bruises. The unconscious ones are all right as well. Ranma and his friends have better control with their blows than I do.
Ranma runs back into view carrying Akane in his arms. I rush over and have him lay her down on the ground.
"They hit her with this," he declares in barely suppressed rage. He then hands me a sleek black stun gun. I check pulse and respiration on Akane. Both are strong.
"Akane will be all right in a bit," I tell him. "That thing," I say pointing to the fallen mecha, "seemed to be in charge. What say we check it out."
Ranma doesn't answer, but the look on his face answers for him. We both go over to the fallen machine. Out of reflex, I stop to check the green armored suit wearer's vitals. Breathing looks shallow but steady, but I can't read his pulse through the armor.
Ranma starts wailing away on the red mecha, but even his punches aren't doing any damage. I take a couple of whacks at a small porthole with the bonbori. Nothing. I back my next blow with TK. Still nothing.
"Ranma, save your strength." I want him to stop before he hurts himself.
"You'll never do it that way," two female voices state from behind us. One voice belongs to Cologne. The other sounds vaguely familiar... I turn and see Cologne balancing on her staff next to a well dressed woman in her early to mid thirties. I recognize Mishima Akiko from my research. Cologne starts pogoing over to the mecha.
"You wanted to talk, so talk," I tell Mishima with a slight edge.
"Perhaps after you get dressed Anderson-san", she responds demurely.
I hear Cologne behind me. "Like this Son-in-law." Tap. Crash! Scratch one porthole. I can see Mishima Akiko's jaw drop.
"That glass was rated for 2500 meters water pressure!" she exclaims in awe.
"Jeff! The pilot's bleeding!" Ranma shouts.
Mishima whips out her cell phone as I turn back to the downed mecha and look in through the missing porthole. It's the Navigator from the aerodyne, and she's bleeding from a nasty cut on her forehead. "Give me some room," I tell Ranma and Cologne. They both back away. Head wounds are always bloody as hell. Hope it's nothing severe.
"Young man, that hole is too small for _me_ to fit through. You'll never fit," I hear Cologne say from behind me.
"I don't have to." Her chest is rising and falling so she's still breathing. I use some TK to prop up her left arm so I can see her palm. There's a little tell-tale vein at bottom the hand/top of the wrist. I use it to verify her pulse. A little high. A siren starts up in the background. It's too loud to have approached while on. It must have been nearby already.
I look around some more until I find the hatch. A telekinetic shove on the unlocking bar does nothing. Uh oh. A quick look indicates the hatch is right under the green armored suit. "Ranma, see if you can move that power suit. It's blocking the exit."
It takes both Ranma and I to move the suit. The external access port is crunched. Whether by the initial hit by the Land Rover or the later impact by the power suit, I don't know. I look through the porthole again to try the unlocking bar. It takes every gram of TK I can muster applied for almost a minute before the unlocking bar pops the hatch open.
After that, the rest of the work is a piece of cake. The ambulance arrives and an EMT helps me get Kyouko (as I remember her name to be) out of the "Mishima Heavy Industries Armored Octopus Mark II". Where did they come up with a name like that?
By the time the last ambulance leaves and the mecha is hauled away with the heavily damaged power suits, the sun has started to set. Kasumi somehow manages to make enough food for everyone still here. (Meaning those who live there, Cologne, Mousse, Shampoo, me, Natsume Kyusaku and Mishima Akiko.)
Snippets of conversations I hear:
Mishima Akiko: And where are Ryunosuke and Nuku Nuku?
Natsume Kyusaku: Nuku Nuku is home watching over Ryu-kun of course.
Shampoo: Mousse leave Shampoo alone! Not need stupid Mousse's help.
Mousse (to Kasumi): But Shampoo!
Kasumi (gently pointing him the right direction): Over there Mousse-kun.
Nabiki (handing over a list): Here's the bill for the damages.
Mishima Akiko (frowning over same): Will you take a check?
Nabiki: With two forms of I.D.? Sure!
Ranma: Are ya sure you're all right?
Akane (angrily): For the last time, I'm fine!
Ranma: Ya sure?
Akane pulls a mallet out from... somewhere... and bonks Ranma with it before walking away.
Ranma (from floor): uncute tomboy...
Akane: I heard that!
Soun: So old friend, do you think this will help us join the families?
Genma: Doesn't seem to have hurt Tendo.
Natsume Kyusaku walks up to me and hands me a super-disk. "You have equipment that can read this?" he asks.
"Yeah. If I had to, I'd build equipment to read it," I respond.
Natsume laughs for a moment, before dropping his voice to a quieter level. "It's what I could find. Hope it helps you Anderson-san. Or do you prefer Tach?"
Doesn't surprise me he figured it out. I gave him enough clues when I told him what I was looking for and why.
"And what company secret is my husband giving you Anderson-san?" Mishima Akiko asks as she walks up to the two of us. "He certainly wouldn't part with any of his own."
I don't see any reason to lie to her. "A colleague of mine died because some things that were made by your company killed him." Holding up the disk, "This tells me who paid the bills."
Mishima turns to her husband. "Excuse us dear, Anderson-san and I need to speak in private." Natsume leaves and the two of us stroll over to the koi pond. "Our clients expect confidentiality, Anderson-san. I cannot sanction the theft of this data. But it seems I can not prevent it either." After a slight pause she continues, "After all, I have already lost over 3 billion yen between the battle today and the loss of Poison 02. That was you, was it not?"
"Maybe."
"I have never met an actual meta-human before. Are you one of those 'super-heroes' that keep appearing in the tabloids?" It's not really a question.
"Maybe."
"Do not be modest. I am sure that with some effort I can find out which one you are."
"I'm certain you could... if I were what you say I am. After all, you took the effort to track me here. And it's only cost you 3 billion yen so far."
Mishima's eyes narrow and her voice oozes menace as she asks, "Is that a threat?"
"Merely an observation. How are you going to explain these losses to the stockholders? A field test gone awry? I don't think anyone still buys the terrorist story from Sunday." Don't challenge my ingenuity here lady. It's so much easier to destroy than create. My family gets hurt out of this and I could have your entire corporation on the ropes in a month. A week if I let MATRIX help.
"'Some doors are best left unopened' is it?"
"You betcha." Ah, she does understand. I escort her back to Natsume. After a brief conversation, the two of them leave together.
"An interesting couple, don't you think," Cologne states from atop her staff. I never noticed her approach. I'm slipping. Or maybe just really tired.
"I watched your battle young man. Funny how your feet forgot to touch the ground there for a moment," Cologne observes dryly.
"Just a barrel of laughs Cologne-san." I'm not in the mood for sarcasm. (Hypocritical of me, I know.)
"I don't believe anything I have heard about that farce of a battle you had with Shampoo yesterday. Of course, not truly being a man makes you exempt from our laws."
Love that prejudice. "Oh really? What about Ranma?"
"Jusenkyo curses are part of our law, we have dealt with them for centuries. Son-in-law will not escape that easily. Between your prior marriage, and as you are not truly human to begin with, you have no place among our tribe. That is the way I will present it in tribal council if the matter comes up. Otherwise, your various secrets are safe with me."
"Thank you." I think.
"You are welcome young man. Besides, I believe Shampoo would be happier with Son-in-law, and there is nothing I would not do for my great-granddaughter." With that, she pogoes off to to where Shampoo and Mousse are standing. A few words are exchanged in Chinese and the three of them leave.
I'm looking for Ranma when I run across Ukyo of all people, coming through one of the holes in the wall. "There was a big fight and you didn't invite me?" she asks. I'm too tired to tell if she's actually as upset as she sounds.
"Sorry. If you want, I can go to your place and trash it so you won't feel left out."
Ukyo deadpans, "Don't even think about it."
"Kinda glad your here anyway. I'll be leaving Nerima soon and I wanted to ask you a favor."
"Uh... what kind of favor?" she asks uncertainly.
"Some okonomiyaki recipes?" Some chefs don't like to share, others can't wait to. I'm not sure which side of the fence Ukyo is on.
Ukyo is beaming when she says "Hallelujah! I've made a convert! Sure thing Jeff. I'll even write them in English for you."
"Thanks."
"Well, it'll also take care of an English project I've got. Sort of a 'kill two birds' thing."
"I'll take them any way I can get them." She goes into the house, ostensibly to get pen and paper, but more likely to see Ranma and find out what happened. I like Ukyo. And okonomiyaki ain't bad either. I walk back to the edge of the Koi pond to think.
Let's see, tomorrow, after classes, I'll manufacture an excuse to end my student teaching stay early. "Family Emergency" sounds about right. Saturday, I'll spend covering my tracks, catch a flight out Sunday. Monday, jet lag at home. It's a plan. Maybe I can take the Tendos and Saotomes and Ukyo out to dinner Saturday night. Probably be the last time I see any of them. Although... Hmm. I've got to track down Ranma, there's something I want to ask before I issue that invite.
-----
"Ranma, you ever think about becoming a super-hero?" I ask.
"What? Me wearing tights and a cape?" Ranma answers laughing.
"Well, I wear body armor. You can wear a cape if you want."
The laughter stops. "You're not joking, are ya?"
"Ranma, I'm serious about this. You ever want to come visit me in New York, just call me. I'll get you there, I promise. Or if you just want to talk, you can still call me. Collect." I hand Ranma a card with a phone number on it. Six other people have this number, and I trust all of them to watch my back. I drop my voice to just above a whisper. "And make sure Nabiki never sees this."
"Thank you." The card disappears into his pocket. "So, what ya gonna to do now?" Ranma asks.
"Call my wife. Otherwise, she'll beat me up when I get home."
Ranma starts laughing and I follow suit a few seconds later.
-----
I decide to try Anne's cell phone first. Normally, she doesn't go anywhere with out it since Bill was born. She answers after a couple of rings.
"Hello?" The connection is surprisingly clear. I can hear city noises in the background.
"Mushy mushy. All done. Coming home." Brief and to the point.
"Jeff?"
"Aw... you figured it out." I can't wait to see her.
"So what did you find?" she asks.
"I'll tell you everything when I get home." After I get a chance to read that disk myself.
"You'd better," she threatens. "And since you're in Japan, buy me a kimono and some goodies before you leave," Anne continues sweetly.
"I'll be home as soon as I clean up a few loose ends and book a flight." And buy a kimono and some goodies. Maybe I'll ask Kasumi for help, they're about the same height.
"Hang on a sec hun..." I can barely hear what comes through the cell phone next. "I'm sorry, I don't where Furinkan High School is."
END
--------------------
Author's Notes: For the continuity fans out there, I figure this would be considered an alternate timeline that occurs somewhere between Manga volume 9 (where Ukyo is introduced) and volume 20 (where the Shi Shi Hokodan and Moko Takabishi are introduced). Leaning towards the earlier end of that as well. Character appearances are more based on the anime, but the personalities are (hopefully) more from the manga. (I threw in Sasuke because I like the lil' bugger.)
I remember one afternoon, I was sitting at a computer at the Public Library in Worthington, Ohio and I came across Fan Fiction for the first time. It was Daigakusei no Ranma. I read a couple episodes and thought, "This is pretty good." I didn't even have my own internet access yet. From there I found the Ranma archive on TASS. I actually went out and GOT internet access so I could read this stuff at home and not drive out to the library.
I went through the archive list and assorted links, stopping at anything that looked interesting. 2010: Odyssey 1/2, Richard Lawson's Nuku Nuku stories, Ranmapunk 2033, Long and Winding Road, and many other stories I liked found their way on to my hard drive. (With the occasional grammar or spelling correction. Don't worry authors, the altered versions aren't leaving my disk drive unless the author requests.)
Then one sad fateful day, I read a piece by Mike Rhea. "Must really have something against cross-dressers. C'mon, there's supposed be a space after a comma. I can do better than this." It's the last thought that eventually lead to my first attempt at writing fanfiction. Just so we all know who to blame.
Jeff Anderson and his wife Anne are characters I originally created for a Champions game that I never actually played in back in 1983 or 1984. I kept the character concepts and started using them in a Marvel Super Heroes game way back when it first came out. So my characters are actually older than Ranma and company. Go figure.
I figured that the power level displayed in the Ranma series matches well with the super hero genre, so it was natural for me to combine the two. The events that cause Jeff to go to Nerima are heavily based on gaming sessions with my friend Chris Roxby and a few others folks who names are lost to time (and my horrible memory for names). I threw in the Nuku Nuku stuff because both series take place in Nerima and Mishima Heavy Industries makes a good opponent. I chose the time frame because by Volume 38, Ranma is just too powerful. Personally, I think this is why Takahashi-sama ended the series. After defeating a god, how can any other challenge match up?
If I ever decide to do this again, I've got an idea for a "pure" Ranma fic. But since I wrote this to deal with a burst of creative energy which is now gone, I don't know if it will happen soon. Besides, this project took a couple of months. I now understand why some of my favorite authors take so long to publish their new work. (Both Fan Fiction and Science Fiction!)
I had about 5 pages of stuff I was going to say about my views on the various characters and why they acted the way they did, but after looking it over, I deleted it. Got to leave some reason for people to write. (Although I'll ignore flames and anyone who says Ryoga, Ukyo and Tendo should all be spelled with "u's" after the "o's".)
Chosen Path
by Warren Phillips
E-mail: gitm@amaxx.net
Version 1.0 completed 11/05/2000
1.05 completed 03/17/2001 (Dang, thought I caught those errors the first five times through.)
What's happened so far: Jeffery Anderson, 'retiring' super hero, has come to Nerima for reasons involving a dead colleague and Mishima Heavy Industries. His cover is as a student teacher at Furinkan High School. He's learned about Jusenkyo and thinks Ryoga/P-Chan is a meta-human like himself. He's fought a group of thugs, Kuno, Poison 02 and had some run ins with Shampoo. Ranma caught Jeff floating in the dojo, so Jeff explained a few things about himself and swore Ranma to secrecy. His partial hack of the Mishima computer network was discovered by Natsume Kyusaku, but after an early morning talk, Natsume has agreed to look into the incident in question.
-----
The day begins heavily overcast, but I'm in too good a mood to give a rat's ass. If Natsume comes through for me, this trip is as good as over. I'm feeling so good, I do an extra fifty pushups.
The threatening skies mean I'm not going to bicycle to school though. I grab a large and expensive "Western" breakfast at a small restaurant since I can only eat so much okonomiyaki, no matter how much I like it. Four jumbo eggs over hard, sausage, bacon, home fries, a giant blueberry muffin and a pitcher of orange juice. No pancakes, but still worth every yen.
Since the train is actually faster than bicycling, I still make it to school with plenty of time to spare. A little damp though as the rain finally starts falling when I'm a couple hundred meters away from the school. Still doesn't shake my mood.
The rain continues off and on all morning. During English Lit, I don't make a single mistake in Japanese or English. Even Kuno doesn't annoy me as he gives a _flawless_ recital of Shakespeare's Sonnet XXX. The Bard seldom sounds so good. Even though everyone in the class knows he's a complete jerk, a few of the female students are giving him puppy dog eyes by the time he finishes.
"Kuno-san, that was extraordinarily well done."
He gives me a cautious look before replying, "Thank you Anderson-sensei. The works of the immortal Bard doth hold a special place in the heart of the great and noble Blue Thunder. Indeed..."
"Don't push it," I interrupt with a slight edge to my voice. He mercifully shuts up and and retakes his seat. Inspired by the level of Kuno's performance, the rest of the class cranks it up a notch and the time until lunch is enjoyed by all. I even catch Nabiki and Serizawa-sensei smiling once or twice.
When the lunch bell does ring and the students file out, Serizawa-sensei asks me to wait for a moment.
"Thank you, young man. It's not often I see moments like this. An entire class doing their very best, not because there is a test or because it's expected of them. Just out of... exuberance and the joy of a job well done."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you should be thanking Kuno-san, not me."
"I would, but I don't want to swell his head any more than it is."
I crack up. I can't help it. Serizawa-sensei leaves the room before I pull myself together. Turns out the man is human after all. I'm singing under my breath as I head down to the cafeteria. Even eating cafeteria food doesn't spoil my mood. Although it does put a slight dent in it.
The afternoon session bogs down a bit, but then Japanese students have to spend a lot of time learning their own written language. With hiragana, katakana, kanji, Arabic numerals and romanji (or the English alphabet) it is one genuine bitch kitty to learn. Mostly because of the kanji. I've been paying attention in this class, but my reading and writing skills are still trailing far behind my verbal skills. Give them a century or two and I bet they phase out kanji entirely.
Math class rolls around, but the groove from English Lit is gone. The sun does finally come out though, so it makes lessons on integrating the volume of a martini glass a little less tedious. After we finally get through the whole thing, I remind them that from geometry, the volume of a cone is 1/3 base times height. Whether it's right side up or not.
"The moral of the story is, not every solution has to be difficult and different types of approaches may work better for certain problems. Things that are difficult to solve algebraically, might be easier to solve graphically. Long, drawn out integrations might collapse down to simple functions as we have just seen. Mind you, this doesn't always work, some solutions can only be found in certain ways. So don't spend too much time looking for an easy way out. There may not be one."
Homework is assigned and everyone is reminded of the test tomorrow. The groans that these announcements cause are cut off by the bell. Timed that pretty well I think.
I change into sweats and meet up with Akane and Ranma for the walk to the Tendos. Ranma is in female form due to a water fountain with more than necessary water pressure. We stop for hot water at a doctor's office on the way home.
Akane introduces me to a handsome, glasses wearing, brown haired man in his mid to late twenties. "Ono Tofu-sensei, this is Jeffery Anderson. He's a student-teacher here from America."
I bow formally, "Pleased to meet you Ono-sensei. Ranma says good things about you."
He returns my bow before speaking. "Oh, just call me Tofu, everyone does. And this," he says, pointing to a short skeleton on a hook, "is Betty-chan."
All right, I'll play along. I bow to the skeleton and "Pleased to meet you Betty-chan."
"Oh, you two are so silly," Akane points out while smiling. Silly is good. Nothing wrong with silly. I like silly. Beats doom and gloom any day.
"Have you and Ranma been getting along all right?" the doctor asks Akane. "I have not seen my star patient much in the last two weeks."
Ranma, male once again with tea kettle in hand, returns to the room. "Nah, the tomboy's still hittin' me." After he says that, the flash of anger I see in Akane's eyes guarantees it'll happen again. "Jeff's been catchin' some of the weirdness instead of me since he got here."
I think Akane doesn't nail him because she would have to go through Tofu and myself to reach him. Every time I've seen her go at him, there hasn't been anyone between them. But I think Ranma's curse may include foot in mouth disease.
"Oh? You haven't run screaming from the madhouse that is Nerima yet?" Tofu asks jokingly.
"I'm from New York City Tofu-sensei. This is just a different type of weird. Besides, I've met a lot of nice people here. Ranma, Akane, Tendo-san, Ukyo, Kasumi..."
"K-K-Kasumi..." I don't know how, but his glasses fog over. He walks over to his skeleton and takes it off the hook. "Did you hear that Betty-chan? Jeff says Kasumi is a nice person." He waltzes with the skeleton for a few steps before returning it to it's hook. His glasses clear up again and he turns toward me like nothing happened.
"Oh yes, there are lots of nice people here in Nerima," Tofu says in a perfectly normal tone of voice.
"uh... yeah," I manage to get out. There is a fine line between silly and weird. Tofu-sensei has indeed crossed it. "Ranma, you ready to go?"
"Yeah," he responds, apparently amused. "Thanks for the hot water doc."
"No trouble at all Ranma. Pleasure to have met you Anderson-san."
"Mine as well doctor." Akane makes her goodbyes as well, then the three of us start walking again.
No wonder Ranma laughed when I said this guy needed to get a grip. He's got it _bad_. Kasumi might be better off with someone who doesn't fall apart around her though. If he's as bad as that just from hearing her name, how bad does he get when they are together? Ranma says he acts 'weird' but considering Nerima, 'weird' may be a lot stranger than I think.
Ranma hops up on a fence and starts walking. I can hear Akane mutter "showoff" under her breath. Ranma hears it as well from his slightly pained reaction.
"You know Ranma, there is a reason why Akane doesn't walk on fences."
"Yeah, she's got no balance," Ranma retorts.
"Hey!" interjects Akane, "I have balance! I'll show you, I'll show both of you! Here!" She shoves her book bag into my hands and using a bench as a stepping stone, gets to the top of the fence. She's leaning heavily against a telephone pole as Ranma turns and looks at the proceedings. She takes a few seconds to get her balance and once she has it, says, "This won't be so tough!" and takes a couple careful steps.
"Uh... Akane... It's because you're wearing a dress." Time stands still for the longest three seconds I can remember.
"Eep!" Akane flushes red in embarrassment and brings her hands down to her sides to keep her skirt from fluttering in the light breeze. Unfortunately, this causes her to lose her balance. Before she can fall, Ranma is there to steady her.
"Stupid tomboy," Ranma mutters after equilibrium is restored. Bad move. Akane punches him into the canal, pivots on both feet, walks back to the telephone pole and steps down to the bench before reaching the ground. All without a moment of hesitation or loss of balance.
"Jerk!" Akane shouts at the now female Ranma and then she stomps off in the direction of her home.
"That one, you had coming," I tell Ranma as he pulls himself out of the water.
"stupid macho uncute tomboy... not my fault she was wearin' a dress..." Ranma mutters once he is back on top of the fence. We start heading to the Tendo home ourselves. Akane is about 50 meters ahead and she hasn't looked back once.
Both of them need to listen first, then react. Unfortunately, I think all their martial arts training has taught them to react first. But the incident does provide evidence for a couple of theories. No one was between the two when Akane slugged him and Ranma definitely has foot in mouth disease. Akane may not have thought it through first, but she did get up on that fence and take a couple of steps. If Ranma would have admitted he was wrong or said "good going" or done anything positive, he wouldn't be female right now.
From the way he prevented her fall, it's obvious Ranma cares for Akane. Too bad he acts as if he'll be struck dead if he says one nice thing to her. Saotome Genma... I think I hate you. You've created a near perfect martial arts machine. If Ranma wasn't a nice guy at heart, you would have created a monster. Thousands of days of martial arts training and practice. Did you spend even one day teaching him to deal with someone who isn't his next opponent? Sigh.
Ranma _is_ a nice guy. Incredibly so for all the crap he has to put up with. Unfortunately, his social skills are worse than mine, and mine suck. From the look on his face, I can tell he doesn't want to talk about it. So we finish walking to the Tendo home in silence.
"Taidama!" Ranma calls out upon returning home. I hand him Akane's book bag and tell him I'll wait out by the pond. I don't really feel like taking my shoes off when I'll be putting them back on two minutes later.
As I walk around the compound to the koi pond, I see Genma and Tendo-san bent over the shogi board as usual.
Soun notices me first. "Ah, Anderson-san. Have you changed your mind about training here?" Genma moves a couple pieces while Soun speaks.
"No Tendo-san. Honor forbids me to train in the dojo. But it doesn't prevent me from sparring out here. Ranma says he and Saotome-san usually spar out here anyway."
"Will you be sparring with Ranma?" Genma asks interestedly. (And while doing so, Soun move a few pieces of his own.)
"Maybe. I promised Akane I would spar with her. After that, we'll see." Actually, what I want to do is see how Ranma handles multiple opponents. So after Akane and I spar, I'll see if Ranma is up for a little two on one.
Akane steps onto the porch, wearing her gi and with a determined look on her face. We face off and bow. I get caught flat footed when Akane launches a fast punch that knocks me back a bit and throws off my balance. She follows with a snap kick to my chest that sends me stumbling. I teeter on the edge for a moment before falling into the koi pond.
When I resurface, Genma and Soun have a good laugh and Akane looks at me in shock. "Gomen Jeff," Akane says before she starts giggling.
"Don't apologize. You got me fair and square." The force of her blows indicates she not holding back much, if at all. I pull myself out of the pond, re-tighten the drawstring on my sweats and pull off my soaked t-shirt.
"Round two," I say as I walk around the pond. Akane drops to a ready stance. This time, I launch the attack. My punch connects, but her countering kick is enough to force me to adjust my stance. Our defenses start firming up after that. After a few minutes of feints, blocks and evasions, I force a open handed blow past her defenses to strike her ribcage. Her return kick is a clean miss. I notice Ranma's arrival on the porch. He's male again.
Akane and I go through another long flurry of blows, moves and counter moves. This time, I come out the worst of it, as Akane's response to my connecting strike catches me off-guard and knocks me back, almost into the koi pond again. Which gives me an idea. I wrench myself erect and wait for Akane to attack. She stalks up, waiting for me to do something and then, impatient, attempts a snap kick. I grab her foot and smile. A look of horror appears on her face, but she doesn't have the strength or leverage to break free. I simply pull, twist and drop her into the koi pond. Akane hits the water, splashing me in the process, but I don't mind.
I take a few steps back as Akane pulls herself from the water. She resettles her gi while frowning at me. "Round Three" is all she says as she rushes me. I was expecting this so I hop forward and left. Grabbing her by the right arm before she can adjust, I swing her around and throw her back in the koi pond.
Ranma laughs at this, but wisely shuts up before Akane resurfaces. She's sputtering and fuming like a dynamite fuse when I tell her, "I win, two dunkings to one."
She abruptly stops and begins to laugh herself. Pulling herself out of the pond she turns and says, "Ranma, I'll never make fun of you getting knocked into the koi pond again. That water is _cold_!"
Which is why I threw her in there. Petty and vindictive? Maybe. But I've never claimed to be a saint, just one of the good guys. "Akane, you still need to work on your grappling defense. Plus, you ran straight in at me when you _know_ I'm fast enough to dodge you. Other than that, you did better than last time. Caught me napping with that first punch and you followed up nicely."
"Uh, thanks I guess..." Akane says in a distracted voice before continuing more firmly, "I'm going to get cleaned up." She heads off, exchanging a few words with Ranma on the way.
"My turn I guess," Ranma says, leaping down from the porch to a spot about 3 meters away from me. He doesn't drop into a stance, but then he doesn't need to. From what I found out the last time I sparred with him, he's fast enough to make any move he wants from almost any position, so he won't give away anything by preparing a stance. Genma and Soun look on with interest and are muttering something between them, the shogi game forgotten.
As we stand, waiting for one of us to make the first move, part of the wall surrounding the Tendo compound gets blown to bits.
It's Cologne, with Shampoo and Mousse standing behind her. Mousse looks as love-struck as ever, but Shampoo looks like she would rather be anywhere else instead of here. At least until she spots Ranma. Cologne pogoes through the hole, taking in the scene.
"Ah, the both of you are here, very good," Cologne states.
"What do you want old ghoul?" Ranma asks, obviously annoyed.
"Son-in-law, you were present when this man fought Shampoo on two occasions," Cologne says while pointing at me.
"Yeah. So what?"
"Tell me what you saw. The truth."
Ranma hesitates, giving me a brief glance. One that I'm certain Cologne noticed. "I didn't see nuthin' the first time. After Jeff tried ta pour water on us, I was too busy poundin' Kuno into the ground ta see how he turned Shampoo inta a c- c- ca-, got her wet." True, very true.
"Very well, and on the second occasion?"
"That ended with Shampoo standing and him on the ground." Also true, if not complete.
Her eyes narrow in concentration, but before anything else can be said, a rounded red metal shape punches through the wall of the Tendo compound. Followed by another and another and another. Two more punch through near the top of the wall as I throw a repeller field around me. The six shapes flex, destroying the parts of the wall between them.
When the dust clears, I see a group of 3 armored figures in front of a large, red, 6 armed mecha in front of a group of 20 or so men wearing riot gear and carrying a variety of weapons.
An amplified, semi-familiar female voice comes from the large mecha. "No One Move. Jeffery Anderson, Lady Akiko Wishes To Speak With You. Come Quietly And You Will Not Be Hurt."
I remember, "Hostile action is to be considered a last resort." If this was their first resort, what do they consider hostile? I don't want to find out. While I could care less about what happens to some of those present, I don't want any harm coming to Ranma or the Tendos. I'm preparing to surrender when the Tendo daughters all rush out onto the porch. In response to all the noise is my guess.
Kasumi: "Oh my, I'll have to get the dustpan. And make some more tea."
Nabiki: "Someone's going to pay for this mess."
Akane: "Ranma, you jerk! What did you do this time?"
Ranma raises his hands in defense and cries out, "It's not my fault!"
Stomping down from the porch Akane retorts, "Right, likely story! It's always your fault!"
"They're after Jeff!" Ranma yells, taking a step back and pointing toward me.
"Excuse Me?" the amplified voice interjects.
Both Akane and Ranma turn and shout at the mecha, "You stay out of it!"
This results in a momentary stand off that is broken by the sound of a engine gunning in the distance. A loud horn begins honking and getting closer with each repetition. Through the hole in the wall I see the miscellaneous troops scatter and the red mecha ponderously turn toward the approaching noise.
I must admit to some surprise when a Land Rover smashes into the mecha knocking it several meters away to land on it's back.
A different, male, amplified voice cries "Attack!" and things get very busy indeed.
The mecha isn't a threat right now, but before the rest of the opponents can get organized, I start shouting orders out of reflex. "Ranma, take the gray suit! Shampoo, take the green suit! Black suit's mine! Akane, Mousse, the rest are yours. Tendo-san and Saotome-san are backup!"
The combat suits are smaller than the ones we fought on the mission that Rich died on. That doesn't mean much. They could be a different model, or they could be improved models that don't mass as much. That time, the gray suit was the fast one with stunning weapons, the green one was strong and heavily armored and the black suit was electronic warfare and lotsa guns. No flame throwing red suit or laser equipped white suit this time I hope.
Ranma nods and starts heading for his target. I notice Shampoo say something to Cologne before she bounds over what is left of the wall, Mousse following her. As she runs for the nearest hole to the outside, Akane shoots me a look of... gratitude? I'm the last one to the street.
"Take out their sensors to blind them, then take out their joints to immobilize them!" I shout out to no one in particular. I notice Natsume Kyusaku crawl out of the Range Rover right before I get too busy to notice much of anything other than the black armored suit in front of me.
A stream of bullets shoot from the suit. They don't penetrate the repeller field. I notice something odd about the deflected shots. Rubber bullets? I reach out with my TK to grab the suit. Feedback provides me with some good news. This suit is a lot lighter than the old suits we fought. Feels about 220 kilos, but that's still over the mass limit to be affected by a repeller field. Most of my concentration is required to force the arms of the suit toward the ground.
I leap for the helmet of the suit. I can hear servos whining and feel the pressure in my mind as the arms of the suit start coming up despite my best efforts to hold them down. I touch the helmet of the suit and once I have tactile feedback, I'm able to focus all my own strength and telekinesis to the task of slamming this thing into the pavement.
It isn't enough. I don't have the leverage. More rubber bullets as well a couple of cartridges erupt from the suit. None come anywhere near hitting me, but the cartridges start billowing out a yellowish gas. I settle for snapping off a couple of handy antennas before disengaging to get away from the gas. Probably tear gas, or if they play nasty, a regurgitant or something worse.
I catch a glimpse of Akane running into a group of three armed men and clocking all three of them before I have to return my attention to the matter at hand.
Another hail of rubber bullets is handled by the repeller field. If these were conventional rounds, I'd be worried about the ricochets. Nice to know they want me alive. The suit charges me to be met with a TK backed kick. Much to my surprise, this puts a small dent in the suit's chestplate. Hurts my foot some though. Feels like I've kicked a steel wall.
I avoid several punches and a kick made by the suit while maneuvering around to keep an eye on the entire battlefield. Shampoo has cracked her opponent's face plate and pretty much smashed anything that looks like an exterior sensor. Ranma is fighting rings around his opponent, but doesn't look to have hurt it much. Mousse has at least half a dozen people wrapped up in chains. I no longer see Akane.
The fact I can't find Akane distracts me enough to let my opponent score a glancing hit on me. Since he's over the mass limit, the repeller field doesn't do to much to soften the blow. A solid hit that strong could have broken bones. I try to reach in for a grappling attempt, but fail miserably. We exchange a few more swings with no result before I manage to slap a TK enhanced grip on him. Since my feet are planted this time, I muster the leverage to slam my opponent into the pavement twice before the suit shakes itself free of my grip.
Before the suit can regain it's feet, I'm behind it making a two fisted TK backed blow to it's helmet. It's an all or nothing shot that connects. The suit smashes back to the pavement and I hear a cracking noise. My follow up kick misses as the suit rolls out of the way. I notice the faceplate of my opponents armor has fallen off and the face underneath looks scared.
A stray shot comes from behind me, just missing both of us. Now that I have an unarmored spot to aim for, I launch a jab right at his face. It connects and he stumbles back 3 or 4 meters before righting himself. Before he can train his guns on me again, I rush in. He catches me on the way in and knocks me back a step. He follows with a blow to my stomach. Good thing I didn't stop at Ucchan's or I'd be tossing my okonomiyaki. I'm not sure I can take another hit like that. In desperation, I jump up and launch a snap kick to his head. I connect and he's unconscious before he hits the ground.
My conscience forces me to check his pulse and respiration before turning to the rest of the battle. Ranma is still playing with his opponent, but Shampoo is on the receiving end of a blow from her green armored foe. She falls. I start sprinting as fast as I can toward Shampoo and her opponent. "Quit screwing around!" I shout at Ranma on my way past.
A green armored fist rises high in the air. It's intended destination, the fallen Amazon's head. I'm not going to make it in time running, so I start flying. Mousse flashes in from the opposite direction, snatches up Shampoo and leaps away while I grab the green suit by the arm as I fly past, dragging it the opposite direction a moment before letting go. Feels heavier than the one I fought. I manage a sloppy landing, somewhat surprised I haven't fallen over from the damage I've taken so far.
A shout of "Kacchu Tenshin Amiguriken Revised! Quick Change!" draws my attention. I look over and see Ranma smirking. His opponent is no longer wearing a set of gray armor. He's wearing a T-shirt and pair of boxer shorts. The armor lays in various sections scattered on the ground. The former wearer turns and flees at high speed.
The sound of high powered servos gets my attention and I turn to see the green armored suit bearing down on me. I duck under a punch designed to remove my head from my shoulders. While I'm down there, I pick up one of Shampoo's dropped bonbori. Rising, I swing for the fences, another all or nothing shot. The bonbori crashes into the chest of the green armored figure and lofts it farther than I would have guessed possible. It crashes into the fallen red mecha and doesn't move after that. It may be my imagination, but I could swear there was a wisp of blue aura around the bonbori when it hit.
With all three of the armored suits out of commission, I have a chance to look around the rest of the battlefield. Mousse has pulled a pillow and bandages out of his voluminous sleeves and is treating Shampoo. Of the guys in riot gear that I find, 9 are tied up in chains, and 7 are unconscious. I check vitals for the unconscious ones. The ones who are awake seem to be all right except for a few bruises. The unconscious ones are all right as well. Ranma and his friends have better control with their blows than I do.
Ranma runs back into view carrying Akane in his arms. I rush over and have him lay her down on the ground.
"They hit her with this," he declares in barely suppressed rage. He then hands me a sleek black stun gun. I check pulse and respiration on Akane. Both are strong.
"Akane will be all right in a bit," I tell him. "That thing," I say pointing to the fallen mecha, "seemed to be in charge. What say we check it out."
Ranma doesn't answer, but the look on his face answers for him. We both go over to the fallen machine. Out of reflex, I stop to check the green armored suit wearer's vitals. Breathing looks shallow but steady, but I can't read his pulse through the armor.
Ranma starts wailing away on the red mecha, but even his punches aren't doing any damage. I take a couple of whacks at a small porthole with the bonbori. Nothing. I back my next blow with TK. Still nothing.
"Ranma, save your strength." I want him to stop before he hurts himself.
"You'll never do it that way," two female voices state from behind us. One voice belongs to Cologne. The other sounds vaguely familiar... I turn and see Cologne balancing on her staff next to a well dressed woman in her early to mid thirties. I recognize Mishima Akiko from my research. Cologne starts pogoing over to the mecha.
"You wanted to talk, so talk," I tell Mishima with a slight edge.
"Perhaps after you get dressed Anderson-san", she responds demurely.
I hear Cologne behind me. "Like this Son-in-law." Tap. Crash! Scratch one porthole. I can see Mishima Akiko's jaw drop.
"That glass was rated for 2500 meters water pressure!" she exclaims in awe.
"Jeff! The pilot's bleeding!" Ranma shouts.
Mishima whips out her cell phone as I turn back to the downed mecha and look in through the missing porthole. It's the Navigator from the aerodyne, and she's bleeding from a nasty cut on her forehead. "Give me some room," I tell Ranma and Cologne. They both back away. Head wounds are always bloody as hell. Hope it's nothing severe.
"Young man, that hole is too small for _me_ to fit through. You'll never fit," I hear Cologne say from behind me.
"I don't have to." Her chest is rising and falling so she's still breathing. I use some TK to prop up her left arm so I can see her palm. There's a little tell-tale vein at bottom the hand/top of the wrist. I use it to verify her pulse. A little high. A siren starts up in the background. It's too loud to have approached while on. It must have been nearby already.
I look around some more until I find the hatch. A telekinetic shove on the unlocking bar does nothing. Uh oh. A quick look indicates the hatch is right under the green armored suit. "Ranma, see if you can move that power suit. It's blocking the exit."
It takes both Ranma and I to move the suit. The external access port is crunched. Whether by the initial hit by the Land Rover or the later impact by the power suit, I don't know. I look through the porthole again to try the unlocking bar. It takes every gram of TK I can muster applied for almost a minute before the unlocking bar pops the hatch open.
After that, the rest of the work is a piece of cake. The ambulance arrives and an EMT helps me get Kyouko (as I remember her name to be) out of the "Mishima Heavy Industries Armored Octopus Mark II". Where did they come up with a name like that?
By the time the last ambulance leaves and the mecha is hauled away with the heavily damaged power suits, the sun has started to set. Kasumi somehow manages to make enough food for everyone still here. (Meaning those who live there, Cologne, Mousse, Shampoo, me, Natsume Kyusaku and Mishima Akiko.)
Snippets of conversations I hear:
Mishima Akiko: And where are Ryunosuke and Nuku Nuku?
Natsume Kyusaku: Nuku Nuku is home watching over Ryu-kun of course.
Shampoo: Mousse leave Shampoo alone! Not need stupid Mousse's help.
Mousse (to Kasumi): But Shampoo!
Kasumi (gently pointing him the right direction): Over there Mousse-kun.
Nabiki (handing over a list): Here's the bill for the damages.
Mishima Akiko (frowning over same): Will you take a check?
Nabiki: With two forms of I.D.? Sure!
Ranma: Are ya sure you're all right?
Akane (angrily): For the last time, I'm fine!
Ranma: Ya sure?
Akane pulls a mallet out from... somewhere... and bonks Ranma with it before walking away.
Ranma (from floor): uncute tomboy...
Akane: I heard that!
Soun: So old friend, do you think this will help us join the families?
Genma: Doesn't seem to have hurt Tendo.
Natsume Kyusaku walks up to me and hands me a super-disk. "You have equipment that can read this?" he asks.
"Yeah. If I had to, I'd build equipment to read it," I respond.
Natsume laughs for a moment, before dropping his voice to a quieter level. "It's what I could find. Hope it helps you Anderson-san. Or do you prefer Tach?"
Doesn't surprise me he figured it out. I gave him enough clues when I told him what I was looking for and why.
"And what company secret is my husband giving you Anderson-san?" Mishima Akiko asks as she walks up to the two of us. "He certainly wouldn't part with any of his own."
I don't see any reason to lie to her. "A colleague of mine died because some things that were made by your company killed him." Holding up the disk, "This tells me who paid the bills."
Mishima turns to her husband. "Excuse us dear, Anderson-san and I need to speak in private." Natsume leaves and the two of us stroll over to the koi pond. "Our clients expect confidentiality, Anderson-san. I cannot sanction the theft of this data. But it seems I can not prevent it either." After a slight pause she continues, "After all, I have already lost over 3 billion yen between the battle today and the loss of Poison 02. That was you, was it not?"
"Maybe."
"I have never met an actual meta-human before. Are you one of those 'super-heroes' that keep appearing in the tabloids?" It's not really a question.
"Maybe."
"Do not be modest. I am sure that with some effort I can find out which one you are."
"I'm certain you could... if I were what you say I am. After all, you took the effort to track me here. And it's only cost you 3 billion yen so far."
Mishima's eyes narrow and her voice oozes menace as she asks, "Is that a threat?"
"Merely an observation. How are you going to explain these losses to the stockholders? A field test gone awry? I don't think anyone still buys the terrorist story from Sunday." Don't challenge my ingenuity here lady. It's so much easier to destroy than create. My family gets hurt out of this and I could have your entire corporation on the ropes in a month. A week if I let MATRIX help.
"'Some doors are best left unopened' is it?"
"You betcha." Ah, she does understand. I escort her back to Natsume. After a brief conversation, the two of them leave together.
"An interesting couple, don't you think," Cologne states from atop her staff. I never noticed her approach. I'm slipping. Or maybe just really tired.
"I watched your battle young man. Funny how your feet forgot to touch the ground there for a moment," Cologne observes dryly.
"Just a barrel of laughs Cologne-san." I'm not in the mood for sarcasm. (Hypocritical of me, I know.)
"I don't believe anything I have heard about that farce of a battle you had with Shampoo yesterday. Of course, not truly being a man makes you exempt from our laws."
Love that prejudice. "Oh really? What about Ranma?"
"Jusenkyo curses are part of our law, we have dealt with them for centuries. Son-in-law will not escape that easily. Between your prior marriage, and as you are not truly human to begin with, you have no place among our tribe. That is the way I will present it in tribal council if the matter comes up. Otherwise, your various secrets are safe with me."
"Thank you." I think.
"You are welcome young man. Besides, I believe Shampoo would be happier with Son-in-law, and there is nothing I would not do for my great-granddaughter." With that, she pogoes off to to where Shampoo and Mousse are standing. A few words are exchanged in Chinese and the three of them leave.
I'm looking for Ranma when I run across Ukyo of all people, coming through one of the holes in the wall. "There was a big fight and you didn't invite me?" she asks. I'm too tired to tell if she's actually as upset as she sounds.
"Sorry. If you want, I can go to your place and trash it so you won't feel left out."
Ukyo deadpans, "Don't even think about it."
"Kinda glad your here anyway. I'll be leaving Nerima soon and I wanted to ask you a favor."
"Uh... what kind of favor?" she asks uncertainly.
"Some okonomiyaki recipes?" Some chefs don't like to share, others can't wait to. I'm not sure which side of the fence Ukyo is on.
Ukyo is beaming when she says "Hallelujah! I've made a convert! Sure thing Jeff. I'll even write them in English for you."
"Thanks."
"Well, it'll also take care of an English project I've got. Sort of a 'kill two birds' thing."
"I'll take them any way I can get them." She goes into the house, ostensibly to get pen and paper, but more likely to see Ranma and find out what happened. I like Ukyo. And okonomiyaki ain't bad either. I walk back to the edge of the Koi pond to think.
Let's see, tomorrow, after classes, I'll manufacture an excuse to end my student teaching stay early. "Family Emergency" sounds about right. Saturday, I'll spend covering my tracks, catch a flight out Sunday. Monday, jet lag at home. It's a plan. Maybe I can take the Tendos and Saotomes and Ukyo out to dinner Saturday night. Probably be the last time I see any of them. Although... Hmm. I've got to track down Ranma, there's something I want to ask before I issue that invite.
-----
"Ranma, you ever think about becoming a super-hero?" I ask.
"What? Me wearing tights and a cape?" Ranma answers laughing.
"Well, I wear body armor. You can wear a cape if you want."
The laughter stops. "You're not joking, are ya?"
"Ranma, I'm serious about this. You ever want to come visit me in New York, just call me. I'll get you there, I promise. Or if you just want to talk, you can still call me. Collect." I hand Ranma a card with a phone number on it. Six other people have this number, and I trust all of them to watch my back. I drop my voice to just above a whisper. "And make sure Nabiki never sees this."
"Thank you." The card disappears into his pocket. "So, what ya gonna to do now?" Ranma asks.
"Call my wife. Otherwise, she'll beat me up when I get home."
Ranma starts laughing and I follow suit a few seconds later.
-----
I decide to try Anne's cell phone first. Normally, she doesn't go anywhere with out it since Bill was born. She answers after a couple of rings.
"Hello?" The connection is surprisingly clear. I can hear city noises in the background.
"Mushy mushy. All done. Coming home." Brief and to the point.
"Jeff?"
"Aw... you figured it out." I can't wait to see her.
"So what did you find?" she asks.
"I'll tell you everything when I get home." After I get a chance to read that disk myself.
"You'd better," she threatens. "And since you're in Japan, buy me a kimono and some goodies before you leave," Anne continues sweetly.
"I'll be home as soon as I clean up a few loose ends and book a flight." And buy a kimono and some goodies. Maybe I'll ask Kasumi for help, they're about the same height.
"Hang on a sec hun..." I can barely hear what comes through the cell phone next. "I'm sorry, I don't where Furinkan High School is."
END
--------------------
Author's Notes: For the continuity fans out there, I figure this would be considered an alternate timeline that occurs somewhere between Manga volume 9 (where Ukyo is introduced) and volume 20 (where the Shi Shi Hokodan and Moko Takabishi are introduced). Leaning towards the earlier end of that as well. Character appearances are more based on the anime, but the personalities are (hopefully) more from the manga. (I threw in Sasuke because I like the lil' bugger.)
I remember one afternoon, I was sitting at a computer at the Public Library in Worthington, Ohio and I came across Fan Fiction for the first time. It was Daigakusei no Ranma. I read a couple episodes and thought, "This is pretty good." I didn't even have my own internet access yet. From there I found the Ranma archive on TASS. I actually went out and GOT internet access so I could read this stuff at home and not drive out to the library.
I went through the archive list and assorted links, stopping at anything that looked interesting. 2010: Odyssey 1/2, Richard Lawson's Nuku Nuku stories, Ranmapunk 2033, Long and Winding Road, and many other stories I liked found their way on to my hard drive. (With the occasional grammar or spelling correction. Don't worry authors, the altered versions aren't leaving my disk drive unless the author requests.)
Then one sad fateful day, I read a piece by Mike Rhea. "Must really have something against cross-dressers. C'mon, there's supposed be a space after a comma. I can do better than this." It's the last thought that eventually lead to my first attempt at writing fanfiction. Just so we all know who to blame.
Jeff Anderson and his wife Anne are characters I originally created for a Champions game that I never actually played in back in 1983 or 1984. I kept the character concepts and started using them in a Marvel Super Heroes game way back when it first came out. So my characters are actually older than Ranma and company. Go figure.
I figured that the power level displayed in the Ranma series matches well with the super hero genre, so it was natural for me to combine the two. The events that cause Jeff to go to Nerima are heavily based on gaming sessions with my friend Chris Roxby and a few others folks who names are lost to time (and my horrible memory for names). I threw in the Nuku Nuku stuff because both series take place in Nerima and Mishima Heavy Industries makes a good opponent. I chose the time frame because by Volume 38, Ranma is just too powerful. Personally, I think this is why Takahashi-sama ended the series. After defeating a god, how can any other challenge match up?
If I ever decide to do this again, I've got an idea for a "pure" Ranma fic. But since I wrote this to deal with a burst of creative energy which is now gone, I don't know if it will happen soon. Besides, this project took a couple of months. I now understand why some of my favorite authors take so long to publish their new work. (Both Fan Fiction and Science Fiction!)
I had about 5 pages of stuff I was going to say about my views on the various characters and why they acted the way they did, but after looking it over, I deleted it. Got to leave some reason for people to write. (Although I'll ignore flames and anyone who says Ryoga, Ukyo and Tendo should all be spelled with "u's" after the "o's".)
Chosen Path
by Warren Phillips
E-mail: gitm@amaxx.net
Version 1.0 completed 11/05/2000
1.05 completed 03/17/2001 (Dang, thought I caught those errors the first five times through.)