Choices Made, Roads Taken
Chapter 11: Day Two
What has happened before: Ranma had a near death experience, but is out from under the "man among men" suicide pledge. But in order to deal with the rest of his life, Ranma has gone to New York City with retired super hero Jeff Anderson. Ranma also joined the super team MATRIX as "Wild Dragon". Meeting his allies went well enough, but how about the rest of the world?
-----
Jeff reluctantly let FreeFall and Big Tex take Ranma 'mugger hunting' in Central Park after sunset. (Limelight thought the practice beneath him, Sunray had homework and Sparx was "busy".) While he wanted to oversee this part of Ranma's training personally, he didn't want to get back into costume to do so. Jeff felt like a parent turning over car keys to a child who had just got his license. He was proud and wary at the same time. The knowledge that Ranma wasn't bullet proof weighed only lightly in Jeff's mind.
It wasn't until three the next morning that Ranma crawled in through the hidden roof shaft. Jeff, much like any parent whose child comes home late, was waiting up for him. Ranma was in his normal clothes and didn't have a mark on him.
"How'd it go?" Jeff asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"Too easy. I not break sweat entire time. Even Akane better than bozos I fight tonight. They think all they need are weapons. Bah."
"Any guns?"
"Four. But one guy make big show of putting gun away before he take swing at me. Why did he do that?"
"Quid pro quo."
"Huh?" It wasn't fair for Jeff to throw a Latin phrase into an English conversation.
"I told you a few weeks back about the five basic threats you'll come across when fighting normal humans," Jeff said.
"Empty handed, blunt weapon, edged weapon, firearm and other," Ranma rattled off.
"Nice to know you were paying attention. Hopefully you also remember what I said about response in kind."
"Yeah. 'Sufficient force to end threat, not maximum force for every threat'."
"Close enough. A man with a gun provides a higher threat level than an unarmed man." Seeing that Ranma was about to interrupt, Jeff continued, "In most cases. Remember, we're talking about normal people here."
Thinking a moment, Ranma said, "So he dropped the threat level... because he thought I wouldn't hurt him as much if he did."
"That's my guess."
"Weird."
"Well, what did you do to him?"
"Dropped him with knuckle punch to solar plexus. Cops took over before he got his wind back. They wanted to question me until they saw that I was with FreeFall and Big Tex."
"How about the other three?"
"Disarmed them before knocking out. Dislocated one guy's trigger finger. Another one took shot at me, missed and hit FreeFall."
Jeff didn't bother asking if FreeFall was injured. Paul's ability to dissipate kinetic energy allowed him to ignore anything fired from a handgun. "I guess the man who put away his gun was right. He ended up conscious," Jeff observed before yawning mightily and going to bed.
Ranma gave Jeff's retreating form an odd look before turning in himself.
-----
Ranma awoke at the crack of noon, ate brunch and spent a couple of hours with Anne doing schoolwork. After that, he changed into costume and left the apartment via the roof access shaft. FreeFall had asked to meet him at 3:00 PM above the southeast corner of Central Park to show him around the city. After all, Ranma had made it pretty clear he wasn't familiar with Manhattan the night before.
A holographic projector activated by Ranma's comm-link covered the departure of the hoversled from prying eyes. Sound wasn't a problem. The ducted fans were surprisingly quiet unless you firewalled the throttle. Even then, they were barely noticeable over the background noise of the city.
Ranma rose to 600 meters altitude and drifted north until he was picked up by the main holoprojector at MATRIX HQ. Once the larger device was covering him, he flew north to Chelsea Park before dropping cloak. Jeff had informed him that it was one of the better landmarks to pop in above.
He was slowly flying towards Central Park when his comm-link vibrated for attention. Double tapping the right eye of his dragon emblem, Ranma accepted the call.
"FreeFall to Wild Dragon. Report of a large fire near Union Square. I'm going to check it out, so I guess I'll play tour guide later."
Ranma whipped his head around and saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky almost directly south. He felt like a fool for not noticing it earlier. Tapping the dragon's left eye, Ranma responded, "I see it. In route." Ranma banked his craft in the proper direction and opened up the throttle.
A different voice came over the channel. "This is Limelight. Observation only. Let the fire department do its job."
Ranma frowned under his mask. 'I bet if Jeff were running things, we'd be going in,' he thought. He spotted FreeFall's hoversled in the distance and pulled up alongside as if he'd been using a hoversled all his life instead of just a few days.
FreeFall motioned him over to a nearby building where they 'parked' their hoversleds four meters above the actual roof. It was an easy jump down for both men.
"Why don't we go in?" Ranma asked FreeFall once the two men had their bearings.
"Because it's usually better if we don't in a fire. Those guys have six months or more of training plus up to twenty years of experience. I don't and I'm willing to bet you don't either," FreeFall answered as they walked to the edge of the roof's retaining wall.
Ranma nodded in acknowledgment, but the thought of doing nothing in the face of a crisis bothered him. "Should at least see if they need help."
FreeFall replied, "Yeah, we can see if they need a hand."
The FDNY had things well in hand. There was a pumper truck and a hook and ladder on the scene with trained professionals going into action. Linkages to fire hydrants had been made and already, water was being sprayed on the flames shooting from the fourth and fifth floors. Civilians were being evacuated in an orderly fashion and the whole mess seemed well under control.
That was until a series of explosions rippled up the building, throwing the fire fighters efforts into chaos.
"Hit the panic button. We're going in!" FreeFall shouted as he leapt from the 12 story building he and Ranma had been observing from. Ranma triggered the emergency call signal as he leapt from the roof of the building, caromed off a building on the other side of the narrow alley and repeated the process as necessary to reach an altitude that was safe for him to drop to the ground.
Despite all the stories that Jeff had told him, and despite what he'd gone through in his own life, Ranma wasn't prepared for the scene that greeted him once he left the alley. The extension arm on the ladder truck had snapped, spilling the man inside the bucket onto the street below. His left arm was obviously broken, but he was safe for the moment. The exit from which many of the building's occupants had been leaving was engulfed in flames. The cries of the wounded mixed with the shouts of those who desperately wanted to restore order. And for a split second, Ranma did nothing.
A shrill cry galvanized Ranma into action. Racing across the debris covered street, he leapt up and caught an infant who had been dropped from a third story window. Kicking off from the wall, he flipped in mid air to land safely with his tiny burden. He looked around for some safe place he could leave the baby. He didn't find one, but a fireman came and took the child from him.
Voices came over his comm-link, but Ranma didn't consciously hear them. If he needed to know what they said, his subconscious would call back later. He saw FreeFall carry a fallen fire fighter out of the building. 'Rescue the civilians. Right,' he thought before heading into the building. As he went, the pale blue aura of his 'Soul of Ice' technique grew around him.
Ranma was preparing to reenter the building for the third time when the cavalry arrived. Sparx came and swept up the smoke, which allowed everyone to see and breathe easier. Ranma swore he'd never make fun of her powers again. The rest of the team arrived at the same time as more fire units. Ranma finally started hearing what came over his comm-link. He began to think instead of just react. Limelight came up with a plan on the spot and MATRIX went to work.
Sparx stayed with the job of controlling the smoke that rose from the burning structure. Sunray levitated up to windows and evacuated those trapped one at a time. Big Tex led the way back into the building, removing any obstacles to the fire fighter's progress. Fallen beams, reinforced doors, flaming debris, it didn't matter to him. Limelight absorbed what heat energy he could to keep the fire from getting any hotter and coordinated the team.
FreeFall and Wild Dragon were about to sweep the building from the top down when Limelight's voice crackled over their comm-links. The fire was a diversion. The real crime was a raid on the Science and Technology Convention at the Javits Center. Limelight detailed FreeFall and Wild Dragon to investigate the situation while the rest of MATRIX dealt with the fire.
Using their remote call signals, FreeFall and Ranma summoned their hoversleds. Not even waiting for the 'sleds to come to a stop, both men leapt from the top of the burning building toward the flying machines. FreeFall, due to his powers, drifted down to land lightly on his 'sled.
Ranma wasn't as lucky. The fire department, once again spraying water on the blaze, struck Ranma with a stray blast. His costume, although proof against accidental spills, wasn't designed to repel that much water. His curse activated. The change in mass and the momentum imparted by the water altered Ranma's trajectory enough to miss his, now her, intended target. Ranma debated yelling on the way down but decided that eight stories was survivable, if somewhat painful.
Sparx, still directing smoke away from the burning structure, suspended that activity long enough to make the save. Although surprised by the sudden alteration of a muscular young man to a curvaceous young woman, she acted professionally by dropping Ranma back on the waiting hoversled before returning to her prior task. Ranma never saw her shudder of revulsion.
FreeFall witnessed the entire incident. Fortunately, he'd been in the hero business long enough to have seen much stranger things than instant sex changes. He spared a moment's thought to Sparx's performance and asked over his comm-link, "You will explain that, right?"
Not trusting her voice, Ranma merely nodded as the two hoversleds raced northwest towards the Javits Center. The less than two mile flight took just over a minute and ended in a hail of gunfire. Two black clad gunmen were shooting semi-automatics from the roof. FreeFall couldn't return fire because any miss would damage the acres of glass that made up the roof of the convention center. Anyone hit with shards falling from that height could easily be killed.
Ranma followed FreeFall's example and dropped altitude to put himself level with the gunman. A few rounds bounced off the windshield of his hoversled, marking, but not penetrating the protective Lexan¨ barrier.
Moving with unspoken coordination, FreeFall and Ranma lined up for a close pass at the gunmen's position. Because of his powers, FreeFall had to jump first, but Ranma instantly figured out the plan and followed suit. Using their now unmanned hoversleds as a screen, both heroes landed on the roof and quickly dispatched their respective targets.
Unfortunately, this was seen through the glass ceiling by the remaining mercenaries. Knowing better than to bring all that glass down on their own heads, those on guard at the Crystal Palace called their leaders to inform them of the situation.
As far as the raiders were concerned, everything was progressing right on schedule. Those technological items that the mercenaries' masters were interested in had already been gathered. On their own initiative, various gunmen were grabbing anything that looked promising as well as any wallets, purses, jewelry or other valuables they could get their hands on. Now that the opposition had arrived, it was time to spring the second diversion and make good their exit.
While FreeFall and Ranma made their way to ground level, the second diversion came up a broad flight of stairs to meet them. There were three men and a woman. Ranma recognized two from Jeff's files. FreeFall knew all four and hoped Wild Dragon, in her... current state, was as good as Jeff had indicated.
The woman was FreeFall's old nemesis Hangtime. Exposed to a stronger variant of the same energy field that had given him his powers, she'd received related, but superior, abilities. The good news for FreeFall was that they automatically neutralized each other's powers when they got close, leaving him the advantage. The bad news was that she had backup.
The smallest of the three men was Brick. No stronger than a normal man, he couldn't be hurt by any force FreeFall could bring to bear. Even when Brick did get hurt, the Oriental could absorb life energy through skin to skin contact to heal himself. That explained why his costume was little more than a pair of dark red briefs and ankle high boots.
Next was the red and yellow clad Firebug. Although he wore a light power suit that enabled him to fly and provided some protection, it was known that at least part of his ability to control and resist fire was inborn. A known explosives expert, he was the mostly like cause of the Union Square fire.
The largest of the three men was Ground. A top notch hand to hand fighter, his only power was to temporarily neutralize all other superhuman abilities within an certain radius. The biggest downside was that he couldn't distinguish between friend and foe when he did it. If he ever gained control of that ability, he'd be dangerous.
Ranma didn't really care about any of this. Sure, she'd rather have been male, but a fight was a fight and she was way overdue for a good one. So the entire 'think first, act second' thing was temporarily set aside. At least as a girl, she could attack any of her opponents with a clear conscience. With a chi-enhanced bound, Ranma leapt into the midst of the four villains. Each arm and leg had a target, and Ranma figured she could nail all four of them at once.
Hangtime accelerated her temporal perception, allowing her plenty of time to evade the attacking girl. She didn't want to fight FreeFall as she knew what would happen if she did. But she should easily be able to use her enhanced strength to crush this slip of a girl who dared to attack her before FreeFall neutralized her powers.
Ground didn't recognize the martial arts style of the attacker, but was still able to block the initial kick sent his way. He had to give the girl credit. Attacking one on four meant she was brave. Stupid, but brave. But a jump that high meant she had to be using super powers of some sort. Powers she wouldn't have for long.
Brick wasn't hurt by the punch he took. No normal person was strong enough to hurt him. The force was still enough to knock him back down the stairs. 'Damn that girl is fast', he thought.
Firebug couldn't get off a clear shot at the girl who leapt toward he and his temporary allies. Nor was he anywhere near fast enough to avoid the girl's kick. Nor was his light armor strong enough to completely blunt the force of the surprisingly hard blow. She actually managed to hurt him. Which meant she would burn the slow way. But first, he needed to get a little altitude from which he could shoot without being attacked in return.
Ranma couldn't believe she'd only nailed two of her targets. The big man blocked his kick cleanly, and the woman had simply dodged his punch. Fortunately, his girl form was faster than his normal body. Otherwise, the viciously fast kick from the woman would have knocked her straight into the big man's right cross.
That the man's punch was merely a feint to cover a snap kick didn't affect Ranma's ability to dodge. But the blow came closer than Ranma liked. The problem was Ranma normally fought one on one duels. Multiple opponents occasionally posed problems.
FreeFall was in a dilemma. Getting close to Hangtime would neutralize her powers while reducing his own combat abilities. But Ground could do the same thing at any time. Which would definitely leave the villains with the advantage. That was before he saw the results of Wild Dragon's first attack. After seeing that, he smiled and popped off two shots at the rising Firebug. The first was a clean miss while the second struck the feed mechanism for Firebug's right side mini incendiary launcher, setting off the chambered round.
Firebug had to concentrate to keep the burning gel from hurting him. He had to get the fire under control before it set off the rest of his ammo supply. If that happened, he wasn't sure he could stop the chain reaction from broiling him alive.
The air pressure from Hangtime's near misses told Ranma that she didn't want to let her connect with anything. If the woman had technique to match her speed, she'd have been dangerous. And if Ground's speed matched his technique, he too would have been trouble. Separately, either one would've been no problem. Unfortunately, the two of them forced Ranma to stay on the defensive long enough for Brick to rejoin the fight.
Believing that neither FreeFall or the girl could actually hurt him, Brick dived right back into the fight, knocking Ranma to the floor. Ranma's attempt to roll clear was stopped by a hand on her ankle. The loss of mobility was enough for Hangtime to get in a solid kick.
It felt like one of Ryoga's punches. Maybe a bit weaker. It was still more than enough to knock her from Brick's grasp and a good six meters away. Twisting in mid air, she landed next to the glass wall that separates the Crystal Palace from the 11th Avenue sidewalk.
Before Hangtime could follow up on her successful attack, FreeFall came close enough to cancel both their powers. The fight was twelve seconds old.
Ranma shook her head to clear it and saw Ground and Brick bearing down on her. They tried to flank the blue clad martial artist, but Ranma would have none of it. While ducking a kick and evading another grappling attempt, Ranma noticed FreeFall had holstered his rifle and was making quick work of the woman. She also saw Firebug pointing his left arm at FreeFall's blind side.
"Look out!" cried Wild Dragon as she leapt the ten meters between her former location and the armored villain. Ranma wasn't fast enough to keep Firebug from getting his shot off, but the warning wasn't needed as Firebug's shot struck Hangtime squarely in the back.
Hangtime didn't panic. FreeFall let her go, almost by reflex. As soon as that happened, she peeled off her burning jacket in one smooth motion and threw it at him. Killing her long time adversary or this new girl would have to wait until after she killed Firebug. Barking an order for Brick and Ground to attack FreeFall, she turned to flee. If she could get far enough away, her powers would return. Given that, she could make her escape and to hell with the rest of them.
Firebug had his own problems. The small girl who had jumped at least 10 meters laterally and over 5 meters vertically was beating the crap out of him. Someone that size had no business hitting that hard. His armor wasn't strong enough to protect against the furious blows the screaming blue clad girl was making at a rate that even Hangtime couldn't match. He lost consciousness before the attack was half over. Only his flight suit safety systems kept him from crashing into the ground.
Brick hadn't seen anyone jump like that since he'd left Japan. Something about the way the girl moved bothered him, but there was no time to worry about it now.
Wild Dragon leapt down from the hovering Firebug with what would have been a contemptuous look on her face had she not been wearing a mask. Ranma had hoped that a costumed opponent would be tougher than the muggers he'd fought the night before.
Ground reached FreeFall just as Hangtime got far enough away for both their powers to turn on. Hangtime, concerned about the possibility of reinforcements, chose the better part of valor. Pushing her temporal acceleration power to the limit, she ran off in an explosion of displaced air and shattered glass. Ground's punch connected full force, but with his powers active, FreeFall barely noticed.
Ranma moved toward the rest of the fight. With one down and one fled, she figured the other two should be a piece of cake. But for once, Ranma was wrong.
Ground knew he stood no chance against FreeFall unless he released his own power. Brick would just have to take his chances. Ground unleashed his one and only super human ability.
In a flash, everything changed. Ranma's female body, normally light as a feather and fast as a whirlwind, felt incredibly heavy and ridiculously slow. It felt as if she was carrying Ryoga's backpack while walking on the bottom of the ocean. Her could barely sense her chi. Not even enough for a decent jump. But Ranma Saotome was a martial artist, and never one to give up at the first sign of trouble.
Brick knew that Ground had let loose. He could feel the difference. Gone was his superhuman durability. Gone was his tireless endurance. Gone was his ability to drain life force from others to replenish his own. This terrified him. Even slowed to a fraction of her accustomed speed, Ranma took him out in under twenty seconds.
While Ranma was learning her limitations, Ground was handily beating FreeFall. One edge FreeFall's powers gave to him was the ability to move faster by reducing the amount of inertia in his own body. Add to this enhanced strength and durability. On top of that, add a fair amount of martial arts training and practice which made his enhanced body a much more effective tool for those arts. Take away the extra speed, power and durability and FreeFall is still a decent fighter. But Ground, formerly a world ranked heavyweight kickboxer, was a whole lot better.
Normally Ranma wouldn't interfere in a one on one fight. But she guessed that whatever screwed her up had also zapped FreeFall. He was moving way too slow. Ranma arrived just as FreeFall was kicked hard enough to leave his feet and slide a good distance across the floor.
Ranma played for time. From what Jeff's files had said, the effects of Ground's power seldom lasted more than a minute. He was still faster than Ground, but the margin wasn't enough to avoid all the kicks, punches, knee and elbows from his opponent. The strikes hurt a lot more than they should and her own blows didn't seem to be inflicting much damage. She needed to hit a pressure point.
Ducking one kick only set her up for a elbow to the back of her head. Ranma rolled with the impact, but was still knocked to the ground and somewhat dazed. Ground raised his leg to stomp Ranma's neck when a gunshot got both their attention.
"Next one goes through your spine Harry," FreeFall said shakily. He looked hurt. But braced from a kneeling position, he held his rifle rock steady on target.
Ground looked around. Brick was down, Firebug was hovering unconscious nearby and their so-called leader had fled. The effects of his power neutralizing blast would be wearing off soon and he wouldn't be able to release another for at least ten minutes. Slowly he lowered his foot and raised his hands over his head.
The fight was over.
-----
Ranma's chi sense, as well as the rest of her, returned to normal before the rest of MATRIX arrived at the Javits Center. The aftermath took a lot longer than the fight, which was pretty standard from everything she'd learned. Cleaning up always takes more time than making a mess. Ranma let everyone else do the talking. It turned out while she and FreeFall had been fighting the villains, the mercenaries had gotten away with a few valuable prototypes and an undetermined amount of money and other loot. At best it was only a partial victory.
A few photographers had snapped pictures of the new heroine and many questions were asked, but other than Limelight providing the name of "Wild Dragon", none were answered. He had to give credit, Jeff might not like the man, but Limelight knew how to work a crowd of reporters. Eventually, Ranma was able to board his hoversled and rise into the darkening November sky.
It wasn't until the whole team regrouped at the Matrix HQ's Conference Room that Limelight blew up. How dare Wild Dragon not mention something like being a shapeshifter? What other powers was he hiding? What was Anderson trying to pull? The outburst lasted until Big Tex lightly placed his hand on Limelight's left shoulder and squeezed until the green and black clad man shut up.
His point made, Big Tex nodded once before leaving the room.
In a tone made even more level by the voice modulator built into his helmet, Limelight said, "I believe a break is in order. We'll meet back here in 15 minutes."
Big Tex, Sparx, and FreeFall all went to shower and change costumes. Or in Big Tex's case, change clothes. Sunray just reverted to 'civilian' form as a more effective and much faster way to get clean on her way to the kitchen. Limelight showed no intention of leaving the conference room at all.
Ranma didn't feel like staying with Limelight, so he left the conference room and wandered into the hall. Inspired, he ran upstairs to the bedroom that Jeff had showed him during his tour. His access card served to open the door and lock it behind him.
Ranma pulled off her costume and jumped into the shower. When the hot water returned him to male form, he felt relieved. Who knew if Ground's power might mess up a Jusenkyo curse? Five minutes into the fifteen minute break saw Ranma out of the shower and dried off. He spotted a phone on the bedside table and checked to see if it worked.
It took three tries to punch in his access code, but soon enough he was dialing his temporary home.
"Hello?" asked Anne's voice.
"Oh good, it's you. I need to ask question."
"Are you all right?" Anne asked. She didn't use any names because she didn't know who might be listening. She'd also seen some of the news coverage of the fire and the fight.
"Yeah, I guess so. But I got my... clothes... dirty and have nothing to wear. Have big meeting in eight minutes."
"You're in Bedroom 3? Right?"
"Yes. How..."
"Caller ID. Go over to the keypad, punch in your access code and then 2678863. A housebot will bring you a spare."
"I didn't know I even had spare costume."
"Hey, I didn't get where I am today without planning ahead."
Ranma decided not to question that particular comment and instead ended the conversation. He punched the needed keys and waited. Less than two minutes later, the keypad chimed indicating something wanted in. Some sort of automated trolley carrying a new costume rolled into the room once he opened the door.
Pulling on the clean clothes, Ranma prepared to return to the conference room. He was nearly out the door when he turned around, peeled back his left sleeve and splashed a little cold water on his arm. Best to return to the meeting in the same condition she'd left. 'Now to stop by the kitchen for some props,' she thought as she headed downstairs.
-----
The demonstration of Ranma's curse went well enough. He could see that Sparx wasn't taking it well, Sunray was fascinated and that FreeFall didn't particularly care. He couldn't read Big Tex's smiley face or Limelight's armored one.
When asked what other tricks he had up his sleeves, Ranma demonstrated the basic amiguriken by throwing a handful of peanuts into the air and snatching all of them before they hit the table. He did inform them that it was normally done with chestnuts and an open fire.
Ranma also demonstrated his Soul of Ice and explained that it was part of a technique that wasn't safe to demonstrate indoors. Finally, he admitted to his fear of cats, but didn't explain the Neko-ken. That was one secret he intended to keep. Robert the Talking Cat's status as an auxiliary was brought up by FreeFall, but Limelight stated that they could easily keep the two separated.
The Moko Takabisha wasn't mentioned at all. It was the newest thing in Ranma's arsenal but he didn't have all the bugs worked out yet. Besides, his confidence had taken quite a hit because of the whole 'my mother wants to decapitate me' thing. Best to save it for an emergency.
After the meeting was over, Ranma de-stressed with two hours of katas in the gym. He never suspected that his every move was being recorded, analyzed and dissected by Limelight. If he could discover and make use of the principles involved, his suit's combat programming would be receiving a massive upgrade.
END CHAPTER 11
Chapter 11: Day Two
What has happened before: Ranma had a near death experience, but is out from under the "man among men" suicide pledge. But in order to deal with the rest of his life, Ranma has gone to New York City with retired super hero Jeff Anderson. Ranma also joined the super team MATRIX as "Wild Dragon". Meeting his allies went well enough, but how about the rest of the world?
-----
Jeff reluctantly let FreeFall and Big Tex take Ranma 'mugger hunting' in Central Park after sunset. (Limelight thought the practice beneath him, Sunray had homework and Sparx was "busy".) While he wanted to oversee this part of Ranma's training personally, he didn't want to get back into costume to do so. Jeff felt like a parent turning over car keys to a child who had just got his license. He was proud and wary at the same time. The knowledge that Ranma wasn't bullet proof weighed only lightly in Jeff's mind.
It wasn't until three the next morning that Ranma crawled in through the hidden roof shaft. Jeff, much like any parent whose child comes home late, was waiting up for him. Ranma was in his normal clothes and didn't have a mark on him.
"How'd it go?" Jeff asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"Too easy. I not break sweat entire time. Even Akane better than bozos I fight tonight. They think all they need are weapons. Bah."
"Any guns?"
"Four. But one guy make big show of putting gun away before he take swing at me. Why did he do that?"
"Quid pro quo."
"Huh?" It wasn't fair for Jeff to throw a Latin phrase into an English conversation.
"I told you a few weeks back about the five basic threats you'll come across when fighting normal humans," Jeff said.
"Empty handed, blunt weapon, edged weapon, firearm and other," Ranma rattled off.
"Nice to know you were paying attention. Hopefully you also remember what I said about response in kind."
"Yeah. 'Sufficient force to end threat, not maximum force for every threat'."
"Close enough. A man with a gun provides a higher threat level than an unarmed man." Seeing that Ranma was about to interrupt, Jeff continued, "In most cases. Remember, we're talking about normal people here."
Thinking a moment, Ranma said, "So he dropped the threat level... because he thought I wouldn't hurt him as much if he did."
"That's my guess."
"Weird."
"Well, what did you do to him?"
"Dropped him with knuckle punch to solar plexus. Cops took over before he got his wind back. They wanted to question me until they saw that I was with FreeFall and Big Tex."
"How about the other three?"
"Disarmed them before knocking out. Dislocated one guy's trigger finger. Another one took shot at me, missed and hit FreeFall."
Jeff didn't bother asking if FreeFall was injured. Paul's ability to dissipate kinetic energy allowed him to ignore anything fired from a handgun. "I guess the man who put away his gun was right. He ended up conscious," Jeff observed before yawning mightily and going to bed.
Ranma gave Jeff's retreating form an odd look before turning in himself.
-----
Ranma awoke at the crack of noon, ate brunch and spent a couple of hours with Anne doing schoolwork. After that, he changed into costume and left the apartment via the roof access shaft. FreeFall had asked to meet him at 3:00 PM above the southeast corner of Central Park to show him around the city. After all, Ranma had made it pretty clear he wasn't familiar with Manhattan the night before.
A holographic projector activated by Ranma's comm-link covered the departure of the hoversled from prying eyes. Sound wasn't a problem. The ducted fans were surprisingly quiet unless you firewalled the throttle. Even then, they were barely noticeable over the background noise of the city.
Ranma rose to 600 meters altitude and drifted north until he was picked up by the main holoprojector at MATRIX HQ. Once the larger device was covering him, he flew north to Chelsea Park before dropping cloak. Jeff had informed him that it was one of the better landmarks to pop in above.
He was slowly flying towards Central Park when his comm-link vibrated for attention. Double tapping the right eye of his dragon emblem, Ranma accepted the call.
"FreeFall to Wild Dragon. Report of a large fire near Union Square. I'm going to check it out, so I guess I'll play tour guide later."
Ranma whipped his head around and saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky almost directly south. He felt like a fool for not noticing it earlier. Tapping the dragon's left eye, Ranma responded, "I see it. In route." Ranma banked his craft in the proper direction and opened up the throttle.
A different voice came over the channel. "This is Limelight. Observation only. Let the fire department do its job."
Ranma frowned under his mask. 'I bet if Jeff were running things, we'd be going in,' he thought. He spotted FreeFall's hoversled in the distance and pulled up alongside as if he'd been using a hoversled all his life instead of just a few days.
FreeFall motioned him over to a nearby building where they 'parked' their hoversleds four meters above the actual roof. It was an easy jump down for both men.
"Why don't we go in?" Ranma asked FreeFall once the two men had their bearings.
"Because it's usually better if we don't in a fire. Those guys have six months or more of training plus up to twenty years of experience. I don't and I'm willing to bet you don't either," FreeFall answered as they walked to the edge of the roof's retaining wall.
Ranma nodded in acknowledgment, but the thought of doing nothing in the face of a crisis bothered him. "Should at least see if they need help."
FreeFall replied, "Yeah, we can see if they need a hand."
The FDNY had things well in hand. There was a pumper truck and a hook and ladder on the scene with trained professionals going into action. Linkages to fire hydrants had been made and already, water was being sprayed on the flames shooting from the fourth and fifth floors. Civilians were being evacuated in an orderly fashion and the whole mess seemed well under control.
That was until a series of explosions rippled up the building, throwing the fire fighters efforts into chaos.
"Hit the panic button. We're going in!" FreeFall shouted as he leapt from the 12 story building he and Ranma had been observing from. Ranma triggered the emergency call signal as he leapt from the roof of the building, caromed off a building on the other side of the narrow alley and repeated the process as necessary to reach an altitude that was safe for him to drop to the ground.
Despite all the stories that Jeff had told him, and despite what he'd gone through in his own life, Ranma wasn't prepared for the scene that greeted him once he left the alley. The extension arm on the ladder truck had snapped, spilling the man inside the bucket onto the street below. His left arm was obviously broken, but he was safe for the moment. The exit from which many of the building's occupants had been leaving was engulfed in flames. The cries of the wounded mixed with the shouts of those who desperately wanted to restore order. And for a split second, Ranma did nothing.
A shrill cry galvanized Ranma into action. Racing across the debris covered street, he leapt up and caught an infant who had been dropped from a third story window. Kicking off from the wall, he flipped in mid air to land safely with his tiny burden. He looked around for some safe place he could leave the baby. He didn't find one, but a fireman came and took the child from him.
Voices came over his comm-link, but Ranma didn't consciously hear them. If he needed to know what they said, his subconscious would call back later. He saw FreeFall carry a fallen fire fighter out of the building. 'Rescue the civilians. Right,' he thought before heading into the building. As he went, the pale blue aura of his 'Soul of Ice' technique grew around him.
Ranma was preparing to reenter the building for the third time when the cavalry arrived. Sparx came and swept up the smoke, which allowed everyone to see and breathe easier. Ranma swore he'd never make fun of her powers again. The rest of the team arrived at the same time as more fire units. Ranma finally started hearing what came over his comm-link. He began to think instead of just react. Limelight came up with a plan on the spot and MATRIX went to work.
Sparx stayed with the job of controlling the smoke that rose from the burning structure. Sunray levitated up to windows and evacuated those trapped one at a time. Big Tex led the way back into the building, removing any obstacles to the fire fighter's progress. Fallen beams, reinforced doors, flaming debris, it didn't matter to him. Limelight absorbed what heat energy he could to keep the fire from getting any hotter and coordinated the team.
FreeFall and Wild Dragon were about to sweep the building from the top down when Limelight's voice crackled over their comm-links. The fire was a diversion. The real crime was a raid on the Science and Technology Convention at the Javits Center. Limelight detailed FreeFall and Wild Dragon to investigate the situation while the rest of MATRIX dealt with the fire.
Using their remote call signals, FreeFall and Ranma summoned their hoversleds. Not even waiting for the 'sleds to come to a stop, both men leapt from the top of the burning building toward the flying machines. FreeFall, due to his powers, drifted down to land lightly on his 'sled.
Ranma wasn't as lucky. The fire department, once again spraying water on the blaze, struck Ranma with a stray blast. His costume, although proof against accidental spills, wasn't designed to repel that much water. His curse activated. The change in mass and the momentum imparted by the water altered Ranma's trajectory enough to miss his, now her, intended target. Ranma debated yelling on the way down but decided that eight stories was survivable, if somewhat painful.
Sparx, still directing smoke away from the burning structure, suspended that activity long enough to make the save. Although surprised by the sudden alteration of a muscular young man to a curvaceous young woman, she acted professionally by dropping Ranma back on the waiting hoversled before returning to her prior task. Ranma never saw her shudder of revulsion.
FreeFall witnessed the entire incident. Fortunately, he'd been in the hero business long enough to have seen much stranger things than instant sex changes. He spared a moment's thought to Sparx's performance and asked over his comm-link, "You will explain that, right?"
Not trusting her voice, Ranma merely nodded as the two hoversleds raced northwest towards the Javits Center. The less than two mile flight took just over a minute and ended in a hail of gunfire. Two black clad gunmen were shooting semi-automatics from the roof. FreeFall couldn't return fire because any miss would damage the acres of glass that made up the roof of the convention center. Anyone hit with shards falling from that height could easily be killed.
Ranma followed FreeFall's example and dropped altitude to put himself level with the gunman. A few rounds bounced off the windshield of his hoversled, marking, but not penetrating the protective Lexan¨ barrier.
Moving with unspoken coordination, FreeFall and Ranma lined up for a close pass at the gunmen's position. Because of his powers, FreeFall had to jump first, but Ranma instantly figured out the plan and followed suit. Using their now unmanned hoversleds as a screen, both heroes landed on the roof and quickly dispatched their respective targets.
Unfortunately, this was seen through the glass ceiling by the remaining mercenaries. Knowing better than to bring all that glass down on their own heads, those on guard at the Crystal Palace called their leaders to inform them of the situation.
As far as the raiders were concerned, everything was progressing right on schedule. Those technological items that the mercenaries' masters were interested in had already been gathered. On their own initiative, various gunmen were grabbing anything that looked promising as well as any wallets, purses, jewelry or other valuables they could get their hands on. Now that the opposition had arrived, it was time to spring the second diversion and make good their exit.
While FreeFall and Ranma made their way to ground level, the second diversion came up a broad flight of stairs to meet them. There were three men and a woman. Ranma recognized two from Jeff's files. FreeFall knew all four and hoped Wild Dragon, in her... current state, was as good as Jeff had indicated.
The woman was FreeFall's old nemesis Hangtime. Exposed to a stronger variant of the same energy field that had given him his powers, she'd received related, but superior, abilities. The good news for FreeFall was that they automatically neutralized each other's powers when they got close, leaving him the advantage. The bad news was that she had backup.
The smallest of the three men was Brick. No stronger than a normal man, he couldn't be hurt by any force FreeFall could bring to bear. Even when Brick did get hurt, the Oriental could absorb life energy through skin to skin contact to heal himself. That explained why his costume was little more than a pair of dark red briefs and ankle high boots.
Next was the red and yellow clad Firebug. Although he wore a light power suit that enabled him to fly and provided some protection, it was known that at least part of his ability to control and resist fire was inborn. A known explosives expert, he was the mostly like cause of the Union Square fire.
The largest of the three men was Ground. A top notch hand to hand fighter, his only power was to temporarily neutralize all other superhuman abilities within an certain radius. The biggest downside was that he couldn't distinguish between friend and foe when he did it. If he ever gained control of that ability, he'd be dangerous.
Ranma didn't really care about any of this. Sure, she'd rather have been male, but a fight was a fight and she was way overdue for a good one. So the entire 'think first, act second' thing was temporarily set aside. At least as a girl, she could attack any of her opponents with a clear conscience. With a chi-enhanced bound, Ranma leapt into the midst of the four villains. Each arm and leg had a target, and Ranma figured she could nail all four of them at once.
Hangtime accelerated her temporal perception, allowing her plenty of time to evade the attacking girl. She didn't want to fight FreeFall as she knew what would happen if she did. But she should easily be able to use her enhanced strength to crush this slip of a girl who dared to attack her before FreeFall neutralized her powers.
Ground didn't recognize the martial arts style of the attacker, but was still able to block the initial kick sent his way. He had to give the girl credit. Attacking one on four meant she was brave. Stupid, but brave. But a jump that high meant she had to be using super powers of some sort. Powers she wouldn't have for long.
Brick wasn't hurt by the punch he took. No normal person was strong enough to hurt him. The force was still enough to knock him back down the stairs. 'Damn that girl is fast', he thought.
Firebug couldn't get off a clear shot at the girl who leapt toward he and his temporary allies. Nor was he anywhere near fast enough to avoid the girl's kick. Nor was his light armor strong enough to completely blunt the force of the surprisingly hard blow. She actually managed to hurt him. Which meant she would burn the slow way. But first, he needed to get a little altitude from which he could shoot without being attacked in return.
Ranma couldn't believe she'd only nailed two of her targets. The big man blocked his kick cleanly, and the woman had simply dodged his punch. Fortunately, his girl form was faster than his normal body. Otherwise, the viciously fast kick from the woman would have knocked her straight into the big man's right cross.
That the man's punch was merely a feint to cover a snap kick didn't affect Ranma's ability to dodge. But the blow came closer than Ranma liked. The problem was Ranma normally fought one on one duels. Multiple opponents occasionally posed problems.
FreeFall was in a dilemma. Getting close to Hangtime would neutralize her powers while reducing his own combat abilities. But Ground could do the same thing at any time. Which would definitely leave the villains with the advantage. That was before he saw the results of Wild Dragon's first attack. After seeing that, he smiled and popped off two shots at the rising Firebug. The first was a clean miss while the second struck the feed mechanism for Firebug's right side mini incendiary launcher, setting off the chambered round.
Firebug had to concentrate to keep the burning gel from hurting him. He had to get the fire under control before it set off the rest of his ammo supply. If that happened, he wasn't sure he could stop the chain reaction from broiling him alive.
The air pressure from Hangtime's near misses told Ranma that she didn't want to let her connect with anything. If the woman had technique to match her speed, she'd have been dangerous. And if Ground's speed matched his technique, he too would have been trouble. Separately, either one would've been no problem. Unfortunately, the two of them forced Ranma to stay on the defensive long enough for Brick to rejoin the fight.
Believing that neither FreeFall or the girl could actually hurt him, Brick dived right back into the fight, knocking Ranma to the floor. Ranma's attempt to roll clear was stopped by a hand on her ankle. The loss of mobility was enough for Hangtime to get in a solid kick.
It felt like one of Ryoga's punches. Maybe a bit weaker. It was still more than enough to knock her from Brick's grasp and a good six meters away. Twisting in mid air, she landed next to the glass wall that separates the Crystal Palace from the 11th Avenue sidewalk.
Before Hangtime could follow up on her successful attack, FreeFall came close enough to cancel both their powers. The fight was twelve seconds old.
Ranma shook her head to clear it and saw Ground and Brick bearing down on her. They tried to flank the blue clad martial artist, but Ranma would have none of it. While ducking a kick and evading another grappling attempt, Ranma noticed FreeFall had holstered his rifle and was making quick work of the woman. She also saw Firebug pointing his left arm at FreeFall's blind side.
"Look out!" cried Wild Dragon as she leapt the ten meters between her former location and the armored villain. Ranma wasn't fast enough to keep Firebug from getting his shot off, but the warning wasn't needed as Firebug's shot struck Hangtime squarely in the back.
Hangtime didn't panic. FreeFall let her go, almost by reflex. As soon as that happened, she peeled off her burning jacket in one smooth motion and threw it at him. Killing her long time adversary or this new girl would have to wait until after she killed Firebug. Barking an order for Brick and Ground to attack FreeFall, she turned to flee. If she could get far enough away, her powers would return. Given that, she could make her escape and to hell with the rest of them.
Firebug had his own problems. The small girl who had jumped at least 10 meters laterally and over 5 meters vertically was beating the crap out of him. Someone that size had no business hitting that hard. His armor wasn't strong enough to protect against the furious blows the screaming blue clad girl was making at a rate that even Hangtime couldn't match. He lost consciousness before the attack was half over. Only his flight suit safety systems kept him from crashing into the ground.
Brick hadn't seen anyone jump like that since he'd left Japan. Something about the way the girl moved bothered him, but there was no time to worry about it now.
Wild Dragon leapt down from the hovering Firebug with what would have been a contemptuous look on her face had she not been wearing a mask. Ranma had hoped that a costumed opponent would be tougher than the muggers he'd fought the night before.
Ground reached FreeFall just as Hangtime got far enough away for both their powers to turn on. Hangtime, concerned about the possibility of reinforcements, chose the better part of valor. Pushing her temporal acceleration power to the limit, she ran off in an explosion of displaced air and shattered glass. Ground's punch connected full force, but with his powers active, FreeFall barely noticed.
Ranma moved toward the rest of the fight. With one down and one fled, she figured the other two should be a piece of cake. But for once, Ranma was wrong.
Ground knew he stood no chance against FreeFall unless he released his own power. Brick would just have to take his chances. Ground unleashed his one and only super human ability.
In a flash, everything changed. Ranma's female body, normally light as a feather and fast as a whirlwind, felt incredibly heavy and ridiculously slow. It felt as if she was carrying Ryoga's backpack while walking on the bottom of the ocean. Her could barely sense her chi. Not even enough for a decent jump. But Ranma Saotome was a martial artist, and never one to give up at the first sign of trouble.
Brick knew that Ground had let loose. He could feel the difference. Gone was his superhuman durability. Gone was his tireless endurance. Gone was his ability to drain life force from others to replenish his own. This terrified him. Even slowed to a fraction of her accustomed speed, Ranma took him out in under twenty seconds.
While Ranma was learning her limitations, Ground was handily beating FreeFall. One edge FreeFall's powers gave to him was the ability to move faster by reducing the amount of inertia in his own body. Add to this enhanced strength and durability. On top of that, add a fair amount of martial arts training and practice which made his enhanced body a much more effective tool for those arts. Take away the extra speed, power and durability and FreeFall is still a decent fighter. But Ground, formerly a world ranked heavyweight kickboxer, was a whole lot better.
Normally Ranma wouldn't interfere in a one on one fight. But she guessed that whatever screwed her up had also zapped FreeFall. He was moving way too slow. Ranma arrived just as FreeFall was kicked hard enough to leave his feet and slide a good distance across the floor.
Ranma played for time. From what Jeff's files had said, the effects of Ground's power seldom lasted more than a minute. He was still faster than Ground, but the margin wasn't enough to avoid all the kicks, punches, knee and elbows from his opponent. The strikes hurt a lot more than they should and her own blows didn't seem to be inflicting much damage. She needed to hit a pressure point.
Ducking one kick only set her up for a elbow to the back of her head. Ranma rolled with the impact, but was still knocked to the ground and somewhat dazed. Ground raised his leg to stomp Ranma's neck when a gunshot got both their attention.
"Next one goes through your spine Harry," FreeFall said shakily. He looked hurt. But braced from a kneeling position, he held his rifle rock steady on target.
Ground looked around. Brick was down, Firebug was hovering unconscious nearby and their so-called leader had fled. The effects of his power neutralizing blast would be wearing off soon and he wouldn't be able to release another for at least ten minutes. Slowly he lowered his foot and raised his hands over his head.
The fight was over.
-----
Ranma's chi sense, as well as the rest of her, returned to normal before the rest of MATRIX arrived at the Javits Center. The aftermath took a lot longer than the fight, which was pretty standard from everything she'd learned. Cleaning up always takes more time than making a mess. Ranma let everyone else do the talking. It turned out while she and FreeFall had been fighting the villains, the mercenaries had gotten away with a few valuable prototypes and an undetermined amount of money and other loot. At best it was only a partial victory.
A few photographers had snapped pictures of the new heroine and many questions were asked, but other than Limelight providing the name of "Wild Dragon", none were answered. He had to give credit, Jeff might not like the man, but Limelight knew how to work a crowd of reporters. Eventually, Ranma was able to board his hoversled and rise into the darkening November sky.
It wasn't until the whole team regrouped at the Matrix HQ's Conference Room that Limelight blew up. How dare Wild Dragon not mention something like being a shapeshifter? What other powers was he hiding? What was Anderson trying to pull? The outburst lasted until Big Tex lightly placed his hand on Limelight's left shoulder and squeezed until the green and black clad man shut up.
His point made, Big Tex nodded once before leaving the room.
In a tone made even more level by the voice modulator built into his helmet, Limelight said, "I believe a break is in order. We'll meet back here in 15 minutes."
Big Tex, Sparx, and FreeFall all went to shower and change costumes. Or in Big Tex's case, change clothes. Sunray just reverted to 'civilian' form as a more effective and much faster way to get clean on her way to the kitchen. Limelight showed no intention of leaving the conference room at all.
Ranma didn't feel like staying with Limelight, so he left the conference room and wandered into the hall. Inspired, he ran upstairs to the bedroom that Jeff had showed him during his tour. His access card served to open the door and lock it behind him.
Ranma pulled off her costume and jumped into the shower. When the hot water returned him to male form, he felt relieved. Who knew if Ground's power might mess up a Jusenkyo curse? Five minutes into the fifteen minute break saw Ranma out of the shower and dried off. He spotted a phone on the bedside table and checked to see if it worked.
It took three tries to punch in his access code, but soon enough he was dialing his temporary home.
"Hello?" asked Anne's voice.
"Oh good, it's you. I need to ask question."
"Are you all right?" Anne asked. She didn't use any names because she didn't know who might be listening. She'd also seen some of the news coverage of the fire and the fight.
"Yeah, I guess so. But I got my... clothes... dirty and have nothing to wear. Have big meeting in eight minutes."
"You're in Bedroom 3? Right?"
"Yes. How..."
"Caller ID. Go over to the keypad, punch in your access code and then 2678863. A housebot will bring you a spare."
"I didn't know I even had spare costume."
"Hey, I didn't get where I am today without planning ahead."
Ranma decided not to question that particular comment and instead ended the conversation. He punched the needed keys and waited. Less than two minutes later, the keypad chimed indicating something wanted in. Some sort of automated trolley carrying a new costume rolled into the room once he opened the door.
Pulling on the clean clothes, Ranma prepared to return to the conference room. He was nearly out the door when he turned around, peeled back his left sleeve and splashed a little cold water on his arm. Best to return to the meeting in the same condition she'd left. 'Now to stop by the kitchen for some props,' she thought as she headed downstairs.
-----
The demonstration of Ranma's curse went well enough. He could see that Sparx wasn't taking it well, Sunray was fascinated and that FreeFall didn't particularly care. He couldn't read Big Tex's smiley face or Limelight's armored one.
When asked what other tricks he had up his sleeves, Ranma demonstrated the basic amiguriken by throwing a handful of peanuts into the air and snatching all of them before they hit the table. He did inform them that it was normally done with chestnuts and an open fire.
Ranma also demonstrated his Soul of Ice and explained that it was part of a technique that wasn't safe to demonstrate indoors. Finally, he admitted to his fear of cats, but didn't explain the Neko-ken. That was one secret he intended to keep. Robert the Talking Cat's status as an auxiliary was brought up by FreeFall, but Limelight stated that they could easily keep the two separated.
The Moko Takabisha wasn't mentioned at all. It was the newest thing in Ranma's arsenal but he didn't have all the bugs worked out yet. Besides, his confidence had taken quite a hit because of the whole 'my mother wants to decapitate me' thing. Best to save it for an emergency.
After the meeting was over, Ranma de-stressed with two hours of katas in the gym. He never suspected that his every move was being recorded, analyzed and dissected by Limelight. If he could discover and make use of the principles involved, his suit's combat programming would be receiving a massive upgrade.
END CHAPTER 11