Disclaimer: I do now own Ranma ½ or Birdy the Mighty. This is not a recording.

Author's Notes: What happens when you have an overflow of ideas and combine it with caffeine? The perfect recipe for a new chapter! Scared yet? You shouldn't be. Just relax and enjoy the ride! Let's get this show on the road!

Ranma the Mighty

Chapter 4

Learning to Fall

Flying is an interesting sensation, Birdy concluded, but the landing was something she definitely did not look forward too. Add to all this the fact that Ranma woke up just as the achieved their peak of ascent.

'Do I even wanna know what set her off?' he asked in a faintly bored tone.

'I don't know! I didn't even say anything except to explain how bacon breath and pajama boy attacked us!' Birdy could hear herself whining. Ranma balked at the enormity of what she just said,

'Ryoga and Mousse? How are we still alive?' his incredulity would have been cute if they weren't heading for a painful landing. The pigtailed boy seized control of the body for a few brief seconds and fixed their descent so that it went from bone breaking to merely unpleasant. Ranma was stunned to discover that either no damage was done or it was so slight it might as well be non-existent.

'Great landing! Uh...About how we're alive..." she went over the entire battle and the aftermath with her partner. When she was done, he did something completely unexpected.

'Awesome! Geez, I tried to teach Akane those same things but she never listened. You actually pay attention and the you beat Ryoga. I was actually worried about getting some rest, but it's good to see you had everything under control.' he sounded genuinely thrilled which made Birdy flush in pleasure.

'Uhm... Do you wanna turn back into a guy?' she asked him. He actually thought about it instead of just saying yes, even if he did say it anyway. At least he thought about it. The next order of business was to find hot water, which turned out to be easy. Akane's Mallet Air-Ways put them practically right on Ukyou's doorstep.

'Good ol' Ucchan! C'mon I can smell okonomiyaki cooking!' she quickly stood up, realizing she was hungry, and walked inside. What greeted her wondering eyes was a scene that brought back memories of Geedo. It looked like an alien monster and it was tearing the shop apart. A girl was squaring off against it with a kunoichi at her side. The ninja girl vanished just as the other girl's massive combat spatula came down to strike, but the beast merely shrugged it off. Ranma seemed to be getting angry at the sight just before the girl, Ukyou, was swept to the side with a mighty strike. Birdy leaped to intercept and caught the girl easily before setting her off to the side. The ninja, Konatsu, struck the mighty being with repeating blows that barely phased Taro.

'Go to the kitchen! QUICK!" Ranma urged her. With a barely perceptible nod she took off only to be slammed back with a powerful backhand strike. At least, that's how it should have worked, but Birdy had caught the massive fist easily.

'...Forget the water. Just take him out.' he was understandably stunned by the recent development. All action ceased as they saw the mighty girl holding the massive fist, relatively easily, before flinging him out through the storefront. The flying side of beef impacted violently with the pavement before rolling back to his feet. A snort of anger was all he managed to get out before a flying kick took him in the jaw. Apparently she waited too long to recover as she found her ankle snagged just in time to clean the pavement with her face. Obviously, once this guy had an idea, he ran with it as he continued to hurl her through the air, demolishing telephone poles and cars with her body.

'Dammit! I'm sorry, Ranma! I tried!' Birdy apologized while the pain hammered through again and again.

'S'okay! Just ask Ucchan for hot water!' he replied.

"Ucchan! I need hot wa-OUCH-ter!" she managed to call out, but her voice sounded far away. The chef girl was trying to get the water out to her Ranchan, not really seeing the change in appearance. Her panic was making the operation much more difficult, even with Konatsu helping. To their horror they say that the kitchen was demolished. Only water splashing around was cold. A new voice rent the air with a savage cry.

"Put her down Taro... NOW!" the man outside sounded pissed.

"That sounded like Ryoga!" the male kunoichi exclaimed as the two stood out front again watching in shock. Taro had hurled Birdy at the Lost Boy only to watch as the fanged one caught her, almost gently, and set her down. The powerful boy looked like he'd been through a war and came out second best, but his aura was burning bright. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kasumi running over to check on the damn fem-boy.

'I need a way out of this! This should do nicely...' he thought with an evil smirk as he snagged her, one-armed, crushingly. Everyone gasped in shock at the sight. Taro had just broken one of the cardinal rules of fighting in Nerima. No one hurts Kasumi.

'That does it! That fuckin' freak o' nature is goin' DOWN!' Ranma roared furiously. Birdy was barely conscious, but did notice when a red aura exploded outward and turned their body abruptly male. In male form, their injuries meant nothing as he stood up. Ryoga's red aura matched his sometime friend's. A sign appeared in Taro's good hand.

Go on and try to attack. I'll crush her easily.

Where did Taro learn the sign trick? Ranma saw Genma running away quickly which only intensified his anger. His attention was diverted to Ryoga, his eyes were blazing with fury as he removed several bandannas.

"What're ya doin'? You'll hit Kasumi!" the pigtailed boy tried to get through to the boy, but his words bounced off as a look of intense concentration settled on his features. Taro hitched up his grip on the gentle girl's torso causing her to squeal in pain, which only intensified his resolve.

"You're goin' down." the Lost Boy sounded like he was using the Soul of Ice as his aura abruptly turned a strange glowing green. Unlike his normal depression aura it seemed to fill him with strength and confidence. Time seemed to slow to a stop as he brought the charged shuriken up to his face, eyes closing slowly. The focus was plain on Ryoga's face.

"Try this on for size... Cross Shuriken!" he snarled softly before exploding into motion. The bandannas shot out in eight directions, arcing outward before flying back with lethal intent. Taro shoved Kasumi forward as he vaulted backward to avoid the attack.

You only get what you deserve! his sign gloated before he noticed the shuriken cross in front of Kasumi, but not touch her. Mentally he wondered what the hell was going on before Ryoga's next shout caught him off guard.

"Reverse Cross Shuriken!" the shurikens' arc changed, rather then sticking in the ground the came back at him again, whistling through the air with a lethal hum. "They will follow you until they strike their target!" Ryoga shouted. Taro had no time to ponder the meaning of the words before his word exploded in pain. As the shuriken struck, rather then cutting into him, they released what felt like eight Shi Shi Hokdans all over his body. The Lost Boy dropped to his knees from the effort.

"I'll finish 'em buddy." Ranma vowed, amazed at the skill he was just shown, before his attention went back to Taro. The sinister chimera was barely able to stand, but the fury was clear in his eyes. Ukyou vaulted in to snatch Kasumi out of harm's way. The poor girl was sobbing in fright. The pigtailed boy's fury caused his aura to reach unbelievable heights, his pigtail undid itself causing his hair to frame his face. Each step caused the pavement to crack beneath his feet as small debris floated up, blazing in a corona of power.

"What ever happened to the martial artist's code? Do you follow it only when it conveniences you? I live it, bitch, and I respect it. You hurt Kasumi. You hurt anyone who gets in your way. I'm gonna make you squeal." he snarled viciously. The same air of determination that saw him through the fight with Saffron was clearly in evidence. Without even a second's warning, he pushed off on his right foot, sailing straight into Taro with a powerful shoulder ram that hurled the massive beast clear down the street, causing him to smash into ground with bone shattering force. By the looks of the way he was getting up, several bones were shattered. The startled looks he was receiving failed to penetrate his aura of rage. No one had ever seen Ranma knock the chimera down like that. Taro's cursed form was blessed with greater strength and endurance, but suffered from a lack of speed and agility. Those same traits that had seen him through a fight before simply failed to help him here. With a startled, "Moo!" he tried to fly away, but his wings were broken. He was essentially helpless should the irate boy decide to finish him off. What surprised him most was Ranma standing over him with cold eyes, but the deathblow never came.

"Leave Taro. Leave and don't return. There's been enough violence today and I ain't gonna kill ya." With that, he turned and walked away, his hair still flowing in the invisible wind of his power. Now the Chinese boy had truly seen death and was even more scared for experiencing it. Perhaps he could join a nice monastery. The great injured beast slumped down the street. Forever changed for the better.

/-

Cologne watched as the loser stumbled down the street just below the building she was watching. It was an unnerving experience, to be sure, but it was certainly educational. Son-in-Law had grown even stronger then she could imagine. Certainly the one who could defeat Saffron, let alone kill him, was a great warrior indeed, but this recent development weighed on her mind. It was with a heavy heart that she came to a decision that would change her plans forever. Setting Taro upon them had been a grave mistake. She had merely told him that Ukyou would know a way to get Happosai to change his name and let him loose.

"What have I done? There is no way I can make this right, but to simply tell him the truth. It simply is impossible to continue pursuing him even if he would make a valuable addition to the tribe." She murmured to herself. It was time to face the music.

/-

The store actually didn't take much time to get back in shape. A number of tables and chairs had been demolished, but in Nerima having multiple spares is the norm. The kitchen area was demolished, but once again living in Nerima taught Ukyou to have a backup for everything. Ryoga was stretched out in one of the booths, his injuries hurting anew from recent exertions. Ranma was helping Konatsu get the replacement tables and chairs while Kasumi was helping Ukyou to cook a victory meal. It was actually somewhat festive and spirits ran high.

"If they gave a prize for belly-achin' you win first prize, Ryoga!" Ranma quipped good-naturedly. The Lost Boy growled something back, but couldn't help being in a good mood either.

"That was kinda impressive Ryoga. I didn't know ya had it in ya." Ukyou complimented him as she served him another okonomiyaki. Kasumi merely beamed happily at him, causing him to blush to the roots of his hair. They had already complimented Ranma about fighting Taro until his ego had swelled to over five times normal size, but genuine modesty kicked in and he admitted that Ryoga had created the opening; which is why there were so many compliments being hurled in his direction. The fanged boy probably could have made a Mouko Takabisha to rival Ranma's. The Tendo house was called so that everyone would know where Kasumi was and to extend invitations to the party.

'Who would of thought we'd all be here throwin' a party together, eh?' Ranma asked a cheerful Birdy. 'Normally we're fightin' each other so much that we can't have fun.'

'I know what ya mean. From your memories I can tell that ya rarely get a break.' Birdy replied before her cheerfulness vanished. 'Someone's coming. The person has a high amount of chi.' She was pleased with herself for learning how to detect chi.

'That would be Cologne. Don't worry, she's probably just curious about what's goin' on.' He said as the door opened. Everyone was sitting at some tables that had been joined with the booth table to include Ryoga. The party atmosphere was killed and then shot repeatedly just by seeing the look on her face.

"Pardon me for bothering you." She said.

"Not at all! Would you like to sit down?" Ukyou trying to be the gracious hostess.

"I'm sorry, but this is rather important." Everyone turned to listen. "I was curious about Ranma's new abilities. So I sent Mousse to investigate." Ranma's face turned grim.

"If ya wanted to know ya coulda tried askin' ya old Ghoul" his tone was rude, surprisingly the Elder flinched.

"I didn't know if you would have told me, but Mousse told me of how he asked Ryoga to help him." The Lost Boy propped himself up from where Kasumi had been feeding him. His face was contorted with anger.

"Help? He left me to fight Ranma alone! Then I find out it wasn't even Ranma I was fighting!" the gentle girl managed to get the powerful boy to relax. That answer surprised Cologne, but no one was going to clarify so she pressed on. The crowd was growing angrier and angrier as she explained her plan to them. Surprisingly, only Ranma stayed calm, even if his eyes had a calculating look to them.

'Are you sure?' he asked Birdy.

'Positive. She shows all the signs of recent possession. I think the alien is still inside her.' The police girl said.

'How do we separate them?' the pigtailed one asked.

'Well, she looks like she could handle a good jolt. The Hyper Resolve, set low, should fix the problem.'

'Sounds like a plan.'

"Are you even listenin' to her, Ranchan? She just confessed to nearly getting' us killed!" Ucchan exclaimed angrily.

"Oh I'm listenin'… I think she knows what she did was wrong so I hope she understands. Why I'm doin' this." He stood up fluidly causing the Elder to step back in apprehension. Before she could flee, however, Ranma moved so fast it looked like he teleported and grabbed the diminutive matriarch and letting, following Birdy's instructions, unleashed the Hyper Resolve.

"Ranma!" Kasumi cried out in horror as the elder began jerking violently at his treatment of the old woman until she saw another entity separating. With revulsion, the thing was recognized as looking like a giant earwig.

'Grab it now!' Birdy shouted. The pigtailed wonder grabbed and yanked the hideous creature out before whipping it across the room. The abused Elder was treated more gently as she was handed off to Konatsu.

"Keep an eye on her… This thing's mine." He spoke in a voice that brooked no contradiction.

'Oh contraire… I'll handle this punk. You fought the last alien.' Before Ranma could argue, he was forced to upend a glass of cold water over his head, turning into Birdy. Ranma sulked until she explained that he could watch and see what she learned as well as correct her mistakes. The earwig was understandably shocked.

"B-Birdy?" it grated out in surprise.

"The one and only…" she grinned in anticipation of the fight. Obviously, the boy was rubbing off on her. Before the alien could rush to a new victim, a powerful snap kick sent it flying out into the street through the plywood covering the demolished storefront. The insectoid snarled in hate as it started to get up, only to be flattened again by a flying elbow drop.

'Never taught ya that…' Ranma said in astonishment.

'Gotta learn to improvise!' Birdy replied back with almost manic glee before trading blows with the creature so fast their limbs became a blur. For every one strike the earwig made, roughly a hundred from Birdy connected. Despite the greater frequency of hits, he was relatively unphased.

'That thing's shell is like heavy armor! We can't break that!' Birdy exclaimed, nursing bruised knuckles.

'Focus on one spot and keep striking. There's two plates on the chest joined at the center. Hit that!' Ranma instructed. The police girl nodded before launching back into the fray, using her powerful repeating kicks at the thing's chest. Ranma boggled as their ki surged through the roof, her aura blazing, just as she broke the sound barrier.

"Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken-Revised!" she cried just as her leg flashed brightly, slamming into the rapidly developing weak-point. It couldn't even dodge as all the blows struck in under a second. She hopped back, her abused leg numb from the striking, and watched in fascination as the earwig tried to move forward before the chest exploded. It roared in pain and anger as it collapsed to the ground, green ichor spreading from the wound. Birdy brought out her little device and pressed the button. The alien was encased in the same black sphere that took off with Geedo. With a gasp of relief, she sagged to the ground before squealing with pain as her leg cramped up.

'Nice job on that technique…Gotta remember that. Also, ya never relax until ya stretch your legs to prevent cramps.' Ranma told her sagely. She wished that she had some hot water to let him deal with the damn pain, but didn't have the energy.

'Oh go soak your head…' she muttered as sudden weariness claimed her.

/-

Akane watched TV with growing misgivings. She was absolutely positive something was going to happen, but couldn't remember much after she passed out. The show she was watching was suddenly interrupted by a special bulletin. The report concerned another violent attack downtown. They told about the battle between Ranma and Taro, but what got her attention was that Kasumi had been endangered and that Ryoga saved her.

"Wow… Never thought that would happen." She muttered until they proceeded to talk about the fight after that when a giant earwig tore apart Ucchan's just after Taro did. The reporter showed an image of Birdy just after she defeated the killer alien as well as the bucket of hot water that turned her into Ranma. Suddenly the buzzing returned with even greater power.

"So that's it! That's the connection!" the dark voice exclaimed before laughing with glee. Akane twitched before collapsing sideways on the couch, blood running from her nose as her eyes turned glassy.

"The time for games is over… Gomez, initiate the final part of the plan. NOW!" was all Revi said before fully possessing Akane.

'NOOOOOO!' Akane screamed into her mind only to hear the mocking laughter all around her.

'Let's play.' Revi said before her sinister laughter filled the house.

The End

Author's Notes: I appreciate all the reviews I've been getting, but I have something to say to one person in particular. Why did you say 'You idiot' and not even give me a reason? If there was a problem then you should have told me what it was so I could correct it. If the problem was with the whole story then I'm sorry if you don't like it and tough luck. For those of you enjoying this story, I'm planning several more chapters. Constructive criticism is always appreciated and pointless flames are hated. Have a good day everybody and ja ne!