Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, Birdy the Mighty, Tenchi Muyo, or Dirty Pair Flash.

Author's Notes: This story is a lot of fun to write. Sequels usually fail due to a lack of appreciation of the first story, the author growing bored, or the audience growing bored. I just hope that I can keep this is as much fun as the original if not more so. I would like to thank all of you reading this story and who have been reading since the beginning. Thank you. Now to get on with the show!

Kikuko the Mighty

Chapter 3

The Saotomes were laughing about something when Kei came to. When she asked how long she was out, she was assured that it was only a few minutes, but that didn't lessen her embarrassment. She fainted in front of the two greatest police officers in the galaxy. Ranma and Birdy were sitting with their daughter waiting for Toma to wake up. That was another thing to be embarrassed about. He was supposed to be safe and sound with Yuri and Mihoshi, but here he was across the city from where he started. Kei was so deep in thought that she didn't realize she was being addressed until the third try.

"What?" she asked intelligently. Even to her she sounded pissy. The man looked startled for a minute before roaring with laughter that only served to tick her off even more. His wife stared at him before smacking him upside his head. Ranma looked sheepish and Birdy looked exasperated. Their daughter simply rolled her eyes at their antics.

"My husband was trying to tell you that your friend is waking up." Birdy said. Toma was sitting up and looking about in confusion at the people around him, but then his eyes oriented on Kei.

"Kei! Where's Yuri? I remember being back at the computer terminal when I woke up here." He said with concern heavy in his voice. The girl shook her head.

"I don't know." She said as her eyes looked over her new friend and her family. It was nice to see such a happy picture, but she was suddenly very worried about her purple haired friend. Ranma was staring down the hole in the ground, tapping his foot impatiently.

"C'mon Mihoshi! I can sense you down there! Hurry up!" he shouted down. The sound of rocks sliding and muted straining was faintly heard. Mihoshi finally made it out of the hole.

"Officer Mihoshi, reporting for duty sir!" she saluted smartly. Too smartly because she cracked herself in the forehead and only Ranma quickly grabbing her arm prevented her from falling back down, but he almost dropped her when a purple blur leapt out of the pit and on the edge of the hole. She smiled wide.

"Hi! I'm Yuri! Where's Toma…?" she peered around before spotting him. With a happy squeal she launched herself at him, performing a glomp to make an Amazon proud. The young man looked visibly relieved and hugged her back. It was a touching scene. Kei ran over to join her friends as the four GP gathered together around a shocked Ranma.

"How did she jump like that?" he asked in confusion.

"She actually comes from a planet with one and a half times the gravity of Earth. Added to that is the fact that World's World is three quarters the size of Earth. With all that counting in her favor…" Kikuko shrugged. Her father boggled while Birdy giggled over the look on her husband's face.

"Also Kei comes from a similar planet, same planet I came from, but she's stronger than I am. Poor girl blames me for her being so strong." Mihoshi said with a shake of her head. Ranma sweatdropped.

"So you guys came to celebrate my birthday?" the young redhead asked in excitement.

"Of course! Your siblings couldn't make it, but they send their best. Unfortunately, before we can have fun, we need to know what's going on." Birdy said. The elder Saotomes were apprised of the situation, but what surprised their daughter most was when they declined helping them.

"B-but…!" Kikuko started but her mother interrupted her.

"We can't just bail you out y'know. This is your assignment." Her father said. End of discussion. Arrangements were made to meet for dinner later and her friends were even invited. Goodbyes were said, and to everyone but Kikuko's astonishment, the couple vanished into thin air.

"D-did they just…" Kei stammered.

"No, they did not disappear. They took off running towards the management office." The redhead said. Toma was busily typing away at his laptop that he had somehow managed to stow away. Yuri was leaning against him as he worked.

A couple hours later-

"Hmmm…I almost got it, but I can't quite…" he started to say, but the purple-haired girl seemed to see something.

"What if you did…this?" she tapped a few keys despite his protests before staring in wonder. He tapped another few keys, totally lost in his own little world before a round of gasps drew his attention. When he looked over to see what they were staring at, he gasped as well. A huge ship had suddenly manifested above the construction site, wires were connected to it through several ports along the outer hull. There was no damage to the ship whatsoever because of the force field around it. When he scanned it with his computer he made an unmanly squeak of shock. The girls looked at him as he began babbling.

"Th-that's the Soja! Kagato's ship." He stammered. At Kei and Yuri's confused looks he explained. Kagato was one of the most brilliant scientific minds in the universe, second only to Washu, whose main goal has been to increase his own power and rule the universe by capturing the power of Tsunami and the Light Hawk wings. He was wanted for more crimes than a normal person could count and was considered to be extremely dangerous.

"So that's Kagato…" Mihoshi said with an unusual anger in her voice.

"If we're going to take him down then we need to decide how we're going to fight him." Kikuko said.

"We do have the Lovely Angel. Our ship's firepower combined with your ship's and your own abilities should be able to punch a good sized hole in him." Kei suggested. It was the best idea any of them could come up with. The thing that was bothering the redhead the most was…

"Why hasn't he done anything to us yet?"

The skies over World's World-

The two spacecrafts streaked in towards their target. Kei and Yuri had been surprised when the ship had suddenly appeared when all Mihoshi had done was throw off her earring. The GP ship had greater firepower but was slower than the sleek ship flying beside it. The Lovely Angel separated into two ships; one had the power and was piloted by Kei while the other had the speed and was piloted by Yuri. A smaller "craft" was shooting towards the fight as well. It was a nine-foot high suit of mechanical power armor done in red and black. Piloting the armor was Kikuko. It was specially made by her sister to boost her attacks. The mech was humanoid with black legs, red armored torso and shoulder pads with black arms. The twin engine booster pack blazed with plasma power. Mihoshi was piloting the GP ship. The Soja was in view.

"Preparing for final approach. According to Toma, if we focus our attacks on one spot we should be able to punch through the field. Let's go!" Yuri shouted as the engines of her ship suddenly blazed into action, followed closely by Kei, Mihoshi, and Kikuko. An eerie feeling settled over the girls as they tried to figure out why the ship wasn't attacking. Even now it was just sitting there like a lump. There was no help for it. They had to try. The three in the ships switched their main guns to full power while the redhead began gathering in her chi. The weapons were quickly at full power as the glowing ball of life energy flared gold in Kikuko's mech hands.

"Let's do it!" Kei shouted as they set their sights on the side of the ship. Target acquired at the same time, targeting computers in synch with one another.

"Fire!" four voices shouted in unison. Bolts of blue plasma were joined by a bolt of golden radiance, all trained on the engine protruding from the ship. The joined attack ripped through the force field as if it were paper before smashing through the ship's engine causing a chain reaction that resulted in the whole engine array exploding in a violent burst of plasma flame. It was very impressive as the gouts of loose plasma streamed across the sky while the ship crashed down, but before they could celebrate, they were hailed by a strange com system.

"Hmph…Not bad at all ladies, but you're out of your league." The voice sounded amused, with a thin layer of malice.

"Kagato!" Mihoshi hissed in recognition. The others were trying to figure out how it could be him when suddenly the exploding ship vanished and reappeared in the sky as if nothing had happened, but something was visibly different. For one thing, the Soja had become much bigger and the weapons array was even more incredible. The force field around the ship was definitely improved.

"Get out of there! It's a trap!" Toma shouted over the com system, but it was too late. The Soja opened fire, beams of intense energy erupted out from the sides and curled out to annihilate the puny ships that dared attack him, but his victory was short lived. The Lovely Angel suddenly came together again, a powerful field generator sprouted from the back. The beams slammed into the dome shaped barrier that deflected the rays instead of trying to block them, hovering in front of the Galaxy Police ship. The GP ship lent power to the generator. Kikuko breathed a sigh of relief as the beams stopped, but a laugh interrupted the brief respite.

"Such coordination! If only my other opponents had such team spirit! Pity that it all amounts to naught but an annoyance. Still, take it to your graves that you actually managed to give me a rough time!" Kagato laughed as the weapons powered up again for another volley.

"What do we do?" Yuri demanded in panic. The shield was taxed and overheated it couldn't withstand another blow. Kei was in a panic as well, but it wasn't the time to freak out.

"Toma! What options do we have?" she called out. The computer genius hadn't failed them yet and this time was no exception.

"The Lovely Angel and the Galaxy Police cruiser ship have similar linkage units." He began, but was interrupted by Mihoshi.

"Those are used only for docking procedures only! They can't be used to combine ships like the Lovely Angel!" she protested.

"Stop it Mihoshi! This may be our only shot!" Kikuko cried out. Toma resumed his explanation in the brief time they had.

"Okay, the same company that made the Lovely Angel also made your cruiser so the linkage units can be used together. I have removed the fail-safe protocols. Better hurry or you won't have time to fight!" he sounded genuinely worried so the two teams forced down their skepticism and agreed. The Galaxy Police cruiser flew to the Lovely Angel as it separated. The back of the front component remained open as the front of the GP ship opened, a connection rod extending before linking tightly with the front just as the back of the Lovely Angel flew around and fitted tightly to the back of the ship. The combined systems flared to life, the unified system greater than the sum of its parts. What further surprised the three girls was when another hatch opened up in the rear to admit Kikuko.

"Now what do you think you're doing? This won't help you at all!" Kagato roared as he unleashed another barrage of lasers. The fused ship easily withstood the bombardment, much to the madman's chagrin.

"Now let's take this guy out!" the redhead said as link cables shot out from her mech connecting her to the compartment area she was in just as cables from the wall jacked into her systems.

"Weapon systems on-line! Bringing the main gun up to full power!" Kei read the power output in astonishment.

"Shields holding at seventy-four percent and holding steady!" Mihoshi tapped the instruments in wonder at the power this ship was exuding.

"Alright! Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a bumpy ride!" Yuri crowed with glee as she brought the ship forward at incredible speeds. Golden bolts of energy spouted off from their small guns, peppering the shield with distracting fire. The beams that were fired at them in return either missed or caused negligible damage. The main gun came up to full power as Kikuko took the Moko Takabisha stance ready to unleash her full power, golden lightning arcing off of the mech and being absorbed into the walls. Anything else the mad scientist had to say was drowned out by the synchronized hum from the plasma generators and the rumbling whine from the system straining to contain the ki. When at last the gun was fully charged, Yuri parked the craft in front of the Soja, hatches along the side of the ship opened, and golden energy gathered together in front of the ship. The ball of coalesced energy roared out and into the force field. Because of the repeated shots of plasma, the shield was weakened significantly, but was destroyed completely by the enormous expulsion of power. Over the com unit, Kagato could be heard cursing out the shoddy craftsmanship of the vessel as a good portion of it was demolished. The floating wreck made an ungainly turn, but before they could stop him, he engaged the warp system and took off for parts unknown.

"Damn, he got away!" Mihoshi was furious at their failure, silent tears leaking from her eyes, but she wasn't allowed to brood long when the ship suddenly shuddered.

"What was that?" Kei asked.

"It feels like the ship's trying to come apart!" Yuri shouted back. Toma's voice came over the unit.

"That's because it is falling apart! Apparently too much power was routed through the linkages and it shorted them out! You have to bail out!" his frantic voice cut across the line. The girls scrambled to evacuate and managed to all jam up at the door, except Kikuko, who was still in her mech. The girl heard the warning and took off through the hatch she entered. The redhead was worried when no one exited the ship before seeing three figures leave the craft as it fell apart, the links severing and dumping the lifeless ships to the ground. Her friends flew over to her with emergency jet packs. She was getting ready to say something when her mech began squealing from strain. Whatever was going to be said could wait until they were on the ground. The girls looked to their friend just seconds before her mech suddenly gave out and plummeted.

"Kikuko!" Mihoshi cried as she urged the little rocket pack to reach her friend before the redhead barked out over the com unit.

"Don't! I have a parachute!" she yelled as the unmistakable white plume erupted from the back and resolved itself into a parachute with a smiley face. The girl would have been embarrassed if she knew what her partner had put on her parachute.

Once everyone had reached the ground safely, the back hatch cracked open expelling pressure. The fit redhead climbed out of the mech, the skintight suit hugging her curves. If any men had been around they would have instantly needed a blood transfusion. Kei, Yuri, and Mihoshi clustered around the defunct mech.

"You okay?" the blonde asked.

"Just fine, but my mech is busted…" she sounded downhearted about it.

"Toma can fix it! He can write a program for anything!" Yuri enthused. Kei rolled her eyes, but even she had to admit that the guy had talent. When the young man in question arrived, the first thing he did was rush over to the purple haired vixen and frantically ask if she was okay. She assured him that she was and promptly hugged him for caring. It was a tender moment, but then Mihoshi asked if he could fix their ships. Kikuko wanted to smack her before she remembered that a martial artist must never hurt those weaker than themselves.

"Fix them? It shouldn't be too difficult to get them fixed. Perhaps even have them adapted so that they can combine again without shorting out the systems?" he suggested. It was easy to see how that would work, if they were still partners when this assignment was over. In the short time they had been together it had been a blast. Literally. Judging by the position of the sun, however, it looked as if it was getting close to evening. It was almost time to meet the Saotomes for dinner, which Toma brought to their attention.

"It is? Aw damn! C'mon guys!" Kikuko was getting ready to take off before Mihoshi brought her up short.

"Are you wearing that?" she indicated the bodysuit. The redhead shrugged.

"I'm not late yet and it's never a good idea to be late for dinner especially with my family." The girl took off across the rooftops at breakneck speed, leaving them in the dust.

"I can jump pretty well…but not that well." Yuri muttered ruefully as Toma called for transport back to the management office.

Sometime later-

The party had been a blast for everyone, even the owner of the amusement park was invited. As good as it felt to have her mom and dad there with her; it was a sore spot that everyone wanted to hear about them, but not her. Once again she was in their shadow as her friends either talked to them or talked to her about them. It was growing almost unbearable. Before she could say or do anything to ruin the party, she decided to take her issues outside. The party was being held in the management center so her only view when she exited was the blasted landscape from their interesting arrival. The night air was cool on her face. Her parents hadn't even batted an eye when she showed up in her pilot suit except to say it looked good on her. She growled as she once again had to suffer through the excitement that always accompanied her parents' exploits.

"Ranma and Birdy Saotome. Detectives First Class of the Galaxy Police Force." She muttered. It wasn't that she didn't love her family, but it seemed like she was in everyone else's shadow. Her older brother Hawk was a universal explorer and soldier of fortune who had assisted in saving the galaxy any number of times. It wouldn't have been so bad, but he did it naturally. He was always in the right place at the right time to save the day and get the credit. Even her little sister Ranko was renowned in the scientific field. She was said to be almost as good as Washu or the American girl Gina Diggers. Kikuko wanted to cry. She was the middle child and seemed to always be stuck in the middle of everyone else. The birthday girl vowed to not even shed a tear, but before long she was bawling her eyes out.

"Sweetheart? What's wrong?" her mother asked as she came out. She had seen her daughter leave and followed her, but she didn't like seeing her child cry. The elder Saotome caught her daughter when she flung herself into her mother's arms with a wail.

"It's not f-fair! I try and try, but I can't keep up…Hawk, Ranko, you, and Dad are all better than me! My friends all make such a fuss about you and it's like I'm not even in the room anymore." She snuggled in her mother's arms. Birdy sighed as she stroked her daughter's hair.

"You did something today with your friends that your father and I couldn't have done." She admitted. Kikuko looked up at her mother in shock.

"We did?" she asked incredulously.

"You faced off against Kagato and drove him off. Not many people can claim that you know." Birdy said, noticing how her daughter visibly cheered up. It was at that moment that Ranma came out to join them.

"How are my favorite ladies?" he asked cheerfully as he caught them both in a hug. The rest of the crew came out to see what was going on. The young redhead expected it to turn into another round of questions about her family, but to her surprise her mother repeated what she'd said before.

"I was telling our daughter about what her and her friends accomplished. It's not everyday that Kagato gets run out of town." Birdy said. Ranma nodded in agreement. Everyone blinked at that.

"Wait…we did something that not even you guys could do?" Kei asked in disbelief.

"You got that right." Ranma said. Yuri abruptly seized Kikuko in a big hug.

"And we couldn't have done it without her!" she said happily. The startled girl returned the hug with a smile. Her friends were congratulating her and themselves. Maybe in the long run, team victories were better than solo accomplishments. The happy moment was broken by the sound of footsteps. Everyone turned to see a diminutive redheaded girl with one blue eye and one green eye. The girl wore a strange square hat on her head and a dark green cloak. Under the cloak she wore a white button down with a red tie, a dark green sleeveless sweater over the shirt. Her black skirt barely reached mid thigh, white stockings encasing her legs. Gold buckles on her black shoes twinkled as she walked. Mihoshi groaned as another girl once again outdid her in the looks department.

"Ranko!" Kikuko crowed as she flew at her baby sister and scooped her up in a big hug. The littler girl barely crested five-foot one, but gave her sister a startlingly powerful hug.

"Kiku-chan!" her sister cried out happily. The sisters reunion was cut short by Toma as he rushed forward.

"Glad you could make it Saotome-san!" he gushed. The littler girl blinked as she took in the tall lanky man.

"Hey call me Ranko! Saotome-san makes me sound so old!" she burst into a fit of strange maniacal laughter that had everyone sweatdrop. Her two helper bots floated over. Tick was red and looked like a mini sphere with a clock face and Tock was blue and looked similar to Tick. For some reason, the Saotomes seemed ready to duck and cover.

"We parked the ship boss!" Tick chirped.

"Ready for duty!" Tock chirped.

"Good job guys! Take a break. So Toma, what did you want my help for?" Ranko asked. The two geniuses wandered off talking to each other rapidly. Yuri looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Kei asked her friend.

"What if she tries to take Toma?" her friend whimpered.

"Don't worry. She's more liable to hit on you than on him." Kikuko said in a not-so-reassuring way. Mihoshi squeaked and Kei chuckled nervously. Strangely enough, Yuri was relieved. It was decided that the party should end and everyone should get some sleep. The elder Saotomes told everyone to sleep well and apologized. They had to leave for a new assignment the next day. After the farewells, it was time for bed.

Several Hours Later-

Kikuko was awakened from a sound sleep by her sister's maniacal laughter ringing through the center. Mihoshi was already up and swearing like a pirate at being disturbed before she caught sight of her partner's shocked look and stopped.

"M-Mihoshi…?" she stammered.

"Uh I mean…Darn it!" she said cutely in her ditzy way. It was too early for the redhead to puzzle out what was going on with her partner, but she did have to investigate why her sister was laughing like that. The girls left the spare room they had been sleeping in and made their way to the equipment hangar. Kei and Yuri were already there. It looked like a pajama party, but the two hysterically laughing people who were already there didn't notice. The Lovely Angel and the GP cruiser were there being serviced while a canvas covered object was being tended to by Tick and Tock. Finally Ranko and Toma realized they had an audience.

"Good morning ladies!" Ranko crowed before dissolving into giggles.

"Morning everybody. H-hey Yuri." Toma said shyly. Yuri rushed over and gave him a hug. Another touching scene that was interrupted.

"Anyway…bet you're wondering what's going on, right?" Ranko asked. At the chorus of nods she smirked.

"The ships are fixed for starters so you can leave any time, but we have some things to talk to you about." She looked over to Toma who was making loving eyes at the girl in his arms. She shrugged.

"Never mind, I can tell you. I recovered the flight data from your fight with Kagato. That was quite a bit of hacking on Toma's part for sure. If it had been done wrong you all would've gone boom! Don't panic, it didn't happen so why worry? Well, the ships have been made more compatible. Only problem was finding a way to improve the linkage without burnout like the last time. The thing that had been holding you together it turns out was Kikuko's ARMS. ARMS stands for Assault Response Mech System. One of my personal triumphs, but it turns out it has the effect of not only enhancing sis's own power, but also regulating power surges. ARMS was regulating the flow of energy but eventually even the fail safe routers…failed." She grinned at the slightly stunned faces before realizing they hadn't followed a word of it. With a sigh, she decided to clarify.

"Without ARMS the two ships would have burnt out before the link couplings had even finished sealing. It wasn't the combination that failed, it was the weak link. ARMS. So, not only did I drastically improve your engine systems, weapons systems, and defense systems, but I also improved the linkage through ARMS. The original was completely fried so I had to make a new one." She gestured for her mechanical servants to unveil the mech. Kikuko gasped. It looked smaller. The basic design was of a Hard Suit from Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, great anime in the girl's opinion, but it was in her own color theme. She preferred red and blue. The chest and arms was red, the hips and thighs were cobalt blue while the knee guards and lower legs were red. The helmet was red with the black visor and two antennae.

"Th-that's…" Kikuko began, but Mihoshi finished.

"That's so cool!" she gushed. Kei had to admit it was impressive.

"Meet ARMS II. The latest in next generation combat mecha. This model enhances your innate and refined ki abilities while allowing you to focus your energy even better. With this one, you can also channel your energy into a blade of pure ki." She smiled at the stunned responses before adding. "Don't break this one anytime soon." Kikuko caught her slight sister in a rough hug.

"Happy birthday." The girl whispered as she was set back down. Toma was staring, not at Yuri, but at his laptop.

"Guys…we have a problem. Apparently we've been given a new assignment. We have to go to Earth." He said.

"Why?" Yuri asked. Toma's face looked grim.

"Kagato."

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Another day, another chapter. Tell me what you think please? I write to please…myself. Writing gives me a great deal of pleasure. Thank you for reading! Ja ne!