Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, Birdy the Mighty, Tenchi Muyo, or Dirty Pair Flash. Anyone want to guess about the game referenced here?

Author's Notes: Welcome to another fun-filled installment of Kikuko the Mighty! The action doesn't stop as the crew heads to Earth for the confrontation with Kagato where it will join with the Tenchi Muyo story, but with differences of course. How will things be different and how will they be the same? Read and find out!

Kikuko the Mighty

Chapter 4

Lost in Space

Training Area of the Galaxy Police Cruiser-

Wielding the ARMS requires absolute concentration. The powers involved in the creation alone make even the stoutest scientist shudder for the power suit is made through ancient technology. They have been referred to as Ancient Relic Machines before the current incarnation: Assault Response Mech System. The idea of piloting one of these weapons is laughable unless you have a complete mastery of the mind and spirit. Kikuko was training with ARMS II to see how it was the same, and different, from the original. Her sister Ranko never explained how she learned about them or even how to make them and she wasn't foolhardy enough to ask. The training area was created inside of a pocket dimension therefore it had a huge amount of space. She took a few minutes to synchronize herself with the soul of the machine and readied herself. Pushing a few buttons resulted in target spheres being deployed.

"Level required." The computer asked.

"Level three, defense on, and assault on. Five pattern Alpha and five pattern Omega. The rest random assistance patterns." She said to the training computer as the target spheres instantly hummed to life. Level three was not that difficult and makes a good warm up, usually, but new equipment can make anything a challenge.

"Acknowledged." The computer replied and all hell broke loose. ARMS II was mysteriously sluggish as she dodged a complicated weaving laser pattern designed to cut off escape and drive her into heavy assault fire, which it did easily due to the lack of speed. The armor deflected the strongest of the fire easily, much to her shock, but that was quickly replaced by new confidence. Her aura flared out and was promptly being cycled into the ARMS. The next attack missed her by a mile as it turned out the synchronization required her aura to complete the fusion of spirit and machine. Power was certainly tempting, but she remembered that it was only a tool. Confidence in herself, confidence in her machine, and confidence in her sister. She had to admit, it was a lot of fun to use. Ranko smiled as she watched the tests.

"Your confidence makes you the perfect wielder of the ARMS. In ancient times you would have easily triumphed over the metal demons, but things are so different now…" her eyes turned to clear blue briefly before flickering back to her original eye colors.

The readings indicated a clear fifty percent increase in power as opposed to the old system and that was with the ARMS II limiter in place. The system held three limiters. The first provided a further twenty five percent boost and lasted an hour. The second yielded another twenty five percent and lasted thirty minutes. The last provided a one hundred percent boost but that only lasted for ten minutes total. Only downside to removing the limiters was a decrease in effective time. Add that to the increases granted by the fusion to the ships and that was another two hundred percent increase! The diminutive scientist cackled evilly and rubbed her hands together gleefully while her two helpers sweatdropped.

"Mom's crazy…" Tick whispered. Tock merely nodded in fear.

"What was that?" Ranko shrilled.

"Nothing!" the two yelled in unison before bolting with Ranko's mocking laughter behind them.

The cockpit of the GP cruiser-

Mihoshi was having a bad day. She had to be more competent than usual because today was her day to fly the ship. They would be reaching Earth in a couple hours and she had to be ready for anything. After all, if Kagato was there already then the situation could only get worse. Too bad they couldn't get help from the rest of the Galaxy Police since the Sol system was declared a protectorate. Only a small team was allowed and they had to be well versed in interstellar relations. Ranko was the only one versed in any form of relations so the matter was quickly overlooked. The blonde groaned as she anticipated the danger they would be facing. They would laugh about it later, but the sheer unreasoning terror before the fact never changed.

"We have the firepower and the skills so this should be easy." She repeated to herself for the hundredth time. The ship was vastly more responsive and cruising beside the Lovely Angel meant that if a space pirate attacked it would be two to one, but the Dirty Pair's reputation preceded them and kept the more foolhardy pirates away. The proximity alarm suddenly blared to life, startling the blonde from her reverie. She flipped the com unit.

"We have a problem! The scanners are picking up the Soja! He's here!" she cried into the unit.

"Relax Mihoshi! It's all right, we've been preparing for this. Lovely Angels are you ready to attack?" Kikuko asked the other team.

"Always ready for a fight!" Kei replied.

"Let's get this over with." Yuri said in a strangely quiet voice. Before she could be questioned, the first wave of cannons fired, forcing them to dodge. Pretty soon all was lost in the swirl of battle as the two ships weaved around the larger, more powerful ship, peppering it with force blasts from the new guns. Once again the barrier was a problem. The command to disengage the Lovely Angel was given and two ships emerged from one to fight. ARMS II was launched from the Galaxy Police cruiser, ready for action. A powerful booster pack was affixed to the mighty mech.

"Well if it isn't my favorite playmates…I have been desolate without you. Since you insist on following me across the galaxy, however, I must cut our association short. Drones attack!" he commanded as he taunted them across their com units. The sides of the Soja opened to release the drones. They were shaped like saucers with odd protrusions from the front that looked like three lances set together in a prong. There was no time for contemplation as they opened fire on the slightly larger aggressors.

"Look out!" Mihoshi cried as Yuri's craft was blindsided by a blast across her starboard. The girl screamed in surprise before a low growl echoed in the cockpit just seconds before she unleashed a barrage of force blasts on a cluster of drones, reducing them to melted slag. Kei was having a hard time as the drones attacked her in relentless waves, weakening her shield with kamikaze attacks. It was getting hard to steer the craft as the stabilizers were hit. Before the next wave could get her, however, Kikuko saved her with the ARMS II.

"Moko Takabisha!" she cried as she released a massive wave of golden confidence energy, tearing through the drones easily in an eruption of power. The arcing beam tore through all that were in her path until their shields came up, mysteriously deflecting the attack.

"I figured you might try that again, but it will avail you naught! My drones incorporate a new shield that can withstand your pathetic "ki" energy!" Kagato laughed maniacally as the tide of battle shifted.

"Kei! Toma!" Yuri cried out in panic as she saw her friends' ship buffeted in a sea of blaster waves. She tried to get to them only to be cut off by a horde of drones. This was not the time to give in to despair. The purple haired girl ground her teeth before unleashing her ship's new weapon. Hundreds of purple force blades hurtled out from the sides, shredding all that stood in her path as she plowed toward the beleaguered ship. From alongside her ship she could see the GP cruiser rushing to Kei's aid as well. Wait, it looked as if Kikuko was flying that way too! A wild notion sprang to mind as she remembered that the ships were fit for combination!

"Let's form up!" Kikuko called out over the com system. Kagato's thought was on what this form up could possibly be just seconds before it actually happened. A hail of force fire drove the enemy away just long enough for the ships to begin coming together. Kikuko flew into a rear hatch of Kei's nearly disabled vehicle as the GP cruiser opened a port for it to connect at the same time as Yuri's ship connected to the front. The resulting fusion craft began visibly repairing the damage already done, shimmering with golden light as it did so.

"Wow…ARMS is truly remarkable! It has extended Kikuko's own healing factor to the rest of the ship somehow…I must investigate further…" Ranko mused as the cockpit altered to the new state. Yuri was sitting in the middle of the bridge, hands grasping the controls for the ship while a combat computer attached to her ear and a tiny arm extended over her eye, projecting a display directly into her retina. Kei was sitting at the weapons control off to the right of her with Toma sitting at the helm in control of diagnostic and Ranko monitoring the shield display and Mihoshi was at the proximity display. When Kikuko was located, ARMS II was hovering in a strange green stasis fluid with cables connecting the ship to it and vice versa located just behind the pilot chair. New weapons came on-line as the fusion completed.

"Alright! No more screwin' around!" Yuri ground out as she quickly toggled the battle display on before firing off the command to activate the all around weapon. A golden ring erupted from around the ship as the force field generator abruptly discharged energy to clear the drones from around the ship. Kei placed a similar device on her ear and brought the weapons on-line and prepared to battle.

"We have several drones appearing towards the port side!" Ranko announced.

"Then they've got some pain comin'!" Kei grinned as she grabbed hold of two control sticks with triggers and various buttons rigged into it for easier control. Her retina display told her what weapon would work best as she quickly brought two of the new weapons around to fire. Two arms exploded out from the sides of the ship wielding what looked like oversized buster guns.

"Hybrid Cannons fire!" she cried as she swung the lethal bursts of energy through the approaching enemies as Yuri brought them towards the Soja at full speed.

"All conditions green. Transferring power to maneuverability jets." Toma announced as the rockets kicked in. The Soja was firing everything it had at them but couldn't stop the inevitable advance of the mighty ship.

Kagato was in a panic as he saw all his plans coming to naught and unleashed his last line of defense in the form of a massive robot. The head was wedge shaped and dark green, golden eyes peered out from under the protruding part of the wedge. The torso was heavily armored, protruding to a point, guns mounted on the massive shoulder guards. The arms ended in massive claws and the legs ended in massive feet with a plasma blue glow propelling it in conjunction with the massive backpack.

"This could be trouble…" Mihoshi muttered as the robot rushed in only to be repelled by the mighty cannon fire. The robot boasted incredible maneuverability as it seemingly danced around their ship releasing a veritable storm of laser blasts upon their shields.

"We can't catch him!" Yuri growled in frustration. The purple haired girl hated admitting there was something that could outmaneuver her.

"Yes we can. Kikuko!" Ranko called.

"YES" the voice came from everywhere at once. The startled looks on everyone's faces was priceless.

"Release the next form of ARMS!" she cried.

"ROGER" was all she said as the bridge began to change again. Reinforced walls slammed down around them, their stations drawing together before a protective barrier dropped down around them. The emergency lights replaced the lights.

"…What's going on…?" was all the blonde girl could ask as the ship rumbled.

Outside the Ship-

The robot's AI was relishing this relatively easy win. His master had made him to be the greatest combat machine in existence and this was further proof of that. The bot gloated over the suddenly inert ship before it began to notice something. The fortified arms that held the guns suddenly snapped back to life. The front of the ship disconnected before flipping over and connecting to the bottom of the GP cruiser portion. The back of the ship snapped loose before splitting in half, huge armored protrusions came out from the back to connect once again to the back of the ship. As the ship rotated up, the robot realized it was watching the other ship transform. As the headless machine faced him, a red and black head popped out from between the shoulders. The eyes flared to life, glowing ruby red.

"Ready to fight?" Kikuko, as ARMS, asked. Her opponent would have run away if that was in the programming, but it wasn't so it did the only thing it could. It attacked. ARMS would have felt bad about what was about to happen if it hadn't already attacked her friends. The vastly empowered martial artist mech waited for the other machine to charge. She didn't have to wait long as it made a hyper speed lunge for her. A dodge to the side and a vicious kick was sent crashing into his back, but apparently it was more durable than she thought. The robot spun around, swinging its fist wide in a surprisingly fast arc before crashing into her robotic head sending her senses reeling slightly. She shook the dizziness away just in time to avoid the next swing that would have taken her head completely off with a simple duck before firing off a punch into the reinforced "stomach", crushing the metal slightly before an axe-handle crashed into her back and a simple knee to the crotch pushed her away.

Inside-

"Aw shit this ain't good!" Kei complained as they were hurtled around.

"According to the reports, each hit is depleting our energy by almost fifteen percent. So far we've lost a whole forty-five percent power from the fusion." Toma informed them.

"Kikuko! Use your techniques!" Ranko shouted. Mihoshi hoped she would do something soon. It was much too early in life in die. Yuri clenched the unresponsive controls.

"You can do it!" she cried out, sending her support. At that, a strange golden light traveled down her arms and into the controls. She gasped, but realized what was happening.

"Everyone! Lend your support to Kikuko! Focus on ARMS II!" she instructed. They didn't question. Every little bit could help. Mustering their concentration they all began sending their power to the redheaded girl who was trying to save them. The golden radiance was nearly blinding.

"Shields are returning to full power!" Ranko reported.

"Weapons as well…!" Kei was amazed. Their combined might was giving their friend the strength she needed to win. A new technique appeared on the screen. The girl wondered what it did and decided to see what it could do. She tapped the display, letting the girl know what technique to try.

"Please Kiku-chan…" Mihoshi prayed silently as the gold light gradually died down, going into the ARMS II unit. It stirred as if something monstrous was awakening. Time to fight.

Outside-

ARMS growled in fury as she was once again thrown across space. Her opponent was the only thing that stood between her and her target. Her mechanical body was tiring rapidly and she knew that they would come undone soon. The robot quickly whipped out a beam sword and charged much faster than before. This was it. She was going to lose and there was nothing that could be done but wait. Suddenly, gold light sprang out from her body, raising the temperature around her several thousand degrees. Her own aura forming a mini sun. She brought her hands together in front of her as the corona of power forming a swirling circle of energy behind her. The robot was going to run right into whatever the attack was. It had the latest in shield technology that deflected ki attacks so this would be easily blocked.

"This one's for you! DIE! Arc Impulse!" ARMS called out as a massive bolt of golden energy, easily three times bigger than the mech firing it, and engulfing the attacking robot in a burst of radiance. The hapless machine was disintegrated instantly from the combination of ki and force energy, leaving nothing to stand between the powerful blast and the Soja. It looked like it would be a perfect shot until the attack passed through the ship as if it wasn't even there!

"Not bad at all little girls…but you have a long way to go before you beat me!" Kagato laughed evilly as the Soja uncloaked behind them. Oldest trick in the book and they had fallen for it twice, which the scientist did not hesitate to rub in their faces.

"I cannot believe that you fell for that twice! Ahahahaha! It is too funny that my would be captors could be fooled so easily!" he laughed again, but by this time ARMS had spun around to face the enemy with her hands brought together. Just as she attempted to unleash her family's trademark attack.

"Moko Takabisha!" she shouted as the gathered ball of ki appeared in her hand, but something was wrong. It flickered strangely, but the attack was sent at Kagato anyway. The ball of emotion chi made it to the shield before waning drastically. She tried to release her first limiter, but her ki levels were too low and the system was designed to preserve the wielder's life. The ball struck and winked out of existence. It was clear that the mighty machine was out of juice. She could feel her friends' fear as it became clear that they were going to die.

"Mwahahahahaha! This is simply too rich! You have been both my greatest opponents and my greatest pain! Now you shall die!" he gloated as the ship's weapon system came to life. The powerful forward gun emerged from the ship, preparing to fire a blast of charged ions. Essentially it was a lightning cannon. Kikuko saw the blast rocketing for her friends and did the only thing she could think of.

"Forgive me." She said mournfully. They wondered what she was talking about until they felt the couplings coming undone a few moments later, forcing the two ships back into their original forms just as the cannon fired. Ranko freaked because she knew they stood a better chance combined than separate until she say her sister barrel out into space. Her aura was emitting a strong white color that signified pure ki. She had never seen anything like it. What could make her aura like that? The blast struck the pitifully small figure, vaporizing her instantly.

"Kikuko!" she wailed in sudden grief as she saw her sister destroyed. She was dimly aware of the babble of voices around her, expressing their grief and disbelief as well. The mystery that remained, however, was why the lightning never struck. Toma wiped his eyes before suddenly grasping the console in disbelief.

"I don't believe it!" his suddenly happy voice earned him a few glares.

"What?" his girlfriend snapped.

"Somehow the lightning combined with her ki and created a temporal rift. She's alive, but she's not here." He told them a little regretfully, but the mood improved greatly.

"Wait…where's Kagato?" Kei asked. It was kind of weird.

"…and where's Mihoshi?" Yuri asked as well. The four stared at each other in dawning horror. The two were trapped God knows where with a madman.

"Aw hell…" Ranko muttered.

Elsewhere-

The night was dark and the light from the moon overhead just didn't seem to reach the ground. One other object was in the sky besides the lady moon and that was a young pigtailed boy flying in for a landing. He noticed that his speed and trajectory were such that if he didn't correct that he would be flattened like a pancake. Ranma noticed the flagpole sticking out from the building and smiled ruefully. It was the same one he had grabbed hold of a year ago just before meeting Birdy, the love of his life. It was also her fault he was flying. She could be so touchy sometimes about the stupidest of things. So he said she looked like she had a few more pounds… Well, first things first. He grabbed onto the flagpole and began to spin, gathering speed before flipping off and heading for the nearly finished building. A final twist and kick brought him to rest safely on the recently finished floor.

"Whew! Ten point landing!" he said before laughing. He would have kept on laughing, but a crash resounded from outside, drawing him to the window to investigate. There was a figure lying on the ground in a crater. What really drew his attention was the way the ground around the impact point was glowing visibly with heat. The figure wasn't moving, but they might still be alive. With another leap and a flip he was on the ground, rushing towards the downed person. When he got there the sight before him was a rather bizarre one. It looked like a metal person lying on the ground resembling a hard suit from Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, he thought Priss was kind of hot, but that didn't matter right now. The person on the ground wasn't even moving, but a hiss of air made him leap back to avoid the decompressed air.

"What the hell's going on?" he muttered as he checked the crater again. Ask him a year ago what he would say to seeing an obviously alien suit of armor lying in a crater and he would have laughed, but after helping his girlfriend fight off any number of alien attacks, he would not even bat an eye. If the being was friendly, great, but if it wasn't…He quickly suppressed that line of thought because going in thinking there would be battle wasn't a good idea. Inside the crater it appeared that the booster pack affixed to the back of the armor had lifted up and the back had cracked open. Its power was obviously depleted so it couldn't complete the release procedure. If it wasn't opened, the being inside might suffocate. He leaped into the crater and seized hold of the still hot metal and pulled it open. A shock of red hair met his eyes and he deduced she was either human or an Alterrian like Birdy. Her aura felt so familiar, but he couldn't place it for the life of him. With some added effort, he pried the armor open more before he could pull her loose. It was obvious that the person was a she because he accidentally latched onto something he shouldn't have, but thankfully she was unconscious. A strange urge came over him to cradle her in his arms and he found himself staring at her face. It was a face so familiar that he had to get another look to be certain. She looked like Birdy, but her aura felt similar to his own.

"So who are you…?" he asked no one in particular as he stood up, holding the girl close. A flashing light from her wrist caught his attention and he pushed the flashing button he found there. A bright flash and the armor was gone. She stirred slightly in his arms before wrapping her arms around his neck like a child does their parent. The pigtailed boy smiled down at her before he took off across the rooftops with his precious burden held close.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Yes! Another chapter completed! Next chapter introduces the NWC in all their glory. If you're wondering what's going to happen I'll tell you this. The next chapter will focus on Kikuko's trials in Nerima. Each chapter will focus on a different part of the scattered team. See ya next time! Ja ne!