I do not own Mirai Sentai Timeranger nor do I own Ranma ½
I do not own Mirai Sentai Timeranger nor do I own Ranma ½. I am only writing about them for fun and entertainment. I am making no money off of this story and I have no intention of doing so. I am just writing this so people can read and enjoy.
Chronicles of TimeBlack
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 1: Londers Family vs. Wrecking Crew
Out in the city of greater Tokyo, there is a building where group of entrepreneurs offer their services for a number of tasks for an agreed-upon price. They have a history of satisfied customers and recommendations behind them. There are five main employees who are also the founders of their business. To the majority of Tokyo, these five are known as Tomorrow Research, for when you need a job done. However, there is a side to these five that almost no one knows. In secret, the five people who run Tomorrow Research are also defenders of the public as the task force known as the Timerangers.
Inside the main headquarters/living space, the five Timerangers were enjoying some of the rare time they got off between jobs and their duty as the Timerangers.
Sitting in the living room area was a man wearing an orange jacket, camo pants, and a white cap. He looked like someone who was in his mid-twenties. His name was Domon and he was in secret, TimeYellow. He was a seasoned fighter in boxing and other grappling fighting. He was also something of a womanizer who was always attracted to a pretty face. He worked as a self-defense instructor at Tomorrow Research, but never really had any students show up yet.
Sitting in his own chair next to Domon was a man who looked close to the same age. He had chin-length hair and was wearing a black leather jacket over a blue shirt with black jeans. His name was Ayase and he was secretly the member of the Timerangers known as TimeBlue. Ayase worked as a professional driver and had his own passion for cars that was unique for him. He was a generally serious individual and wouldn't hesitate to get any task given to him finished.
At another side of the room, there was younger boy sitting at a computer, typing away with commands. His hair was a pale blue since he dyed it that color and he was wearing a green shirt over a long-sleeved blue one with white shorts. This boy's name was Sion. He was the youngest of the five rangers, known as TimeGreen. He was a young expert with technology and was the computer help in Tomorrow Research. An interesting note is that he was an extraterrestrial from a place called Hummard, a planet destroyed in a war, meaning he was the last of his species. Still, he didn't let it get him down since he enjoyed the time he spent with his friends.
The single desk in the room was playing host to the lone female of the group. She had shoulder length brown hair and was wearing a brown leather jacket and skirt with a pink shirt underneath her jacket. Her name was Yuuri and she was the general leader of the team known as TimePink. She was a generally cold person, but she was slowly becoming warmer. She was the resident detective for Tomorrow Research and offered her services in obtaining information for clients.
The last member of the group was just coming out of the men's bedroom. He was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a red plaid shirt. He looked to be the same age as the older members inn the room and had short dark hair. His name was Tatsuya Asami and he was the field commander of the Timerangers, TimeRed. Tatsuya was the one who rented the building for himself and his friends since he was the heir to the Asami Corporation and had a lot of funds in his savings. He taught martial arts classes in a dojo on the ground floor and was a competent teacher of his style.
As a whole, the Timerangers were the only force which kept the alien criminals known as the Londers Family from taking over the world with their might and knowledge of the future. It should be noted at this point that the Londers Family, Domon, Ayase, Yuuri, Sion, and their technology came from the 30th century.
The Londers Family was led by a toad-like being named Don Dolnero along with his two members, the woman Lila, and the robotic scientist Gien. The three of them began their crime spree by breaking Dolnero from the Londers prison and pretending to go back in time. When the four rangers were about to go through the time gate to head to the past, the section of the prison Dolnero and his two minions vanished in reappeared in front of them, letting the time traveling ship launch the three criminals into the past, back to the year 2000
The Londers Family, in taking an entire section of a prison with them, brought a large cache of various criminals with them to help them achieve their goals of cash and conquering. In the 30th century, criminals were put in suspended animation and shrunk to a small size to maximize space and prisons. Ironically, this also gave Dolnero a small army of criminals to use at his beck and call.
When the four rangers arrived in the year 2000, their ship was destroyed by Lila, who was pretending to be the fifth member of the rangers. Now stranded, they attempted to go after Dolnero, but discovered that they needed five rangers to activate their Chrono-Changers, the device used to transform them into Timerangers. Since it was Tatsuya who had stumbled into them after their arrival, they conscripted him into the job of the fifth ranger.
There was one last resident in the room, but he wasn't exactly human. He was actually a small robotic owl who had accompanied the four time travelers from their home time. His name was Takku and he had a complete database on all the criminals that the Londers Family possessed, along with being capable of contacting the 30th century for help when some of the criminals the rangers fought got out of hand.
At the moment, Sion was looking over news reports for anything odd in case the Londers Family were getting up to their usual tricks again. They could sometimes be very sneaky and the criminals they had available could cover their tracks very well.
"Oi, Sion, what are you doing over there?" asked Domon curiously. "You've been on it all day."
"Oh, just seeing if the Londers are trying anything," the boy from another world answered absently as his concentration continued to be trained on the screen.
"That's good," Yuuri nodded from her documents. "We have to keep alert or else we might miss another Londers scheme."
Tatsuya shook his head tiredly before yawning, "You really need to learn how to relax. I mean, we just dealt with the Londers yesterday. I doubt they will be up to something so soon."
Tatsuya was referring to the incident with the Corrupted Medicine Doc. A criminal who was the medical droid gone bezerk. He would actually kill patients with unecessary surgury before giving out huge bills to the surviving members of the family. He had been discovered after he tried to do the same to Domon, who had amnesia at the time. The rangers were able to bring him out of it before defeating and re-freezing Doc.
"Dolnero's greed isn't something to take lightly," Yuuri argued sternly. "When he wants something, he will try to get it no matter what."
Sion clicked a few times on the computer before an article popped up which described some local news.
"That's odd," he frowned slightly. His words also caught the attention of the other rangers in the room.
"What is it?" asked Domon.
"Is it the Londers?" asked Ayase.
"I'm not sure," Sion answered as he continued to read the article. "It just says that a lot of buildings in a district called Nerima have been crumbling more than usual. No one is sure why it is happening, but experts are blaming materials used in recent construction and repairs."
"What makes you think Londers are involved then?" asked Yuuri.
"It's the fact that they can't seem to identify the material," Sion explained as he continued to read. "It's too fragile to get a proper analysis, but people who purchase the material could have sworn that it was the material they needed for the buildings or repairs."
"That does sound suspicious," Ayase agreed with Sion. "Does it say who is supplying this building material?"
"Ummm," Sion began as he kept reading. "No. The article says they can't reveal the supplier of this stuff since it can't be determined that it was their fault. People who use it say that it was pretty strong when they installed it, but it was destroyed later. The authorities are claiming it to be vandalism or something.
Tatsuya pondered what he was hearing before he turned to where Takku was resting on a perch, "Hey Takku, do you know of any criminals who might be involved in this."
Takku turned to look at his friends as he pondered the question, "Hmm. I think I might know. Hold on a second."
Flapping his wings and activating his boosters, Takku flew across the room towards the terminal where Sion was working. Next to the terminal was a station where Takku was able to interface with the system. This was the case as his metal talons attached to the computer equipment. As he did, the screen of the computer turned black before the database of Londers criminals came up and started scanning through the still free criminals with the parameters that Takku had selected.
After a few moments, the profile of one of the criminals came up. This one was covered with bulky silver armor which had the black and yellow strips which road signs used to slow motorists down. I-beams were sticking out of his shoulders and the only flesh visible was the head, which looked dark with no lips that revealed block-like teeth and small eyes. A white hard had was adorned on his head with small horns sticking out.
"Here we go," Takku frowned. "His name is Falsser. He was arrested for embezzlement, fraud, and negligent homicide. He used to be a contractor, but he used faulty materials which crumbled after a set amount of time. In 2912, a skyscraper he helped build collapsed and killed over 100 people. He was sentenced to 500 years in cryo-stasis."
"So you think he might have something to do with this?" asked Tatsuya.
"The M.O. is the same," Takku nodded. "A bunch of materials used in buildings appeared strong at first before crumbling after construction was finished. The only reason he was arrested was because when he was to be brought in for the homicide, he was caught making the faulty materials."
"That's all we need to know," Yuuri nodded. "We're going to head to Nerima and if the Londers are involved, we'll find them and stop them!"
"Right!" Domon agreed.
"Yeah!" Sion smiled.
"I'll drive," announced Ayase.
"Then let's go!" Tatsuya grinned.
The five Timerangers all got to their feet and scrambled outside of their home. Outside was a rental car they had paid for. Ayase was instantly in the driver's seat while Tatsuya got in the passenger side. This left Sion, Domon, and Yuuri piled into the backseat. Strapping himself in, Ayase put on the gas and soon the five secret heroes were off.
In the district otherwise known as Nerima, one of the residents was walking down the street. He wore silk Chinese clothes and had black hair which he kept done up in a pigtail. His name was Ranma Saotome and he was arguable the best martial artist of his generation.
Of course, it wasn't easy for him to get to where he was in terms of skill. When he was five years old, his father took him from his mother and put through ten years of intensive training by his father, Genma Saotome. He had suffered numerous injuries and countless insane means of training.
It should be noted that Genma Saotome was not the most sympathetic individual when it came to training his son. He never really played the role of 'father' beyond using it as a playing card to make his son do something. He always put Ranma through insane training methods because they were either known as legendary, unbeatable, or just brought maximum effect for minimum effort. Often, Genma would just watch as his son was put through hell for the sake of training. Sometimes his ideas didn't turn out as well as he hoped. Two prime examples were the Neko-ken and Jusenkyo. The Neko-ken was a supposedly unbeatable technique that involved tying the trainee up in fish sausages and throwing them into a pit of starving cats. Because of this, Ranma obtained a terrible fear of cats. Genma's second brainwave was Jusenkyo, a training ground filled with springs that were supposedly cursed. These curses were proven true when Genma obtained a curse which turned him into a panda when hit with cold water while Ranma himself turned into a busty red-headed girl.
It should be noted that Genma wasn't a very honest individual and was more than willing to break a few promises to get what he wanted, namely food or money. This led to Ranma being engaged without his knowledge for things as little as rice, fish, and pickles.
After the mess with Jusenkyo, Ranma and his father came back to Japan and straight to a place called the Tendo Dojo where he learned that he had a fiancée waiting for him. To make matters worse, the girls he would eventually have to choose between for a wife had no idea until the last minute about the engagement. The two fathers most likely did this to avoid protest from their children until it was too late to avoid it.
This was how Ranma found himself engaged to Akane Tendo, the only martial artist among the three sisters. Her older sisters shoved him off to their little sister since they didn't want him as a future spouse, which his curse may have played a role in that move.
Akane had a terrible temper for a martial artist and very little control over it, preferring to hit boys than to listen to them. This problem stemmed from the fact that she was attacked every morning by a horde of perverted boys who were under the impression that if they beat her in a fight, they could date her. What was worse, she and Ranma didn't get off on the right foot since she walked in on him in the bathroom and somehow figured it was his fault. The fathers didn't seem to pay attention to all of the fighting and shouting and deemed them to be a perfect couple.
Things didn't get much better in the Tendo household. Akane was a terrible cook who never seemed to realize what she was doing and when Ranma got sick from tasting the food, she would usually assume he was making fun of her and mallet him. Akane's older sister Nabiki would often use him as a means of obtaining money for the house by taking provocative pictures of his girl form, which the boys at school would buy up like candy.
Not everyone accepted the Tendo/Saotome agreement when they heard about it either. One such individual was Tatewaki Kuno, an upperclassman at the local high school who fancied himself a samurai warrior and the only one worthy of Akane. It was him who proclaimed that no one could date Akane unless they beat her in a fight. Since he was the strongest fighter in the school, no one could really argue with him. Kuno was later proven to be as fickle as he was arrogant when he fell in love with Ranma's girl form not believing in the curse and desiring both her and Akane, believing that Ranma's male half was keeping them away from him.
The second constant headache to Ranma was Ryoga Hibiki, a boy who had the world's worst sense of direction and had a bone to pick with Ranma. They met when Ranma was in Junior High and the pigtailed boy would beat him to the last piece of bread. Fed up with the losses, Ryoga challenged Ranma to a duel in an empty lot. Ranma was there, but Ryoga didn't show up. Three days later, Genma dragged Ranma off to China before Ryoga showed up on the forth day. Angered at this 'slight' on his honor, Ryoga followed Ranma to China where he was accidentally pushed off a cliff by Ranma's girl form and into the Spring of Drowned Pig. Now cursed to turn into a pig, Ryoga hunted after Ranma before finding him at the Tendo Dojo where his curse activated and Akane discovered him and made him into her pet. Despite knowing Ryoga was sleeping with his fiancée, he kept Ryoga's secret since he saw it as his fault that the lost boy was cursed.
Headache #3 came in the form of Kodachi Kuno. She was Kuno's little sister and a martial arts gymnast who didn't know the meaning of the words 'fair play.' They had met when Kodachi tried to incapacitate Akane who was going to be in an upcoming match against her and was knocked off the roof by Ranma who was chasing Ryoga to keep him from sleeping with Akane. When he saved her, Kodachi seemed to latch onto him and was obsessed with him ever since. She often liked to use poisons and such to try and have him hold still so she could kiss him or take him away. Like her brother, she assumed that the female Ranma was keeping the male Ranma away from her and never missed an opportunity to try and 'remove' the 'obstacle' to her love.
The next bunch of problems came from the Chinese Amazon Shampoo. She came from a village of Amazons that Ranma and Genma came across after they got cursed. The two martial artists came in the middle of a festival where Amazons fought each other for a victory feast. Of course, Ranma and Genma didn't know that and since they were starving, they took one look at the feats and began eating. Shampoo had been the victor and was angered by the outsiders who ate her feast. To make up for it, Ranma challenged her so if she won, the feast would be hers. Ranma had been victorious, but Shampoo was angry at the loss and gave her the Kiss of Death, which was Shampoo's promise to hunt Ranma down and kill her. The purple-haired Amazon followed Ranma all the way to Japan before she discovered that Ranma was in fact a boy. When they fought a second time, Shampoo lost and gave him the Kiss of Marriage, proclaiming Ranma as her husband. The Amazons had a strange set of laws where they had to kill outsider females who beat them, but marry outsider males who did the same. Shampoo returned to China for a brief time before coming back with her great-grandmother Cologne to help her claim Ranma. Shampoo was an aggressive girl who wasn't above using tricks to try and force Ranma to return to China with her. Despite her good looks, her attitude was a major turn-off. It only got crazier when she revealed her Jusenkyo curse which turned her into a cat, Ranma's worst nightmare.
Things got worse when Genma and Soun's old master Happosai came to town. The old man was a pervert to the extreme who loved to fondle girls and steal their underwear. He was so into it, he suffered from withdrawal when he couldn't do it for a while. He proclaimed Ranma his heir, despite the boy's protests otherwise, and was more or less the favorite plaything for the old pervert despite the number of kicks and pains he would receive. It should be noted that Happosai was incredibly petty and would throw tantrums when he couldn't get his way by attacking Ranma or summoning the odd demon. It never lasted long before Ranma managed to get away, but Happosai never seemed to go away and the fathers were no help since they were so cowardly and groveled in front of him all the time.
The situation reached a new peak when Ukyo Kuonji came to town. She had been friends with Ranma when they were little and were like all little kids. Of course, Ranma had thought that Ukyo was a boy with the way she dressed and fought. At one point, Genma and her father talked about an engagement with the Kuonji yattai as a dowry on the condition that Ukyo go with them. Of course, Genma had no intention of keeping the promise before he left Ukyo on the side of the road and ran with Ranma and the yattai. She trained for years after that before tracking the father and son pair down and attempted to bring retribution down on them. Of course, Ranma was shocked when he discovered that his best friend was in fact a girl and a second fiancée. Ranma managed to calm her down by calling her cute, but it only served to make her a determined fiancée.
Things continued in a pattern for the rest of the year. Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyo would continuously fight over him and try to bribe him with food. Akane would pound him, calling him a pervert while denying she had any feelings for him. Rivals like the myopic Amazon Mousse or the cross-dresser Tsubasa would attack him, believing that if he was out of the way, they girl they were after would jump into their arms. Happosai would throw a fit now and then while Nabiki would blackmail him or sell photos for cash. Pepper in the odd challenger or a plot from the fathers to force their children together come hell or high water and that was Ranma's usual day.
Things went up a notch when Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother, heard he was staying in Nerima and came to try and find her son. When Ranma was young, Genma had gotten him to sign a contract stating if Ranma was not a 'man among men' after the trip was over, both he and Genma would commit seppuku. Of course, with Ranma's curse, he didn't appear to be very manly. Add in Nodoka's expectations detailing someone who was casually intimate with women and was a complete pervert, Ranma was in trouble. So, when Nodoka came to visit, he would pretend to be the Tendo's cousin Ranko. Eventually the secret came out, but Nodoka found that Ranma filled her expectations. Of course, she still wanted grandchildren very badly and was always encouraging the marriage between Ranma and Akane.
Things finally came to a head when after a large battle in China, Genma and Soun decided they had waited long enough and made to push Ranma and Akane together once and for all. The Jusenkyo guide had sent a cask of Spring of Drowned Man water to the dojo in thanks for Ranma's help, which Soun hid so he could make Ranma marry his daughter. Of course, things fell apart quickly when Genma tried to steal the cask for himself and the fiancées (sold invitations by Nabiki) came crashing in with explosive food to try and stop the wedding with the rivals coming to get rid of Ranma once and for all. The worst blow was when Happosai drank the cask of Drowned Man water thinking it was wedding sake.
After the failed wedding and near destruction of the dojo, Nabiki had hired some new contractors to deal with the damage. They were highly recommended and had certificates up the wazoo. She couldn't see anything wrong so she hired them to come in and fix the damage. Ranma himself was uncomfortable with the workers coming through since he couldn't tell where they were. It was almost as if they didn't have an aura. He was certainly glad when they left.
Things seemed to continue in the dojo for a couple of days until when Akane was practicing in the dojo, the floor collapsed and holes appeared in the ceiling. In the end, the dojo looked even worse than it did before the job. Nabiki was furious that she had been swindled and deftly ordered Ranma to go 'talk' to them under threat of increased debt.
That led to why Ranma was walking down the street towards the building where the contractor had been working out of. It was better than staying at the dojo since Akane was mad she had gotten hurt and Nabiki was still fuming. Soun was crying over Akane, making it seem like she was dying while Genma was bemoaning how Ranma was so dishonorable that he wouldn't help his fiancée when she needed him. Kasumi, Akane's oldest sister and the happy homemaker, just tried to clean up some of the mess where she could.
"So where is this place?" Ranma grumbled as he looked around. Nabiki told him that there was a sign, but all the buildings looked the same to him.
Eyeing the address that Nabiki had hastily scrawled down, Ranma quickly managed to find the building in question. When he looked at it, it didn't look like any place that a contractor was working out of. In fact, it looked like it had been abandoned recently.
"Oh man," Ranma grumbled. "Looks like these guys are professionals. Nabiki is going to skin me alive."
Stepping closer to the building, Ranma tried to see if anyone was there or at least a clue about where they went. The door leading inside was firmly locked and there wasn't a single piece of furniture anywhere. Whoever these contractor guys were, they were just as quick to move out as they were to fix things, or at least look like they fixed things.
"Ow! Watch it you bucket of bolts!" an angry voice shouted from behind the building.
"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "What's that?"
Now curious, Ranma headed over behind the building. He was sure he had heard someone talking back there. Turning a corner in the direction of the voice, Ranma suddenly stiffened when he laid his eyes on what was going on.
In front of him was a large truck which was backed in towards the building, accepting loads. The cargo turned out to be large bundles of cash that were wrapped in plastic. Carrying those bundles of cash were weird humanoid things which had bronze-colored suits and metal heads that had one large optic in the middle. They moved in jerky motions, making them look like robots, which considering their appearance, wasn't too far of a stretch.
Near the back door of a building, was one of the oddest looking individuals that Ranma had ever seen. When one lived the life he had, that was saying something. This guy was covered in silver metal armor that had yellow and black stripes painted up and down the arms and legs. Sticking out of his shoulders was what looked like I-beams. It appeared to have a construction helmet on, but horns were sticking through it. The face itself had dark skin with no lips and block-like teeth. One thing that didn't seem to fit in with the appearance was a strange black and gold badge that was seemingly fused with his left forearm.
"Watch where you're going!" the strange guy growled as he struck a robot over the head with his fist. The man-shaped machine crumpled instantly and fell over. "Next time look out before stepping on my foot!"
The strange robot struggled to its feet and hobbled off to gather more bundles of money. Ranma just watched it go as it suddenly dawned on him what was going on. These guys were probably behind the construction scam and were coming to get the money that they had gotten from their deals. Now his only problem was what he was going to do about it. The local police really weren't much help. They never showed up when one of the Wrecking Crew started tearing up the district in one of their fits so getting them to help against a bunch of robots and a guy who looked like a construction worker from hell probably wouldn't happen.
While Ranma was scoping out the place, one of the robots that had deposited a bundle of cash was coming off of the truck. It was looking straight forward, but its creator Gien was a stickler for detail, which meant his machines ran at peak performance. Because of this, the robot had spotted Ranma, who was hiding around the corner. The robot instantly reacted and pointed wildly while making beeping sounds.
"Huh?" the construction worker from Hell grunted. He followed the robots pointing and spotted Ranma, who had just realized that he had been caught. "A witness! Zenitts! Get him before he squeals!"
"Huh?" Ranma blinked. Get him? Were these guys that serious about keeping all the money that they had gotten?
The robots seemed to think so as they drew weapons which looked like a combination between a sword and a gun. All of them swiftly took aim at the pigtailed martial artist before they started shooting at him.
"Woah!" Ranma cried as he dodged the bullets, letting them bounce off the brick wall next to him.
Lots of thoughts were running through Ranma's head as he raced back out to the street. Some of them were asking who these guys were, what were they collecting money for, and how far they were going to try to get rid of him. When it came to the last part, Ranma wasn't afraid to get physical on the lot of them.
Running out of the alley, he quickly ducked to the side and pressed himself against the building and waited for his opponents. He didn't have to wait long before what the goon had called Zenitts had marched out of the alley en masse before looking around in confusion.
'Not too bright,' Ranma smirked. Walking silently, he stepped behind the closest Zenitt before reaching out and tapping it on the shoulder. The Zenitt swiftly turned around to see who wanted its attention.
"Hi there," Ranma smiled before he reared back his fist.
POW!
The Zenitt fell to the ground with a portion of its head caved in from the force of Ranma's punch. The pigtailed martial artist had pumped some extra ki to make sure the machine went down, but it still hurt when he punched it.
The sounds of their fellow getting attacked and disabled caused the other Zenitt to turn around. With their target confirmed and in firm view, they charged to attack him. Ranma swiftly discovered that while they marched stiffly, they fought with swift movement. That fact was forced down his throat when a wild slash cut his cheek. Dangerous to the average joe, but to a trained martial artist, these guys were nothing to be concerned about if you didn't underestimate them.
Ranma himself was in a flurry of movement and attacks. One thing the Zenitts had going for them was durability and numbers. The pigtailed martial artist couldn't remember the last time he had been forced to use so much ki in physical attacks just to deal damage to an opponent. Even Saffron would get hurt from normal attacks. Still, the Zenitts weren't invincible and a solid punch to heads or general chest area would force the combat robots to shut down. A single kick knocked the head off the last machine before it fell to the ground.
"This is what I get for relying on junk droids!" a gruff voice growled from behind.
Ranma swiftly turned around to see the construction worker from hell coming out of the alley, making gouges in the brick with his I-beam shoulders as he went.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Ranma smirked. "If your little toys couldn't beat me then what chance do you have?"
"Hey! Do you know who I am?!" the goon growled. "I am Falsser! I'm a member of the Londers Family!"
"Your family cleans clothes?" Ranma blinked in confusion. Falsser immediately facefaulted from the statement. Apparently Ranma had confused the name 'Londers' with the word 'laundry'.
Ranma was never one to dabble in popular culture, or recent events, or anything that normal people would interest themselves in. If it didn't involve martial arts then he either fell asleep or just lost interest. Other times he was too busy being attacked by rivals and/or fiancées to really take notice. Because of this, Ranma had never heard of the Londers Family and since they had never showed up in Nerima before, no one had saw fit to mention them to him.
"No!" the now dubbed Falsser snapped. "I'm part of a crime family!"
"Oh," Ranma nodded. He then started to smirk. "Then I'd say you're busted big time."
"Oh yeah?" Falsser began to chuckle. "Not if I take out the only witness."
"Heh," Ranma smirked. "Just try it."
And try Falsser did. He reached to one of the I-beams sticking out of his shoulders and actually managed to pull it out, making it into a large metal club. Ranma's eyes widened when he saw his opponent pull out the weapon.
"Like it?" Falsser chuckled. "My armor is a full construction crew complete with materials!"
Ranma kept his resolve firm as he stared his opponent down. Falsser thought he was intimidating the teenager and decided to go on the attack. It was just one kid, right? Like he would be any kind of challenge.
"Hold it!" a new voice cried out.
Ranma and Falsser froze in their positions as five bodies seemed to fall out of the air. All five of them landed on their feet with their backs turned to both Ranma and his alien opponent.
"TimeRed!"
"TimePink!"
"TimeBlue!"
"TimeYellow!"
"TimeGreen!"
All five of them turned around to reveal their faces. Each of them were donned in a brightly colored outfit which corresponded with the color in their name. Their helemets had a colored visor that was shaped in a certain way while the rest was colored black. Their mouth guards were silver, but shaped like real mouths. Their bodies were covered in colored material with a white chest that had a colored symbol which matched their helmets. The only kind of difference between the suits beyond color was that TimePink had a skirt while the rest did not, hinting that one was female while the rest were male.
"Timeranger!" all five called out as they revealed small items which looked like badges a police officer might use.
"Are these guys police officers or something?" Ranma muttered to himself.
TimeRed stepped forward as he kept his badge raised, "Falsser! For breaking the laws of time, you are hereby under arrest!"
Falsser had immediately lost interest in Ranma as he turned to face the group of time police that were intent on bringing him in. Instead, he grew more determined to destroy the group that was going to try and defeat his boss.
"So you want to bring me in, eh?" Falsser laughed. "Just try it!"
Falsser reached behind his back and pulled out what looked like bronze nuts and bolts. He threw them to the sides before facing the Timerangers again. Not even a second past before the bolts started growing into large pieces of steel. The pieces collected together before combining themselves and becoming Zenitts.
"Not these things again!" Ranma groaned as he spied several Zenitts turning to look at him.
The Zenitts didn't seem to wait for any orders before they went on the attack. Ranma and the Timerangers were quick to respond with force at the mass of robots that were attacking them.
"Chrono-Access!" TimeRed called as he pressed the buttons on his Chrono-Changer. It glowed briefly before a pair of blades came out resembling clock hands.
"Chrono-Access!" TimePink and TimeBlue likewise called before bringing out blades of their own.
The three rangers began cutting into the mass of robots with striking and slashing motions. Their attacks aim was true as Zenitt after Zenitt were cut down and left sparking and jerking on the ground. It was obvious that they were too damaged to continue.
"Chrono-Access!" TimeYellow and TimeGreen both cried as they pressed buttons on their Chrono-Changers. This time, instead of blades, large guns appeared for them. They both looked the same with a curve near the back. The only difference was that the weapons either had a green line on it or a yellow line.
"VolVulcan!" announced TimeYellow
"VolPulser!" TimeGreen cried out.
Both rangers took aim at the advancing machines and fired. Green and yellow energy beams cut through the air and impacted against the advancing Zenitts. Robot after robot fell from the blasts. Still, they were close enough to strike back, which forced TimeGreen and TimeYellow to start running though the smaller mass of robots, shooting as they went.
Ranma wasn't staying idle as the Zenitts came at him. His punches and kicks were capable of taking down the mindless machines, but his hands and feet were throbbing from the numerous impacts they were forced through. Whatever the Zenitts were made out of, they were tough!
Ranma backed away from the mess of the last Zenitt that tried to get him and felt his back press against someone.
"Gah!" two voices cried. Ranma swiftly turned around in his battle stance only to stare into the barrel of the VolPulser and the mask of TimeGreen. Realizing that it wasn't another Zenitt that had bumped into them, both young men calmed down. Well, they did before they both saw a Zenitt coming up from behind the other.
"Look out!" both cried before they moved to the side and took aim at the backstabbing Zenitt.
"Fire!" TimeGreen cried as he launched another shot from VolPulser
"Moko Takabisha!" Ranma cried before launching a concentrated sphere of ki at his target.
Both robots had small explosions erupt from their chests before they collapsed into junk piles. Ranma and TimeGreen breathed sighs of relief before turning to face their apparent ally.
"Thanks," both nodded. Both of them had a number of questions running through their heads about the other, but they were kept from asking them when the roar of rage from Falsser caught their attention. Seeing the other rangers finishing with their Zenitts, both TimeGreen and Ranma went to regroup with them.
"So you beat a bunch of Zenitts," Falsser grunted. "Big deal! I'm way tougher than them!"
"Right," TimeRed commented. "We've taken down more dangerous criminals than you! This is your last chance to surrender peacefully!"
"Yeah right!" Falsser snorted. "I'm gonna demolish all of you, including that kid with the pigtail!"
The five Timereangers turned to gaze at Ranma. Some with confusion and some with annoyance, but TimeGreen was the only one who seemed at least a little accepting of him. Not that anyone could tell since they were wearing helmets.
"Just what did you do to tick this guy off anyway?" TimeBlue asked Ranma curiously. It really wasn't like the Londers Family to randomly kill unless that was their skill.
"Do you want the list?" Ranma smirked. "First I stumbled on his operation, then I trashed a bunch of his robots, and then I made fun of his Londers Family, whoever they are."
"Impossible," TimeYellow huffed. "How could a kid like you beat Zenitts without weapons or protection?"
"He can!" TimeGreen insisted. "I watched him! It was really cool! I think he's some kind of martial artist!"
"Really? Cool!" TimeRed exclaimed. "I'm a martial artist too! What level are you at?"
"That doesn't matter!" TimePink snapped. She then turned her gaze to Ranma. He could feel the stern gaze behind her visor. "This isn't your fight anymore. We can handle it from here."
"Tch, yeah right," Ranma frowned. "Listen lady, this is my home town and I'm not about to let some construction worker reject swindle money out of everyone."
"Oh, do you have the weapons needed to capture him then?" TimePink asked expectantly.
"I got my fists and feet," Ranam shrugged. "What more do I need?"
"Hey!" Falsser cried, catching everyone's attention. "Don't ignore me! Especially when I'm about to take you all down for the Don and the Londers Family!"
TimeRed didn't seem convinced as he dismissed his blades and brought out a white cannon with red streaks. TimePink brought out a similar cannon while TimeBlue armed himself with a rectangular cannon with a circular plate on the top.
"Build Up!" TimeRed ordered from his fellow rangers.
TimeRed attached his weapon to the front of TimeBlue's before TimePink slid hers underneath the both of them. TimeGreen and TimeYellow attached theirs to the sides, the curve accommodating the circle in TimeBlue's weapon. With the connection complete, the five Timerangers were now holding a large bazooka-like gun. TimeYellow and TimeGreen were kneeled down and holding the front while TimeBlue and TimePink were standing and holding the back end. TimeRed stood at the back with his hands on the trigger.
"Don't you think that's a little much?" Ranma asked. While he didn't have any reason to like Falsser, he didn't want to see him killed.
"Don't worry," TimeRed reassured. "It's set on low power so we won't kill him. It will only put him down so we can freeze-compress him."
Ranma didn't quite get the last part, but he felt better knowing that the rangers weren't going to kill Falsser. TimeRed seemed to be the most easygoing next to TimeGreen. The rest of the rangers seemed to be a little on the uptight side. If TimeRed was saying it was going to be okay, then Ranma was going to trust his gut and believe him.
"Vortech Bazooka!" all five rangers called out as they took aim at Falsser
"Target locked!" TimeRed called out as his suit's computer locked onto Falsser.
"Freezing Laser!" all five rangers called before TimeRed pulled the trigger on the weapon. There was a deafening boom before a stream of blue energy roared straight at Falsser's chest.
"Don't think so!" the former contractor laughed before he went to work. With his words, a hidden panel in his chest opened before large cinderblocks began firing out and laying on the ground in a line. Cement fired from a nozzle in his right arm, covering the top of the blocks before another layer of cinderblocks were put on top and adhered to the bottom layer. In the time it took for the blast from the Vortech Bazooka to come at him, Falsser had managed to build a wall that hid him from sight.
The blast from the Vortech Bazooka hit the new wall and forced it to explode in a shower of stone and wet cement. Smoke littered the area as the Rangers tried to get a view of their opponent.
"Did we get him?" asked TimeYellow.
"No," Ranma frowned. He could still feel Falsser's ki, as weird as it was, and it was as strong as ever. There was no sign of injury in it. "That wall blocked the whole blast."
"Hee hee hee!" Falsser chuckled as the smoke cleared and revealed himself. "I can build a wall in seconds flat! Just try to shoot me with that slow weapon!"
Ranma frowned at Falsser's jeering. Obviously the guy thought himself invincible since he dodged the shot from the large weapon the Timerangers had with them. If he could build a wall in the time it took for a single shot to reach him, he might be able to build bigger protection in the time it would take to separate the weapon and attack from all sides.
Suddenly, Ranma had an idea. It would be risky and it depended on a move he had been secretly trying to use. He had some success with it, but if there was a time that he needed to use it perfectly, it was now.
"Take another shot," Ranma spoke to the five Timerangers. "I'll make sure the next wall is gone before your shot gets there."
"Huh?" TimeYellow gaped. "Are you crazy?! You'll have to be just as fast as he is to get there and remove the wall!"
"Speed isn't the problem," Ranma retorted. "Removing the wall will be. Just take the shot and I'll take care of the rest!"
"What if you aren't fast enough?" asked TimePink.
"Well, you did say that thing wasn't enough to kill people," Ranma snickered. "I'll just have to live through it."
TimeRed looked at Ranma's stance and could tell that he truly believed that he was capable of clearing away the wall for their shot. Turning his gaze back to the still jeering Falsser, he nodded, "Okay. Just get it right."
"You bet I will," Ranma smiled as he took a stance.
"Right," TimeRed nodded before he pulled the trigger again. "Freezing Laser!"
Another deafening boom ripped through the air. Ranma was then off like a shot. Falsser had heard the boom as well and was making yet another wall. The Freezing Laser was coming closer and Ranma was pushing himself to move faster. He managed to stop himself in front of the wall just as Falsser put the last block down. The Freezing Laser was coming closer and would hit Ranma's back in a matter of seconds. Acting fast, Ranma raised a single finger and pressed it into the centre of the wall.
"Bakusai Tenketsu!"
With a resounding crash, the entire wall shattered almost like glass. Ranma was treated to the shocked face of Falsser before he leaped straight up, letting the Freezing Laser roar past beneath him. The blast continued on before colliding with Falsser's chest. The resulting explosion made a resounding boom and sent Falsser rolling across the ground and groaning in pain.
"All right!" TimeRed cheered as he and the rangers disassembled the Vortech Bazooka and dismissed the weapons. All five rangers raced over to where Ranma landed on the ground and began to pepper him with questions.
"How did you do that?" asked TimeGreen in amazement.
"How did you manage to move that fast?" asked TimeBlue.
"Just what kind of technique was that?" pressed TimeRed.
"Think I could learn to break stone with my fists?" asked TimeYellow.
"Where did you learn to do that?" asked TimePink sternly.
Falsser's groans caught everyone's attention as he managed to get back onto his feet. He looked incredibly mad as he glared at the rangers and Ranma.
"I won't be beaten!" he growled. "Especially by some kid!"
He reached down to his left arm and gripped the black and gold badge which was stuck to his arm. Gripping it, he tore the steel off to reveal purple and violet flesh underneath. Ranma was confused as to what significance it played, but the five rangers seemed to tense up. Ranma quickly understood their nervousness when he heard some kind of organic spurting noises before Falsser began to grow at a rapid pace. Soon, he was tall enough to match skyscrapers.
"Now I'll crush you!" he roared in a slightly warped voice as he brought up his foot and stomped at the rangers and Ranma.
Ranma dodged to the side, feeling very outmatched and confused while the rangers went to another side. TimeRed brought up his Chrono-Changer and began talking to Takku, "Takku! We need the TimeJets!"
Back at Tomorrow Research, the robotic owl was already sending a signal back to the 30th century, "Roger! We need the Emergency System now!"
Nothing seemed to be happening in Nerima for a while before a large multicolored tunnel appeared in the sky before five jets with the rangers' colors on them flew out of it and into the sky.
"TimeFlyer!" TimeRed then ordered, summoning a white let-like device which had enough room for all five rangers to stand on.
The white TimeFlyer came down and all five rangers leaped on board before it soared into the air. Ranma could only watch as the TimeFlyer slowed down above the TimeJets, allowing each ranger to entire their vehicle.
"Okay!" TimeRed ordered from TimeJet 1. "Let's go into Alpha Configuration. Time Robo: Mode Alpha!"
The red, yellow, and pink TimeJets lost the extra fins on their ships before the Red TimeJet folded near the back to create a red chest with a green shape in the middle. The green and blue Timejets configured themselves into a pair of legs while the pin and yellow TimeJets became a pair of arms. All five pieces joined together into a body before a dome-like head rose from the shoulders before the sides opened, revealing a face. As the large robot came to the ground the three pieces of the red, pink, and yellow TimeJets which removed themselves earlier combined into a large shield.
"Wow," Ranma gaped. "That is something you don't see everyday. Even around here."
Inside of the large mecha, the five Timerangers were standing in front of pedestals which had sword-like control rods sticking up with the five rangers' symbols on the handles. TimeRed was in the centre and was flanked by Time Pink and TimeBlue. TimeYellow and TimeGreen were at the far sides. All five rods were mental controls which reacted to the wielders' minds rather than their movements.
"Time to bring you in Falsser!" TimeRed spoke sternly.
"Ha! You think that rust bucket is going to scare me?" the former contractor laughed. "I'll show you how faulty its construction is!"
Falsser opened his chestplate again before firing gargantuan-sized cinderblocks at Time Robo. The large mecha raised its shield and blocked the attacks. Unfortunately, the blocks' weight and the force of the shots were slowly forcing Time Robo back.
"Oh man!" TimeYellow grunted in exertion. "Why do these things have to be so heavy?"
"Keep strong!" TimePink called to everyone.
"We can do this!" TimeRed spoke with some strain in his voice.
"But we can't even call out the Space-Time Sword!" cried TimeGreen.
"We will when we need it!" TimeBlue insisted.
Down below, Ranma could see that the rangers were in trouble. Falsser was still shooting his cinderblocks and was slowly forcing the giant robot back. Sooner or later things were going to change. Either the robot's shield was going to break or they were going to be forced far enough away that Falsser would have enough room to use a better attack.
"I've gotta do something," he frowned as he began leaping onto the rooftops.
Since Falsser was so big now, there was probably little Ranma could do to actually hurt him. Still, the pigtailed martial artists knew a lot of vulnerable points in the human body. Despite the fact that Falsser wasn't human, he still had a humanoid form, which meant a humanoid skeleton.
Positioning himself behind Falsser, Ranma spied seams in the giant alien's armor. They were too thin to take care of while he was normal-sized, but now that he was big, there was more than enough room to take advantage of it.
Knowing he was short on time, Ranma cupped his hands together and began concentrating his ki again. Instead of stopping at a normal Moko Takabisha, Ranma kept pooling more and more of his ki into the growing sphere. The orb of energy grew at a rapid pace before it was roughly the size of a small car. Ranma was sweating and grunting with exertion, but he had to make it as big as he could. If he didn't then his plan might not work and the rangers were in trouble.
"Moko Takabisha!" Ranma roared as he fired the car-sized ball of ki at his target.
The ball of ki ripped through the air and found its way to the seam in Falsser's armor. It slipped right through the seam and exploded against his vulnerable flesh.
"Gyaaaaahhh!" Falsser roared in pain as his leg crumpled and he stopped his barrage. "My leeeeeeegg!"
Time Robo looked out from behind the shield and the five Timerangers were confused as to what had happened.
"Why did he drop?" asked TimeGreen.
"I think I know," TimeBlue answered as he got the viewing screen in the mecha to zoom in on a figure on a rooftop. He was on his knees and panting heavily, trying to catch his breath again.
"That kid again?" TimePink asked in shock.
"What did he do?" asked TimeYellow in confusion.
"He gave us an opening!" TimeRed answered as he gripped his control rod. "Space-Time Sword!"
The green centre of the Time Robo's chest burst into bright light as a large sword emerged from it and fell into the open air before being caught in the Time Robo's hands and held high.
Inside the Robo, TimeRed's control rod turned into a copy of the Space-Time Sword and he pulled it out of the pedestal. Raising it high, the sides of the blade fell horizontal of the hilt, looking like clock hands. The real sword did the same as the holographic image of a green clock face appeared over the sword.
Falsser struggled to stand again, but his eyes widened when he saw the Time Robo coming at him with its sword raised for a final strike.
"Press Blizzard!" TimeRed roared before he slashed with his miniature blade. Time Robo followed the action and slashed across Falsser's chest. Sparks erupted from the alien's armor as Time Robo came to a stop behind him. All of a sudden, time seemed to stop as the mecha raised the sword again.
"Time's up," TimeRed spoke with a sense of finality.
The holographic clock face appeared in front of the sword again. This time, mechanical ticking sounds echoed through the air as the sword's clock hands ticked up to the blade again. When the hands touch the sword, time seemed to resume with small explosions ripping across Falsser's body with him screaming in pain. The contractor alien soon fell to the ground before unleashing a large explosion of energy.
"Waoh!" Ranma cried as he shielded his eyes from the light. The fiery explosion was a little unexpected, but he could also hear that bubbling sound that had gone with Falsser's instant growth. He had expected Flasser's aura to grow like it did before, but instead, Ranma could feel it getting smaller. To his surprise, it was getting smaller than even before his growth spurt. Now curious, Ranma leaped down to the street and searched for the source of the tiny aura. He searched for a little while before he found a miniature of Falsser that could fit in the palm of his hand.
"No way," Ranma blinked in amazement.
Loud machine noises caught Ranma's attention and he witnessed the Time Robo separating into five TimeJets again. The five futuristic machines vanished into another portal before it closed, leaving no trace of their presence.
"Hey!" a female voice called out.
Ranma turned to see the five rangers running towards him. TimePink stepped forward and held up her badge.
"You'd better hand him over so we can put him in containment," the pink ranger spoke as she walked up to Ranma.
"Wait…you mean this is that Falsser guy?" Ranma gaped. "What did you guys do to him?"
"We just reversed the process that made him big," TimeGreen explained. "The sword attack also shrunk him down further so we could contain him properly."
"Oh," Ranma blinked. It made no sense to him but he decided playing along might help. He held out his hand containing the tiny criminal as a sort of peace offering. "Fine. Take him then."
TimePink nodded and held her badge over Ranma's hand. There was a flash of light before a large grey container appeared in its place with Falsser inside.
"Thanks a lot," TimeRed nodded as he thanked Ranma.
"It's no problem," Ranma shrugged. Seeing as there wasn't a reason to stick around, he turned to head back home. The problem with the scam was dealt with and the police were probably going to show up soon. Even they couldn't ignore a giant monster and robot battle like they did the martial artist battles.
"Hey, what's your name?" asked TimeYellow.
"Huh?" Ranma blinked. He turned to face the five rangers. "Oh, Ranma. Ranma Saotome."
With a wave of his hand, Ranma walked away from the battle area. Usually he would rooftop away, but having burnt through a large portion of ki, he was feeling a little on the wobbly side and decided not to risk hurting himself.
"Strange kid," TimeBlue commented as Ranma got further away.
"I thought he was cool," TimeGreen argued.
"It doesn't matter either way," TimePink sighed. "Come on, we have to put this guy with the others."
"Right," the other rangers nodded.
As the five rangers headed away from the scene of the battle, they didn't notice someone coming out of an alley with a huge grin on her face. She had short dark hair and was wearing a yellow vest over a black striped shirt and jeans. A camera was hanging around her neck and she looked like she knew how to use it. Her name was Honami Moriyama. She was a reporter and photographer who worked for one of Tokyo's popular magazines. She had been on the trail of the Timerangers since the Londers Family first appeared and was to date, the only photographer with enough courage to photograph the battles between the Londers Family and the Timerangers. She had been on the trail of the faulty material scam and had suspected the Londers Family when no one could tell what the material was composed of. Her luck had paid off when she spied the pigtailed kid fighting off the Londers robots before the Timerangers arrives. She had also gotten picks of the giant battle and of the boy helping the rangers.
"This is going to be golden!" the excited women smiled brightly.
The next few days went by swimmingly with no major crisis threatening citywide destruction. Well, that still happened in the Nerima ward where the fiancées and rivals were still after Ranma for their own ends.
At Tomorrow Research, the five Timerangers were busy with their day-to-day activities. Yuuri was looking through documents again while Ayase was looking at some of the newest car models. Tatsuya was having a rare day off and was enjoying the rest he was getting. Sion and Domon were looking over the newest magazine which was following the exploits of the Timerangers.
"Hey, it's that kid again!" Domon called out. "The one from the other day!"
The attention of the five rangers was now firmly captured as they peered at the pages. There were photos of the rangers dealing with Falsser and the Zenitts, but there were other photos of the pigtailed kid trashing a group of them on his own.
"Wow," Tatsuya admired. "He took out a whole mob of Zenitts on his own? The kid must be good."
"No way," Yuuri frowned. "He had to have had some help."
"You know, the style looks a little familiar," Domon frowned. "I swear I could have seen it somewhere before."
"Looks like a kid punching a Zenitt's head off to me," Ayase shrugged. "The kid must be something else if he can do that."
"They're calling him an apprentice Timeranger," Sion smiled. "Cool! Too bad we can't make him a real Timeranger. He'd be really good at it."
"No we shouldn't even if we could," Yuuri frowned. "We can't afford to let people in on our secret. It's too dangerous."
"Right, right," Tatsuya sighed. "Still, imagine if he could be a Timeranger? He'd be pretty good at it with those kinds of moves."
"Oh please," Yuuri sighed. "He didn't seem to have any discipline and he was sticking his nose into the fight even after it got too big for him."
"That just means he won't give up," Sion smiled. He liked the thought of having someone his own age to talk to. It was hard being the youngest member of the team at only 17 years old.
"And he's too thick to know when retreat is a good idea," Yuuri countered.
Ayase, Domon, and Tatsuya just waited out the storm and continued reading the magazine article about their other faces and the 'deputy Timeranger'.
Nerima was as it always was, destructive and crazy for one Ranma Saotome. Since his fight alongside the Timerangers, people were asking him questions about them. It only got worse after the article calling him 'the deputy Timeranger' came out, making people ask him if he can get them the Timerangers' autographs. All the attention served to make the pigtailed martial artist even more confused. He had just met the group when they fought that Falsser guy. It wasn't until Nabiki sold him all the information she had on the Timerangers did he finally understand. Apparently, they were a group who dressed in colorful outfits who fought aliens from another group called the Londers Family. Losing the money he had blown on Nabiki's information got him mad since he already knew that much after meeting the group.
At the moment, Ranma was having one of his incredibly rare moments of peace. His father and Mr. Tendo were busy playing Shogi like they always did when they weren't trying to force their kids together. His mother was visiting and making lunch with Kasumi. Nabiki was counting money while Akane was out in the dojo.
It was getting to a point where Ranma was almost wishing for the Timerangers to come back or something similar to happen. It would at least be a change from the usual craziness and it would get people to lay off his back.
"What I wouldn't give for some peace," Ranma sighed deeply.
Ranma looked out at the streets of Nerima and saw something odd. There was a black car driving down the street straight towards the dojo. He almost wrote it off as nothing before he saw it park right in front of the dojo's front gates.
"Now what's going on?" he sighed.
Inside the dojo, there was a knock on the door. Kasumi quickly wiped her hands off and walked to the front door. She quickly opened the door to see who the newest visitor was. The man standing at the door seemed to be on the ending side of his middle age. He had black hair mixed with the deep gray. He had his eyes covered by a black pair of sunglasses and was wearing a casual suit and tie.
"Hello, there," the man smiled pleasantly. "I was wondering if this would happen to be where either Nodoka, Genma, or Ranma Saotome reside."
"Oh my! Why yes," Kasumi nodded. "Genma and Ranma do live here and Nodoka is visiting."
"Now that is some good luck!" the man smiled. "I have a little bit of business with them. May I come in?"
"Of course," Kasumi smiled. "Please do!"
The man bowed respectfully and walked inside. Kasumi smiled kindly. This man was so polite! He didn't come with his daughter so he probably wasn't the father of a fiancée Genma had set up. He was rather warm for a bill collector. She found her curiosity piqued.
The man removed his shoes before donning the spare pair of indoor slippers. Kasumi then led him through the house until she brought him to the main living room where most of the adults were living.
"Who is it, Kasumi?" asked Soun curiously.
"Yes. Who is…erk!" Genma began before he froze at the sight of the man in the doorway.
"Saotome?" Soun blinked as he turned to face his friend. The elder Saotome was sweating profusely and looking for a quick exit. He only did that when someone who could threaten his well-being was in the near vicinity.
"Hello to you, Genma," the man frowned. "I hope you've been treating my daughter well. Oh wait, you abandoned her as soon as your son was old enough to be without her."
"Uh…well, uh," Genma gulped. He had a perfectly good explanation for what he did. He was just so nervous that he really couldn't say anything.
The silence was broken as Nodoka came out from the kitchen when she heard the noise over a guest, "Who is our gue-Oh! Daddy!"
Soun and Kasumi both gasped when they heard the surprised Nodoka speak her words. This man was her father? They had never heard her mention that she still had a father or anyone like that.
"Hello to you too, Daughter," the man nodded. "I hope you have been well. I heard how Genma abandoned you and stole your son and my grandson. Nodoka, why didn't you tell me? Why did I have to find out through my contacts?"
Nodoka seemed to recover herself and stood as politely as she could, "Genma didn't abandon me, Father. He took Ranma out on a training journey to ensure he would be a man amongst men."
The man sighed in agitation and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Now this is a something I've heard for a long time."
There was some more clatter before Ranma himself slid off of the roof and into the living room. He looked around in confusion before his eyes landed on the man who was talking to his mother.
"Who's this guy?" he asked plainly.
"Ah, this must be Ranma," the man smiled as he took off his glasses. His eyes were revealed to be the same shade of blue that Ranma's own eyes were. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "Hey, you aren't the father of some girl Pop engaged me to, are you?"
"No," the man denied, though he visibly twitched at the mention of the engagement. "We will be talking about that though. My name is Otaru Nogami. I am your grandfather."
The room went silent as Ranma took in that little bit of information. He slowly managed to get his voice back when he finally voiced a question, "So, what have you been doing all this time?"
"If we can have some tea, I'd be happy to explain," Otaru replied.
Soon enough, Ranma was seated across from his grandfather with Nodoka and Genma sitting by the side. Nodoka was trying to remain calm while Genma was sweating bullets. It seemed neither of them were expecting to see th eolde rman, in fact it was more like they were hoping not to see him.
"So…uh, tell me about yourself," Ranma opened the table.
"Gladly," Otaru smiled. "Well, I am 61 and I am a retired police detective, though I do offer my services from time to time."
"Explains why Pop is so nervous," Ranma sighed. "So, where exactly have you been? Why haven't you tried to contact us?"
"A couple of reasons," Otaru explained. "The main reason is because your mother and Genma were good at covering their tracks."
"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "But why?"
"We had our reasons, son," Nodoka spoke. "It isn't of your concern."
"Daughter, Ranma has every right to know," Otaru said sternly. He turned to look at Ranma again. "You see, I did not approve of my daughter marrying Genma. She said she loved him, but he had no way of really supporting her or a family. His main source of income was leeching off rich people or outright theft."
"Sounds like him," Ranma sighed. "So what happened?"
"Well your mother seemed convinced just because he filled her sense of what made men, they would be happy," Otaru continued. "If this was the age of the Samurai then perhaps I would have let it go, but this is not then and society demands different things from people. When I told Nodoka I would not allow a marriage until Genma had a job, and enough to start supporting a family she did not take it well. Since Genma would never have a job even if his life depended on it, both he and Nodoka eloped and ran off."
"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped. "How terrible!"
"Yes," Otaru nodded. "I searched for them, but Genma knows how to cover his tracks when he's running from people. Coming from years of experience I suppose. The only news I got was police descriptions matching Genma's face or people outright saying he was the one who cheated them. Eventually, I got news that they had a son. It seemed like Nodoka was determined that I stay out of her life."
"Since you were not going to support our relationship, I saw no reason to include you, Father," Nodoka spoke up.
"No, it was because I would not live in your fantasy world of Samurai and warriors," Otaru frowned. "If Genma cleaned up his act and proved he was able to support you, then I would have let you marry him. However, since he was determined to live with the least amount of effort, I decided he was unsuitable for you."
"Genma is very suitable!" Nodoka insisted.
"Why?" Otaru frowned. "Just because he is what you consider manly? Because he would peek in hot springs? Because he had loose morals? Because he would steal underwear like his piece of filth master? This is not the age of Samurai where birth means something! This is an age were hard work and dignity are more important. Something Genma does not have since he seems allergic to hard work and prostates to an old man just because he doesn't want to get hurt. In that case, I see Ranma as more of a man than Genma could ever be! Even in female form!"
Genma blanched and Nodoka gasped out loud at how grievously Otaru had spoken about Genma. Ranma was floored about the fact that his grandfather knew about his Jusenkyo curse and seemed to be okay about it.
"Yes, I do know about the Jusenkyo curse," Otaru answered the unasked question. "And unlike those here who judge him, I accept Ranma for who he is. If he turns into a female then I have a part-time granddaughter. Simple as that."
"Really?" Ranma blinked.
"Of course," Otaru nodded. "I've seen stranger things than someone who can just change genders."
Ranma suddenly felt something like a large weight come off of his chest. When he heard that this man his grandfather, he was worried about his reaction to the curse. Apparently he had long since known about it. The fact that he accepted it scored the older man numerous points in Ranma's view.
"After some serious digging, I discovered Genma's farce of a training journey which deprived my grandson of an education and a happy childhood," Otaru frowned. "Instead, he has grown up ignorant and used as a piece of property which Genma has bartered off at every convenience. Examples of Miss Kuonji and the Daikoku come to mind."
Genma wanted to say something, but he really couldn't think of a way to defend his actions.
"A manly man should have many girls after his hand," Nodoka said calmly. "And it will bring so many grandchildren!"
"Hmph!" Otaru frowned. "It is against morality to cheat on a spouse or have several girlfriends. Ranma is only seventeen years old and I think he can make his own decisions concerning who he will marry and when he will have children."
"Finally, someone who isn't forcing me to do what they want," Ranma sighed silently to himself. It seemed that no one was listening to him again, but he didn't notice Otaru's eyes turn to him before returning to his stubborn daughter.
"RANMA WILL MARRY AKANE!" Soun bawled out with his demon head. "IT WAS AN OATH MADE BY OUR FAMILIES!"
"Genma broke that oath a long time ago when he started thinking with his stomach rather than his head," Otaru sighed. "He invalidated the agreement with your family. Besides, it's not like breaking his word is anything new. Furthermore, you haven't paid a dowry so you really don't lose anything."
"BUT WHAT ABOUT TAKING ANYTHING GOES TO THE NEXT GENERATION?!" Soun cried out.
"Ranma can do that himself if what I've heard about his skill is true," Otaru countered. "Besides, there's not much of a Tendo school left since the only master refuses to train his heir."
"WHY YOU!" Soun cried out. Both he and Genma were suddenly up and using a flying kick to try and hit Otaru. For Soun, it was a misguided attempt to prove the Tendo school was worth passing on, and for Genma, it was to get Otaru away since Ranma was showing interest in knowing the older man, and he couldn't afford that! Not when Otaru had the power to dissolve engagements since he was the head of Nodoka's family, which she wasn't taken out of when the eloped. That meant Ranma was a Nogami as much as a Saotome.
"Infinity Style," Otaru calmly announced. "World Revolution."
Otaru kneeled on one leg and raised his hands up. Grabbing Soun and Genma's legs, he used their own body weight against them. Leaning back, he threw them out of the doorway and into the koi pond. A soggy Soun and panda was the result.
"Do not assume you can bully me with your martial arts," Otaru frowned. "My martial arts are still at their height and I can still use them despite my age."
Ranma watched the exchange with wide eyes. He was definitely impressed by how his grandfather managed to defeat Soun and Genma with a single technique. It didn't look like he had put much effort into it either. All he had done was situate himself on the ground before using the two martial artists' weight against them.
"That was cool, Grandpa," Ranma smiled, already comfortable with the older man. "What kind of style was that anyway?"
"It's called the Infinity Style," Otaru answered as he sat down ad sipped some tea. "It is like Anything Goes in many regards I suppose, except we do not limit ourselves to just martial arts. We train in many different areas and can apply the lessons to everything in life."
Ranma was now getting giddy. There was a martial art that could be used for anything? Where did he sign up to learn it?
"Now, Ranma," Nodoka calmly spoke up, trying to control the situation. "If you are interested in learning the Infinity Style, then I could-"
"Daughter, you quit trying to learn the style after you mastered the single-sword aspect of it," Otaru interrupted. "Your reasons were 'a future housewife should be able to defend herself, but not look like a barbarian.' You probably chose the katana because it was the traditional blade of choice for samurai."
Everyone in the room looked at Nodoka strangely. They had assumed that with her skill with the blade, she was an excellent martial artist. Finding out that she quit after learning one aspect of it just because it wasn't traditional put her in a new light in the eyes of the audience. Ranma was shocked because he figured she was the sensible one of the family.
"So, Ranma," Otaru continued, turning to his grandson. "Are you interested in learning the Infinity Style?"
"Heck yeah!" Ranma grinned brightly.
"Now, Ranma," Nodoka began to frown. Things were quickly getting out of control and it was high time she as a mother stepped in and brought order to things.
"Daughter, Ranma is seventeen years old and more than capable of making decisions regarding his life," Otaru spoke, interrupting Nodoka again. "After all, that was only two years before you ran off with Genma."
Nodoka was cowed again. Her father did have a point. She was around the same age as Ranma when she decided to run off with Genma. As much as she didn't want her son interacting with her father, she couldn't find any logical and good reason to keep it from happening.
"Excellent!" Otaru smiled. "I would be happy to teach you Ranma. It would also give me time to get to know my only grandson."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, "I live at this address. Come by after school and we can go from there."
Ranma took the card and read it over. His grandfather seemed to work as a private detective at a place called Tomorrow Investigations. It was in a different part of Tokyo, but it was still close. He could get there easily.
"And no I must say goodbye for now," Otaru sighed as he stood up. "A client of mine is going to visit soon and I have to be at the office. Good day."
Otaru then left the room and headed to the door. Kasumi followed, being the polite host. Ranma just continued to read the card, committing it to memory in case he lost it. This was a big chance for him to get to know his family and he wasn't going to blow it.
On the other hand, Nodoka was getting tense. She knew her father didn't approve of her marrying Genma, but he couldn't do anything about it now. Still, he may not approve of Ranma being promised to Akane. Since he did not remove Nodoka from the Nogami registry when she married, he had some say in who Ranma would marry. While Nodoka knew that Akane was a very sweet girl, she could tell that she had a slight temper problem. Nodoka silently vowed to make Akane into the perfect wife so that her father would see no problem with the Saotome/Tendo agreement.
The sounds of footsteps echoed in the silent house before Nabiki walked into the room. She could tell just by the stunned looks on everyone's faces and the soggy fathers that something had happened underneath her nose.
"Okay," she sighed. "What did I miss?"
Out in the deep forests where only a few ventured, there was a strangely-shaped building which was leaning on its side. To people who paid attention to detail, it looked like the building had appeared out of nowhere a short time ago. In truth, this building used to be the main centre of the Londers Prison Facility before it became the main base of the Londers family.
Inside, there were three figures that made up the hub of the Londers Family. Sitting in a chair and smoking a cigar was a frog-like being who wore dark clothes and gold chains around his neck. He looked somewhat pudgy, but it didn't mean that he was unfit. Inside his head was a calculating and cunning brain which was only focused on money. This was the head of the Londers Family, Don Dolnero.
Off at a table, polishing his right claw, was a golden android with a glittering cape that covered his right side. His body was streamlined and showed a lot of advanced technology. At the moment, his face looked peaceful enough, but he inside was an insidious brain which craved destruction. It was only made more dangerous by the technical knowledge it held. This robotic being was Gien, the tech expert of the Londers Family, inventor of the Zenitts and an old friend of Dolnero.
Gazing longingly out of the only window was the only real human of the group. She had a white outfit which showed a fair amount of skin and a white cape. Strapped to her side was a futuristic pistol. One of the most distinguishing features she had was her pink hair, which was held in her helmet. Her name was Lila and she was Dolnero's right hand girl.
At the moment, the three were inside the main regeneration room where the Londers prisoners were kept and could be frozen or released at their pleasure. Dolnero was reading a magazine with growing anger.
"One boy," the crime boss growled. "One boy revealed our operation and alerted the Timerangers. One boy held off Zenitts until they arrived. One boy crippled Falsser and allowed the Timerangers to beat him. I WILL NOT LET THIS PASS!"
Dolnero threw the magazine across the room. Lila passed a glance and picked it up to see what was getting the Don so mad. She gazed over the article until she saw pictures of a certain pigtailed boy fighting off Zenitts and unleashing the blow which crippled Falsser.
"Oooh!" she giggled. "My, he's a yummy one. A little young for me but I might be tempted to try."
Gien stood up from his table and looked over Lila's shoulder and eyed the pictures curiously through his optics, "Hmm. How interesting. I didn't know that humans could project energy like that. I hope I get the chance to experiment on him."
"Enough!" Dolnero growled, catching his lackies' attention. "This boy crossed the Londers family and mocked us! He made us look like fools! I will not let this insult stand! There will be vengeance!"
Lila stifled a giggle. If there was one thing that the Don coveted more than money or power, it was his pride as a crime boss. This boy wouldn't know what hit him. It was too bad too, he was certainly attractive. Maybe she should try and get a run at him before the Don had him killed?
Gien on the other hand got a familiar manic gleam in his eye, "Well, if you wish to make an example of him, then I believe I have just the one to do the job,"
The Don seemed pacified by this, "You do, do you Gien? That's just like you, always thinking."
Gien walked over to one of the freezing chambers in the wall and opened the door. Inside were several canisters like the kind TimePink had created to hold Falsser. Instead, these ones held all sorts of criminals with various crimes. Reaching in, Gien grabbed one before walking over to the freezing chamber where he could reanimate the convict in question.
"Prisoner number 00002, Arsonist Sogo," Gien introduced as he opened the capsule and placed it inside the chamber.
"I remember him," Lila smiled. "Didn't he burn down twenty buildings in the year 2899?"
"Why yes," Gien grinned. "He was also the second prisoner placed in the Londers Facility. He was sentenced to one thousand years for the total damage he caused."
"Hmm," Dolnero nodded. "I like it. He'd be a good one to use for this kid."
"I knew you would love it," Gien smiled as he exited the chamber and let a sheet of glass cover it. At a console, Lila pressed a button before white gas filled the animation chamber. There were some flashes of light before the process was completed. With a sliding sound, the chamber opened and out Sogo came.
He was an average physique, but his skin was a blood red. He had four arms which each had a metal nozzle on the hands which were connected to tubes running up his arms and connected to a tank on his back. His waist and lower were covered in black leather and his feet were two-toed claws. His face was insect-like with large fractured eyes, but the rest was covered in leather straps. A pair of antennae jutted from his forehead, which enhanced the bug look.
"Anybody need a light?" the convicted arsonist hissed jokingly.
"Sogo," Dolnero spoke, catching the criminal's attention. "We of the Londers Family released you and we have a little job for you."
"So long as I get to burn something." Sogo replied, his mouth in a manic grin beneath his straps.
"Then we won't have a problem," Dolnero chuckled. "You see, there is this boy I want taken care of…"
Ranma looked at the building in front of him and back at the business card that was clutched in his hand. The address seemed right, but the building itself seemed completely different from what he was expecting. When he head that Otaru Nogami was his grandfather from his mother's side, he was expecting a traditional home like the kind that the Kunos lived in. Instead, he was looking at one of the most modern homes he had ever seen. The architecture was brand new and there was even a sign at the front door which had the name 'Tomorrow Investigations' on it. In all, it seemed his grandfather was very much the opposite of his mother.
The pigtailed martial artist had been receiving hell from his parents and the Tendo patriarch ever since he decided he was going to see his grandfather. Genma and Soun demanded that he never see the man again while Nodoka said he would be a bad influence on him. Nabiki had cussed when she missed the juicy event and was searching furiously for any and all information on the man. Still, Ranma was not going to be swayed from his decision, especially when there was a chance to learn a new martial art. The moment that school had ended, Ranma was off like a shot to see where his grandfather lived, which led to him standing out front of the building he was looking at.
"Man," he blinked. "Grandpa really knows how to live."
Stepping forward tentatively, Ranma walked to the front door and reached to the knocker that was attached to the wooden door. Grabbing the brass handle, he knocked firmly with what he hoped was enough force to catch his grandfather's attention.
There was some silence for a while before the clicking of a door handle signaling someone behind the door. After that, the door opened to reveal the kind face of Otaru Nogami looking at his grandson.
"Ah, Ranma," he smiled. "It's good to see you. I wasn't expecting to see you this soon. Did you have any trouble finding this place?"
"Not really," Ranma shrugged. "It was leaving that had the potential to go wrong."
"How's that?" asked Otaru, gesturing Ranma inside of his home.
Ranma stepped inside what looked like a normal work area for a person. There was a waiting room where people could sit and wait to talk to the older man and a door leading to what looked like an office in the next room. The decorations were nice, but didn't look too offensive, but rather took up some of the empty space in the room.
"Mom and Pop were teaming up with Mr. Tendo to try and keep me away," Ranma sighed.
"I should have figured as much," Otaru sighed. "Nodoka never gave up at anything, but Genma and Soun are too dumb to realize when they should stop."
"Heh, Pop never quits unless he's going to get hurt," Ranma sighed. "Then he just shoves it off to me with a lame excuse."
"He never changes," Otaru grumbled. "When it seemed like he was going to get in trouble, he shoved the evidence off on some poor sap that was nearby. How Nodoka fell for him I'll never know."
"I sometimes wonder that too," Ranma admitted. "My only guess is that Pop got caught doing something she considered 'manly' and she fell for him when she found out."
"Maybe," Otaru shrugged. "Well, enough about them, I want to hear about my grandson and his life."
Walking upstairs, Ranam found that Otaru's home looked a little traditional, but also very modern. It was like it was a mix between the past and the future all in one good-looking home. Otaru quickly got the tea ready before he and Ranma took a seat at a low-lap table.
"So Ranma," Otau spoke up. "I am aware of some of the things you did on your training trip and your year with the Tendos, but I was hoping you could tell me in better detail since some of it sounds too strange for words."
"You have no idea," Ranma sighed. "Okay, the earliest thing I remember is the Neko-ken…"
In the time that followed, Ranma described things he could remember from the training journey and everything that happened at the Tendo dojo since he had arrived there. Otaru felt himself growing appalled that Genma would put Ranma through so many dangerous training methods while he just lazed around doing nothing. The older man got all the engagements, rival fights, and crazy challenges Ranma had to go through since arriving in Nerima.
"Wow," he blinked in amazement. "Just when I thought that Genma couldn't be any more of a screw-up."
"He tends to exceed expectations when it comes to that," Ranma grimaced. "When you think he can't be any dumber, he goes and does something worse."
"So, about these so-called engagements," Otaru pondered. "I would like your opinion about these girls that seem to be after your hand."
"Um," Ranma pondered. He was a little reluctant to talk about how he felt about the Fiancée Brigade, but this was his grandfather he was talking to. He didn't have a reason to distrust the older man yet, so he decided to at least be honest with him. "Well, Kodachi is definitely not what I want in a wife. She is just plain nuts and no matter what I do, she pulls some stunt to try and force me to become hers."
"Perfectly understandable," Otaru nodded.
"Shampoo is definitely a babe," Ranma admitted with a blush. "But…they way she just uses any trick she can to force me to love her is a turn off. She claims to love me but she never listens to a word I say unless it's something she wants to hear. She also turns almost anything I do into a declaration of love and she glomps me. Her great-grandmother is okay in my book, but Shampoo just doesn't seem to understand that I don't like the way she treats me."
"Have you told her this?" Otaru asked seriously.
"Are you kidding?" Ranma gaped. "I once mentioned how she was pestering me when I was fighting Mousse and she got mad before chasing me as a cat!"
"So if you actually say how you feel about her advances, she may get angry and use her curse against you," Otaru nodded. "Quite the vindictive little girl, isn't she? So, tell me about this Ukyo girl."
"She's a bit more mellow about it," Ranma shrugged. "I mean, she wanted to kill me over her engagement since Pop stole her dowry and ditched her, but I mentioned she was cute and it was like we were friends again. Since then, she's been trying to make me her husband by taking advantage of any moment she could, like when she bought time with me alone from Nabiki, or tried to convince me of the life we could have when I was under the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion. She's so wrapped up in this Fiancée business she keeps forgetting that I see her as a friend."
"Well, you have to remember that she has been forced to live as a boy most of her life," Otaru pointed out. "As much as she wants to be a girl again, she also wants you as a husband since you were probably her first love. What about this Akane girl that Nodoka and Genma are so determined for you to marry?"
"She's okay I guess," Ranam shrugged. "We sure didn't get along in the beginning though. We were at each other's throats all the time, and the fathers seemed convinced that this made us the perfect couple. It really ticked me off how she would get in the middle of some of my fights because she thought she was helping or because some idiot thought she would be a good hostage. She has a horrible temper too and would jump to conclusions about me and then hit me, calling me a pervert, even if she had evidence to the truth. After a while, I guess I started to fall for her and even admitted I loved her at Jusendo, but I think it is more of a friendly love rather than a marriage-worthy one."
"I see," Otaru nodded. "So you care about Akane, but you don't wish to marry her."
"I guess," Ranma sighed. "Still, the parents won't care and will try every trick they have to make me marry her come hell or high water. I'm surprised Mom hasn't tried to force me through seppuku yet."
"Oh, she and I will be having words about that contract," Otaru frowned. "I know I raised her better than that. I don't know how she got so wrapped up in the stories of samurai and such. I had thought it was a phase, but hearing her behavior now, it seems she's living in a fantasy world these days."
"She seems to think all the problems will go away if I marry Akane and take the others as mistresses," Ranma muttered. "Like that will work. Those girls are determined to be my wife."
"Love, or what we think is love, can make us do some crazy things," Otaru nodded. He then got a smile on his face as he gazed at his grandson. "Still, I think we should get down to business. Are you still interested in learning Infinity Style?"
"You bet!" Ranma grinned, instantly becoming upbeat again.
"Good," Otaru nodded. "Because you are going to get a teaching like never before."
To Be Continued…
A/N: Well, here's the Timeranger story I was mentioning in my forum. Hope you guys like it. Credit to Iron-Mantis for thinking up Arsonist Sogo.
