Eureka - The Plot Thickens . . . wait, there's a Plot?

Chapter Three

Allow me a maudlin moment, please. I know it's an odd thought to have, especially for someone that hasn't been writing that long, but do you know one thing about the Ranma fanfiction community as a whole?

The sense of community. Now, I've been reading fanfiction for years before I actually got into writing myself, but one thing I always remembered was how interconnected it felt. How all of the huge authors that got me hooked so thoroughly back in the day seemed to know each other, and fans always knew what the big stories were because people went out of their way to pass on the knowledge.

I dunno, maybe it's ff net, here. Maybe it's too easy to find stories now, rather than searching and hacking your way through the cyber jungle to find those rare treasures. I remember, keenly, stories I read years ago, while most of the time on here I can scarcely recall a story i read last week.

Don't get me wrong, I feel like I have a little niche here, with other great writers like Cap'n Chryssalid, Claymade and Rowan Seven, but . . . I dunno. I guess I can't even explain it to myself really. Anyway, back to business

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't

OOOoooOOO

Gendo folded his hands together before carefully positioning them to cover his mouth. He followed it with an attempt to tilt his head just enough to cause the light to glint off of his glasses. It was sort of a look he'd been cultivating for some time and he thought it was finally starting to pay off. Sure, technically speaking, he couldn't see anything when the light was shining off his glasses like that, but he was pretty sure it made him look really inscrutable to his employees.

Speaking of which.

"Excellent work, Dr. Saotome. You did the right thing, both by refraining from entering the battle, and by bringing this latest development to my attention."

The pigtailed researcher nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah, it was a pain stayin' out of the fight, but it did give me a good chance to see how Ryouga's been doing lately."

That quirked Gendo's curiosity. As much as Saotome's apparently endless ego infuriated him to no end, the young scientist was an unparalleled expert in the field of combat. "Tell me, what would your assessment of Mr. Hibiki's current capabilities be, if you don't mind me asking?"

Obviously, the young man didn't, as a wide smile split his face. "I gotta say, he's done a pretty good job of playin' keep up with me. From what he was sayin', almost the entire time I've been here, training, he's been wanderin' the world, fighting. I'm almost tempted to do a write up on the Nature verses Nurture approaches to martial arts. Heh, he could turn out to be a really good guinea pig-"

"Did someone say Guinea Pig?"

Instantly, both men let out loud groans.

Just as every other time he recalled, the disembodied voice heralded the arrival of Professor Washu via her patented dimensional portal. The young (appearing) scientist flashed a winning smile at the two men present, only to receive a dark glare from Ranma in return.

"He's my guinea pig! I knew him longer!"

Washu simply gave Saotome a look. In a flash of red and black, Gendo was startled to have Ranma suddenly clinging to the back of his high seated chair. Still, image was important; doing his best to hide his mild surprise, Gendo addressed the pigtailed researcher without turning.

"Dr. Saotome, thank you for your report. You are dismissed."

In a most rare display of courtesy, the young man didn't even argue his dismissal. Rather, he just flipped over the desk and out the door in a movement so fluid that Gendo was tempted to call for the Janitor. Washu, on the other hand, giggled evily at the fear she instilled, even in dauntless warriors such as Saotome.

Now that it was down to just him and Washu, it was time to take control of the situation again. "I take it that you are here in relation to the tremors as well?"

Washu scoffed loudly. "What? No. Don't be ridiculous."

Well, so much for that idea, groused the young agent.

Washu proceeded to pull out a document from . . . somewhere. "I just need you to sign this so I can make a surface contact."

Gendo simply stared at the young Professor for a long moment . . . however, despite his position, his pride and his professionalism, even he knew better than to get on Washu's bad side. With a weary, defeated sigh, he held out his hand to accept the document from the childlike researcher. "Very well. However, while you are here, I would like to request that you look into this latest seismic activity."

Only to have her roll her eyes at him. "Oh, please. You build a secret underground facility inside a clearly unnatural geological anomaly and you didn't consider that seismic instability might be a possibility?"

"I assure you, such concerns were taken into account, however these latest tremors are not occurring within our existing geological predictions. Now, I need to begin an investigation into the confirmed sightings of what is likely an escaped experiment. So, would you please be so kind as to look into this seismic activity for me?"

This time the young woman actually dismissed his concerns with an errant wave of her hand. The audacity. "Hey, I got my own problems to deal with. Now that I have this form, I need to figure out how the heck I'm supposed to go about contacting a-" Washu shuddered dramatically. "-a magical girl about another magical girl."

Without another word, the insufferable woman than conjured up her holographic keyboard, summoning her familiar portal once more.

"Miss Hakubi!" he insisted intently.

"Oh, stuff it, Ikari. You want the greatest genius in the universe to sully herself with something as lame as that? Just pass if off to one of the geologists."

"Washu, you know very well that-"

Which was about the exact moment that Washu stepped through her portal and vanished.

". . . there are no geologists here . . . Damn it, I hate it when she does that."

With a slight huff of annoyance, the Government liaison idly shuffled about a few pieces of paper sitting on his desk.

Well, the seismic activity isn't a crisis . . . yet, so that, at least, could sit for a time. Somewhat more pressing was the matter of the escaped experiment. Unfortunately, that meant he had to go from dealing with an insufferable scientist to an insufferable Sheriff. With a sigh, he depressed a clearly labeled button on his desk.

"Nuku Nuku, could you please get me Hercule?"

"Mya! Right away, Mr. Ikari!" replied his desk intercom in an overly cheery voice.

Feeling the sides of his head beginning to throb, Gendo gently began to rub his aching temples. Why, oh why, did they have to provide jobs for all of their scientists' mentally unstable creations?

OOOoooOOO

With a grand flourish, Ryouga applied the final signature to yet another piece of contract. Then, with an even more extravagant flourish, he flipped the sheet of paper over to the 'Completed' pile.

"Aha! Take that, my contractual nemesis!"

Outside his cell, perched comfortably behind her desk, Ryoko rolled her eyes.

"Woohoo, you finally finished section one. I think that means you're legally allowed to open your eyes down here now."

Ryouga let out an agonized groan as he confirmed her pessimistic comment with a quick glance to the staggeringly large 'Yet to be Completed' pile.

"Must you destroy all of my happiness?" he asked earnestly.

Ryoko seemed to consider his question for a long moment.

"No, I musn't. But the fact that I'm willing to go that extra mile to do it anyway just shows how dedicated I am to my job!" she replied, smiling cheerfully.

"So, when you summon demons, do more of you just appear?"

"Ha ha ha, very funny. Now shut up and go to sleep."

Ryouga rolled his eyes, taking a quick look at the clock as he did. Nearly eleven o'clock already, was it? Actually, sleep didn't sound like all that bad of an idea, now that he thought about it. Still, he couldn't let her get the last word.

"Yes ma'am. Going to bed now, ma'am."

"Awww, Shaddup!"

OOOoooOOO

With a mighty yawn, Hercule finally awoke to inviting rays of the morning sun. Matching his mighty yawn, he followed it with a truly Herculean stretching of his limbs- only to wince instantly as a lance of pain stabbed through his leg.

"Ow! Heh, guess I'm not quite healed yet . . ."

The martial arts legend gingerly pulled his blanket away to reveal the pristine white bandage that wrapped his leg, save for a sizeable circle stained a somewhat crusty brown. He should probably think about changing that before he did anything else, too.

Maybe another day off from work wouldn't hurt . . .

The phone call that he had received from Agent Ikari replayed itself keenly in his mind . . .

Maybe not.

Luckily, as a legendary master of the martial arts, Hercule had become privy to a small number of ancient, some might even say mystical secrets in his time. One in particular suited him quite well, as it was not only an invaluable training supplement, but it was also a quick fix. Hercule loved quick fixes.

Shuffling over to the side of his bed, he quickly began to dig through the classically styled mahogany nightstand placed there. It didn't take him too long to find what he was looking for, even though there hadn't been much need to actually use it as of late. The small leather bag was impossible to miss and he pulled it out with near reverence.

Chuckling happily to himself, a wide smile lifting his bushy mustache, the martial artist then tipped the bag on its side, causing a single, tiny little bean to pop out of the bag and into the palm of his hand. For a short moment, he simply stared at the little green bean.

"Time for a morning pick me up. Heh, Juan Valdez, eat your heart out."

Then, with a quick toss of his head, he popped the bean into his mouth and che-

OOOoooOOO

"-here's no way for you to escape defeat this time, Saotome!" Ryouga roared out in challenge.

Ranma just sneered back at him, arms crossed over his chest and unusually spiky hair waving in the wind. "Feh, that's what you say every time, Ryouga. What makes this time any different?"

Ryouga smirked, stealthily reaching behind his back for his ultimate weapon. His fingers closed around the familiar, smooth plastic and his confidence increased two-fold. "Because now I have this!"

In a flash of movement, Ryouga tore the sphere from his belt and hurled the yellow and black Pokeball at his hated rival.

"P-Chan, I choose yo-"

OoO

"-ooaahhhhhh what the he-"

Ryouga was torn raggedly from his sleep as his entire world turned upside down and inside out, tossing him about with enough force to drop him face first to the unyielding floor beside his cot. Before he even had a chance to regain his senses, a piercing scream came from outside his cell, as Ryoko plummeted down from the rafters (where she had an unusual penchant for sleeping) and slammed unceremoniously to the hardwood floor herself. A second after that, several bright, spinning lights suddenly popped out of the walls and ceilings, flooding the room with red lights dancing to the piercing, ear splitting wail of some damnable hidden siren screaming as if its life depended on it.

It was all the wanderer could do to curl up into a fetal position and clasp his hands over his ears to try to drown out the sensory overload that was threatening to overwhelm him. Tack onto that that he'd had that dream again . . . Ryouga was a quivering mass of anguish and confusion incapable of doing anything-

And then the siren died abruptly in a bright burst of light.

Taking a moment to gather himself, Ryouga tentatively looked up from his patch of floor. There, outside his cell, shaking a bit herself, was Ryoko, smoking hand raised up before her. He followed the line of her hand, and the baleful glare she was shooting, to a rather notable hole in the roof. The smoldering edges of the hole were giving off enough smoke to diffuse the morning sun now pouring in, giving the entire office a somewhat ethereal look.

"W-what the hell was that?" he asked, finally steadying himself enough to sit up.

Ryoko turned her glare in his direction. "The hell should I know?"

He shrugged, then carefully flipped his cot back into an upright position so he could sit on it again. Well, you do work here . . ."

The cyan haired demoness considered his words for a moment, tapping a thin finger to her chin. "Oh yeeaah."

With that, the Deputy floated over to and through her desk. Taking a moment to push it back to its usual spot, she followed it up with a simple press of a button. A small monitor abruptly lifted up from its surface which the woman began to read intently.

"Hmph, Seismic Activity Alert."

"Yeah, like we needed that to tell us there was an earthquake," he grumbled darkly. Stupid computers stating the obvious.

Except Ryoko stared back at him with a look bereft of her usual mirth or malevolence . . . it worried him more than a bit. "It's not that. This alarm is only triggered when the seismic activity is enough to actually threaten the GeoFront. Remember, Genius, we're underground, so if it quakes hard enough, it's over for everyone."

Ryouga didn't have to think about that for very long. "Oh man, that is bad. If that alarm actually went off, there must be a ton of worried people down here now."

Ryoko's amber eyes widened. "Oh crap! That means-"

Whatever the Deputy was going to say, her voice was abruptly interrupted as the phone chose that moment to begin ringing loudly, every single light on the base blinking on simultaneously. It was followed less than half a minute later by the sounds of frantic knocking coming from the front door. The delightfully wide glass front of the office gave an excellent view of the crush of worried faces currently crowding the front of the building.

Ryoko groaned loudly, dropping her face into her hands. "Damnit . . . where's Hercule when you need him?"

OOOoooOOO

Gendo slammed down the receiver with more force than he ever remembered using.

"Damnit, where is Hercule when you need him?"

"Now, Dear, please don't get so worked up."

Despite the currently spiraling situation, Gendo still found himself smiling fondly at the mere sound of that angelic voice. He took a moment to compose himself before turning to face the lovely young woman standing by his desk.

"I'm sorry, Yui. It's just so . . . frustrating. I never imagined what this job actually entailed when they offered it to me, and having to work with my hands tied in such a ridiculous manner . . . it's-it's just-"

"Frustrating?" she replied with a smile. "I understand, Dear, and I'm so proud of you, that even with things the way they are, you are still doing such an amazing job."

He looked up into her eyes, drinking in her gaze like honeyed wine. "Thank you. I think I need to hear that every once in awhile. Still, that last tremor worries me. Hopefully Washu will finally come to her senses and look into it, now."

His blushing bride (Mere weeks since the honeymoon) nodded encouragingly. "I can speak to her for you, if you would like."

Gendo simply nodded, unable to convey the gratitude he felt. Unfortunately, even the sweet joy of knowing someone else would deal with Washu was short lived.

"Of course, then there is still our other crisis." He leafed through a large stack of paper on his desk to no avail. "So far the audit of all registered research projects has yet to turn up any missing, or active experiments which even resemble the description of the creature that Dr. Saotome gave us. Unfortunately, since this falls into the experimental incident category, it means that none of our researchers can actually intervene. And that means that we have to rely on Ryoko and Hercule . . . who isn't answering his phone," muttered the Government Liaison through clenched teeth.

Yui's eyes rolled in amusement at his obvious frustration. "I'm certain that the Sheriff has a very good reason for not answering his phone."

As much as he loved the woman, Gendo could only stare at her incredulously.

". . . On second though, maybe you should send someone over to the Sheriff's to check on him."

Gendo smiled widely; it was always good when someone saw the light. "An excellent idea." Of course, his smile faded quickly. "It looks like it will be yet another busy morning here. Alright, then: You see if you can talk some sense into Washu, please. I'll send someone by Hercule's when I get the chance. Meanwhile, I'll see if I can convince Ryoko to continue investigating our 'monster'. Then I will begin preparations for a full scale evacuation, if such a thing becomes necessary."

Yui nodded, a slightly strained smile on her lips. "Better safe than sorry, after all."

He returned her smile, though his was even weaker.

"Why does it always seem to be so little of the former and so very much of the latter here?"

OOOoooOOO

Ryoko angrily slammed the phone down, only to pick it up a fraction of a second later.

"No! I didn't notice the giant earthquake that triggered the alarm system! I'm sorry, I don't have time for your crazy stories!"

She slammed it down, killing one of the blinking lights, only for another for flare to life in its place. She tore the receiver up from the base yet again and snarled into it. "That wasn't an earthquake, it was me getting ready to blast the city to ash! . . . What was your address again?"

She slammed the phone down again, this time leaving the half melted plastic device smoldering on her desk as she looked up to address the throng of eggheads surrounding her desk.

"Look, I know for a fact that anyone actually powerful enough to kick my ass isn't worried about fifty million metric tons of rock falling on their heads, so-" she paused for a moment to form her energy sword, pointing it threateningly at the people across her desk. "-Unless you want me to save you all the trouble of a cave in killing you, then get the hell out!"

Just as it looked like a number of the more self important scientists were about to argue her logical decree, she decided to nip it in the bud. A second later, there was a second smoking hole in the ceiling, courtesy of a thrown energy sword, and roughly ten seconds after that, she was blissfully alone once more.

With a huff, the Deputy slumped back into her chair . . . only to see Ryouga lounging back on his cot. For some reason, the over evolved primate was shaking his head as he looked at her.

"What?"

"Nothing – nothing . . . Just, all those people were looking for was a little reassurance. You didn't really need to treat them like that, did you? They can't help it if they're scared."

Ryoko rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I can't exactly give 'em what I don't have. I don't know what's going on any more than you do. D'ya want me to lie to them?"

She smirked slightly as the male shook his head. "No . . . no, I guess not. Still . . ."

Gah, what was with some people? "Look on the bright side. At least none of them are scared of the earthquake anymore."

The corner of the fanged man's lips actually quirked up at that. "You have an amazing talent for finding silver linings."

"Why thank y-"

Yet again, the phone interrupted her. She gazed at the phone silently. She then noticed Ryouga looking at her, thus prompting her to return his stare. His stare then purposefully shifted to the phone on her desk. It didn't take very much to piece together the message he was sending. With a sigh, she picked up the slightly twisted receiver once more.

"Hello, Ryoko's house of empty promises and false hope. Don't worry, citizen, that wasn't an earthquake, the planet is just having a tummy ache."

"Very cute, Deputy. I'm glad to see our taxpayer dollars are going to good use."

Ryoko instantly covered the mouthpiece and let out a string of profanities that had her companion's eyes nearly bugging out from his skull. Once she got that out of her system, she quickly calmed herself and lifted the phone back to her ear.

"Why Agent Ikari, what a . . . pleasure it is to hear from you."

"Enough nonsense, Deputy. I am sending all of the information gathered on the escaped experiment to your workstation. I want you to continue your investigation into this matter."

The space pirate looked at the phone oddly for a moment. ". . . But what about that tremor?"

The voice on the other end of the line never wavered for a moment from its cold tone. "That is being dealt with by . . . less whimsical personnel. You will continue your investigation, is that understood?"

"B-but, but I've still got Saotome's buddy in custody! What am I supposed to do with him?"

A short pause.

"Take him along. His talents may prove useful if your investigation goes well. Agent Ikari out."

With a sharp click, Ryoko was treated to the nerve grating sound of dial tone. She glared at the receiver in her hand for a long moment.

"I hate it when he does that," she muttered darkly. She then shifted her equally dark glare to the caged boy to her side.

"Alright then, Mr. 'Man of the People'. Gendo wants us to keep hunting down that rat thing, so let's get a move on."

"Us? What do you mean us?" He shot her a stand-offish look.

"Did I stutter?" she barked gruffly. "I can't leave you here, and you actually helped out a bit last time, so Gendo told me to get your help on this."

Her companion stressed his limited gray matter for a long moment, before finally shrugging. "Why not? Beats spending my last hours doing paper work. So, where we going?"

The rather strapping Alpha Male then stood up, opening the unlocked cell door to join her by her desk. As he did, she took the time to push yet another button on her desk. This one ejected her Personal Data Assistant from the desk and she picked up the tiny, hand held device and activated it. The small screen flashed to life, and the data which Gendo had just downloaded to her computer began to scroll down its surface.

"Hey! This is just all the info that we sent them! Damn slackers, expecting me to do Hercule's job without anything to go on."

Her companion scratched his chin, looking so cute in his attempt to access any higher faculties he might possess.

"Well, if everyone is so sure this is an experiment we're after, why not go to where the experiments are being done?"

Ryoko smiled at that. Hey, maybe he has a few brain cells to go with that six pack he's carrying around. "Hey, not bad. I bet if we crack a few eggheads, we're bound to find something out."

Ryouga shrugged, looking a little sheepish at her faint praise. "Alright then, so I guess you're driving, eh?"

Oh, how evil Ryoko's smile was at that.

OOOoooOOO

Ryouga collapsed to his knees, the only thing stopping him from actually kissing the pavement beneath him being the presence of his spiky haired tormentor standing right behind him.

"Heh, ya big baby."

He took another moment to catch his breath before glaring back at the cyan haired demoness. "I would have been fine if you hadn't started stunt flying!"

"Heeheehee!"

The fanged warrior just glared at her. "Can we just get this over with? After that, I'm actually missing Ranma's driving."

Ryoko shrugged, before startling him slightly by offering him a hand to his feet. Not wanting to be rude, he took the offered hand and allowed the tremendously strong female to tug him up to his feet.

On the bright side (if there was such a thing), Ryoko had gotten them to their destination in record time. The familiar shape of the black pyramid loomed before them. The really, really huge, mammoth, sprawling black pyramid which looked big enough that it had could have been built from several football stadiums . . .

The two Ryo's stared at the structure for a looooong moment. Slowly, Ryouga turned to Ryoko. "This . . . might take longer than we thought."

"Where the heck are we even supposed to start?"

"Hey, Deputy 'Yoko!"

The unexpected call caused Ryoko to glower immediately, before she spun on the speaker . . . Only to realize that the person whom had called out was actually a young, blue haired girl skipping happily in their direction. Ryouga boggled as the dark glower that Ryoko had been wearing only a moment earlier evaporated to nothing, leaving a wry smile on her lips.

"Hey there, Bulma. What are you up to?" stated the Deputy in a carefree tone.

The young girl, probably only eight or so, by Ryouga's guess, stopped before them, swaying back and forth in that adorable manner that young girls did. "Oh, I got all worried 'cuz of that really loud alarm, so I wanted to come check on Daddy and make sure he's alright."

Ryoko smirked. "Knowing Dr. Briefs, I doubt he even noticed."

"Dr. Briefs?" Ryouga asked himself. He then dropped to his knees, bringing himself more to the young girl's height. "Hey there, little girl. I don't suppose you know anyone named Tarou, or Happosai, do you?"

The young blue head shook her head, looking back at him shyly, only to scoot away completely to stand on the far side of Ryoko. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers . . ."

Ryouga turned his attention to the amber eyed Deputy, shooting her a telling look. Luckily, she seemed to get the gist of his silent cry for help, as she smiled wryly once again. "Hey, don't worry, kid. This here is Ryouga. He's one of the good guys today."

Bulma's eyes widened in wonder at the Deputy's words. "One of the good guys?"

Ryoko nodded. "Yup, just as good as me!"

Instantly, Bulma shot five feet back from the both of them.

"Hey!" barked an offended Ryouga.

The demoness laughed wickedly at the sight. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just teasin ya, Bulma. Hibiki here is alright. He even helped me kick a monster's butt yesterday."

If anything, Bulma's eyes widened even further. "Wow! Was it the escaped experiment that everyone is talkin' 'bout?"

Ryouga started at that. Hmmmm. "Yeah – yeah, I'm pretty sure it was. Say, Bulma, have you heard anything else about this creature? Ryoko and I are kind of looking for it."

The young girl shook her head quickly. "Uh-uh. No one's owning up to this one yet."

The wanderer shot his erstwhile partner a look. "This one?"

The Deputy shrugged in response. "You probably shouldn't to ask."

He filed that particularly disturbing thought away for later perusal, then turned back to the young Bulma. "Hey, you seem like a super smart little girl. Can you tell me if you know anyone that works on that kind of stuff? You know, messing with animal DNA?"

His compliment worked wonders, as the young girl literally beamed with joy, but before she could answer Ryoko cut her off rudely. "What are you askin' her for? The audit hasn't turned up anything that matches the description we're looking for."

It was Ryouga's turn to smile knowingly (The Gods knew it happened maybe twice in a life time for him.) "Yeah, but what if the description they're using isn't the right one? The creatures that Hercule and I fought when I got here were much smaller and looked different than the one we fought yesterday. What if it changed so much that the people looking through the experiments wouldn't recognize it?"

At his side, Bulma made an impressed little 'oooh' sound. "That's really smart, Mr. 'Yoga."

Ryouga ran his hand through his hair, feeling a little sheepish at being praised by a young girl. "Not really. I just had a little more information is all. I'm sure the Sheriff would have figured it out if he was here."

When the pair of females before him suddenly burst out into boisterous laughter, Ryouga was forced to reconsider his statement. No respect for near-legendary martial arts masters these days, I swear.

"Anyway," he interrupted their laughter as best he could, "Can you tell us if you know anyone that would be able to make a mutant rat?"

Finally calming down to a mere giggle fit, Bulma nodded excitedly. "I know bunches! Let's go ask around."

At that, Ryouga finally rose back to his feet, shooting a victorious smile in Ryoko's direction. "There, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Oh, shut up."

Their tiny tour guide began to hum a happy little tune as she skipped them merrily up to one of the many entrances to the massive pyramid. Just as they reached one of the turnstiles outside the security doors, Bulma fished an ID card from her pocket, only to swipe it through one of the scanners with barely a second thought.

"Bulma Briefs and two guests! Deputy 'Yoko and my new boyfriend!"

A mere moment later, the light on the turnstile flashed green, allowing them to pass through (as if it could even slow down Ryouga or Ryoko) and the security door behind it slid open to admit them.

Ryouga shot the Deputy a quick look before leaning close to whisper, "Boyfriend?"

Ryoko chuckled mercilessly, before whispering back. "Ah, just play along." The cyan haired demoness then turned to the young girl leading their way. "But, Bulma, what about your old boyfriend?"

Bulma turned back to them to make a sour face. "Mr. Ranma isn't one of the good guys! He's just a researcher, like my dad, ick!"

Ryouga couldn't have stopped himself from smiling even if he'd wanted to . . . which he didn't. "Ranma, eh? I think I can live with that." It was about then that he paused, as something else suddenly came to his attention. "Hey, wait a second. You work here, Bulma?"

The blue haired girl nodded proudly. "Uh-huh! I'm in the Child Genius Division!" She then leaned towards him, whispering conspiratorially, "You can't tell no one, but me and Dexter are gonna finish our spatial compression project waaay before Newtron finishes his Quantum Dynamics research."

The bandanna clad wanderer chuckled in amusement. "I bet you are."

With that, Bulma's adorable smile widened again and she charged ahead excitedly. "C'mon, follow me! I'll take ya to the Genetics Division."

His cyan haired companion shot him a teasing smirk. "Well, aren't you the ladies man?"

He replied with a helpless shrug. "Pretty much the opposite, normally, but she's a sweet kid. Now c'mon, Deputy, we don't want to get left behind."

Ryoko just shook her head, an expression of pure amusement on her face, but didn't press the issue. After that, the duo were left to the whims of their adolescent guide as she led them on a winding tour of the facility. (Well, at least to Ryouga it sure seemed like a winding tour.)

"Hi, Professor Membrane!" Bulma called out as they passed one lab.

"No time to talk, Bulma. Science waits for no man!"

Which set the tone for the next fifteen minutes or so, as they continued to wander the halls of the pyramid.

"Hey, Dr. Stingray!"

"Sylia says hi!"

"Hi, Dr. Gero!"

"Insufferable children!"

Until, as a nice change of pace, someone actually decided to speak to them. Ryouga wasn't quite sure what to make of the lady that stopped them. She wore the typical getup that everyone else was wearing: lab coat, pocket protector, etc, and her hair was relatively short-ish, but despite all that, she still came off as being quite attractive, even friendly. Bulma's reaction intrigued the wanderer the most, as the young girl stopped right before the lady, looking down at her own shoes as she dug her petite toe into the unyielding floor.

"Hello, Missus Ikari." Bulma greeted the older woman shyly.

The thusly dubbed 'Missus Ikari' crouched down to rub her hand vigorously through Bulma's lopsided blue hair. "Hello you adorable little scientist, you."

Even as the adorable little scientist started to blush like a tomato, Ryouga leaned towards Ryoko and mouthed: 'Missus Ikari?'

His companion simply shrugged.

Which was about the point that Mrs. Ikari looked up from Bulma to stare at the pair of them. After studying them for a moment, the older researcher turned back to Bulma. "So, who's your new friend, you blue haired cutie?"

Though it scarcely seemed possible, Bulma blushed even harder. "This is my new boyfriend, 'Yoga Hibki. He's one of the good guys."

"Is he, now?" Mrs. Ikari replied with an impish smile. She then stood once more and nodded to Ryoko. "Deputy, always a pleasure."

Ryoko offered a weak smile in reply. "You know it . . ."

Then it was Ryouga's turn to get acknowledged. The older woman held out a hand to him in a very western gesture. Still, it wasn't like he hadn't been around the block a few times, so he took the hand and shook it like one might shake a Faberge egg.

"And it's a pleasure to finally meet you as well, Mr. Hibiki. My name is Yui Ikari."

Doing a quick check to make sure he hadn't damaged the delicate looking researcher in any way, he quickly retrieved his hand and ran it through his shaggy mop of hair. "Uh, thanks, I guess. You make it sound like you've been expecting me."

Yui offered him a sly little smile. "Well, it is a small town, and everyone knows that gossip clocks in as just a little faster than the speed of light. Besides, you've already made a pretty big impression here. Saving the Sheriff, helping the Deputy fight an escaped experiment, a mysterious past with Dr. Saotome-" she winked teasingly, "-and you've already found yourself a lovely girlfriend. All in two days no less."

He chuckled weakly, a little embarrassed. "Well, it has been a slow couple of days . . ."

The knowledgeable researcher giggled in amusement. "I heard that you even had the pleasure of meeting my husband already, as well. He didn't traumatize you too badly, did he?"

Ryouga gave her the flattest look he was capable of. "Agent Ikari gave me a choice between being shot and filling out the Global Dynamics Non-Disclosure Agreement."

"You'd be surprised how many people choose the former."

He rolled his eyes. "Not anymore I wouldn't."

A loud groan from their side drew their attention to Ryoko. "Look, I'm sure this is all fascinating, but we're kinda busy here?"

"Ryoko . . ." Ryouga admonished, though he doubted it would accomplish anything.

Yui just waved off the Deputy's rudeness with a casual wave of her hand. "Of course you're right, Deputy, I apologize. Tell me, what are you doing here? Is there any way that I can help?"

Bulma chose that moment to reiterate herself into the conversation, shaking her head proudly. "Nope! They asked me to help 'em find a geneticist that has the expertise to create mutant rodents."

Dr. Ikari's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "Ahh, trying to find out who is responsible, are they? But the audit still hasn't found an experiment that matches Dr. Saotome's description, has it?"

Their blue haired genius smiled widely. "That's cuz the experiment is still mutating! It doesn't look like t started out, so that's why the audit isn't gonna find it!"

An appraising look filled the researcher's eyes. "Is that so? And how do you know that, Bulma?"

"Cuz, 'Yoga fought em when he helped the Sheriff out and they were way smaller then."

Ryouga nodded in confirmation. "It's true. It's been a bit, but I still remember them pretty well. If we use the original description, we might have better luck."

His cyan haired partner glowered at that. "It was all in my report. Not my fault you guys are so slack."

Rather than rise to the bait, Yui simply rolled her eyes. "Ryoko, I read your report. The only description you gave was 'giant mutant rat'. Did you even think to ask for a slightly more detailed description, such as size and color?"

Ryoko tapped the tips of her fingers together, looking down to the floor. ". . . I was getting around to it . . ."

Dr. Ikari let out a huff. "I have a half a mind to take me with you to speak to your mother-"

The stricken look that plastered itself across the Deputy's face was almost heartbreaking, until one remembered what a jerk she could be most of the time.

"-But, until the Sheriff returns to work, this investigation is your responsibility."

The sigh of relief that Ryoko let out was easily on par with the ones that Ryouga reserved for finding a bathhouse in the middle of a crazed chef chase. Come to think of it, one of these days Ryouga was going to have to call the Health Inspectors on those people. Really, who just picked up animals off the sidewalk? There was no way that could be sanitary!

"Bulma, since you're going to the Genetics Division anyway, why don't you take them to Dr. Saotome's lab first? He might be able to help the three of you out." Yui made the suggestion, oblivious to the pained expression that spread across Ryouga's face.

Bulma nodded happily. "Okay, Misses Ikari! You can count on me!"

"Deputy, Mr. Hibiki, best of luck." Dr. Ikari nodded to both of them before gracefully making her way on whatever her original course may have been, leaving Ryouga, Ryoko and Bulma on their own once more.

Sense of purpose instilled, Bulma led them through the facility and to the elusive Genetics Division in a matter of minutes. All too soon, the moment that Ryouga was dreading was at hand, and they soon found themselves standing before the entrance of one of the smaller labs on the outer fringes of the Division. Without even bothering to knock, if such a thing was even necessary in a place like this, Bulma walked straight into the lab.

As soon as they entered, though, all of Ryouga's annoyance drained away, replaced by mirthful snickering. The wanderer quickly covered his mouth, doing his best to hide the obscene smile on his face at the sight before him:

Ranma Saotome, Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts . . . wearing a lab coat and hunched over a microscope. At the sound of his chuckling, the pigtailed martial artist stood up, only to reveal that his ensemble came complete with pocket protector and a pair of safety goggles hanging around his neck.

Ranma glowered in his direction. "What's so funny, Pork Rind?"

It took some effort, but Ryouga managed to keep himself from bursting out into full-blown laughter. "N-nothing at all . . . Doctor Saotome."

At his side, Ryoko and Bulma started giggling as well.

"Oh, shut it," grumbled the male researcher. "So, what are you guys here for, then? Earthquake, or rats?"

With hardly a care, Ryoko floated forward, and through, Ranma's desk, glancing idly around the room. Then, as an after thought, she gave a simple shrug of her shoulders. "Rats. We're trying to narrow down who could be responsible and we figure they're probably in this division."

At that thought, Ryouga gave his eternal rival an odd look. "Speaking of this Division, what are you doing in the Genetics lab anyway? I thought you were trying to prove that chi was based on psychic energy."

The pigtailed researcher grumbled darkly to himself. "We prefer the term Psionics . . . makes it sound less like Miss Cleo. And my research actually covers a lot of ground. I got labs in quite a few sections, even Section Five."

Ryouga shot Ryoko an inquisitive glance.

"Military Research."

"Ahhh. So, what are you researching here, oh Master of Psionics?"

His barb didn't get the desired effect, as Ranma smirked confidently. "Why don't ya come over here and find out, Bacon Bits?"

Growling at the return of his long forgotten nick-name, Ryouga felt compelled to see just what his rival was talking about before he pummeled him into submission. Ranma cleared some of the junk off his desk, then pointed to a pair of monitors that sat on its surface. Both showed what appeared to be human muscle tissue, at least to Ryouga's best guess. However, even to his limited knowledge, one of the samples looked to be incredibly more dense than the other . . .

"What's all this then?" the wanderer asked, more than a little confused.

"My research into the use of Psionics to alter one's own physiology. The one on the left is from a random person. The other one is mine. You see, the theory is that the more skilled martial artists, like ourselves, have been subconsciously using our internal energies to . . . sculpt our bodies to be better suited to the rigors of martial arts."

Ryouga could only offer his rival a skeptical look.

"Hey, I was skeptical too, but I was talking to this Captain guy, he transferred from Unetco to Section Five a few months ago-"

"Um, what the heck is Unetco?" Ryouga felt compelled to ask.

Ryoko plopped her butt down on Ranma's desk and leaned towards them, a bored expression on her face. "Meh, they're pretty much a military version of the MIB, cept the government actually knows about them."

Ryouga just stared at the both of them. ". . . And the MIB is . . .?"

Ranma shook his head in annoyance. "Look, it ain't nothing you gotta worry about. Anyway, this Captain guy I was talking to, he was big on Psionics and he proposed a few theories to me, and I gotta admit, they started making sense after a bit. I mean, don't you think it's odd that you can lift multiple tons, leap over tall buildings, or even get hit by a car without even bruising?"

As much as he hated to admit it, since the idea clashed so dramatically with his own views on the spiritual nature of chi, Ryouga had to admit that he hadn't thought about it. ". . . not really . . . I've just been able to do that kind of thing as long as I can remember."

Ranma nodded expertly. "Exactly. Think about it. If Cologne had strapped a normal person into that harness for the Bakusai Tenketsu training, what would have happened?"

Ryouga shuddered at the mental image that was conjured. "They probably would have been splattered."

"That's right. That's why it's such an advanced technique, because you have to have conditioned yourself to a high degree just to survive the training. Now if I can determine how and why these alterations take place, imagine what we could accomplish here?"

Ryouga could only look at the small screens in awe. ". . . I hate to admit it, but some of the stuff you're saying is making a scary kind of sense . . ."

His rival smirked that familiar smirk of his. "Remind me to get a tissue sample from you later, too. I bet your development is completely different from mine."

The fanged fighter nodded absently, interested in what those results could possibly be, despite himself.

Unfortunately, any further discussion was tabled by a rather loud clearing of the throat from beside them. Both martial artists turned to see both Ryoko and Bulma, arms crossed over their chests, shooting them impatient glares.

"If you two are done, we do have an investigation to get back to."

Ranma looked to Ryouga, who looked back, they could almost see what each other were thinking.

"You know, Ryoko," Ryouga started slyly, "You are the Deputy here. You should be able to handle this without us. I mean, I'm just here so you can keep an eye on me, right?"

Ryoko's amber eyes rolled magnificently. "Pffft, whatever. You think you're gonna get me all proud and indignant? You forget just how unmotivated I am. You already proved that you're a useful lackey, so now you're stuck with me. You too, Saotome, now let's go already."

Bulma nodded excitedly, even as both boys sighed in defeat, then latched onto Ryouga's arm. "C'mon, 'Yoga, let's go find the bad guy!"

Ryouga smirked at the crestfallen look that crashed down onto his rival's face. "Hey, what's going on, Bulma?"

Apparently feeling a little bad, Bulma offered the researcher a sad look. "Sorry, Dr. Saotome, but I can't be your girlfriend anymore. I'm 'Yoga's girlfriend now!"

"Wha-but-" stuttered the pigtailed martial artist.

At least until Ryoko clouted him upside the head. The smile on her face was anything but supportive. "Just let it go, Lady Fingers."

Ranma glowered at the Deputy, but reluctantly relented.

"So," Ryoko began anew, "Where are we even gonna start? There must be dozens of geneticists that work here."

Bulma offered a tiny little shrug. "Dr. Akagi might know. She's the Head of the Genetics Division."

Ryouga, Ryoko and Ranma all looked to each other before shrugging. It was a lead, at least, so it was worth checking out.

"I just can't figure out why anyone would want to make giant rodents. I mean, what would be the point?" asked a confused Hibiki as they began to wander through the facility once again.

Ranma shrugged absently. "Most people use rodents for test subjects. Heck, one of our researchers used to be a test , , , subject . . ."

In an eerie moment of synchronization, Ranma and Bulma stopped walking and turned to look at each other, eyes widening in surprise. Slowly, a wicked grin formed on the pigtailed researcher's lips.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Bulma?"

Bulma nodded eagerly. "I sure am!" She then turned back and hugged Ryouga's arm tightly. "Great thinking, 'Yoga! You're a genius, too!"

"Hey! I thought of it!"

Ryouga turned back and shot a helpless look to Ryoko.

"Do you have any idea what these two are talking about?"

The demoness could only shake her head in disbelief. "Three apples, the Queen of England and a pair of rubber pants make more sense than those two."

The wanderer chuckled quietly to himself as he allowed himself to be dragged frantically down the hallway by his 'girlfriend'. Within a matter of minutes, being led by the purposeful pair of Ranma and Bulma, the four of themselves found themselves in yet another lab. This one was much darker and more cluttered than Saotome's, a fact which surprised Ryouga to no end. Books, boxes and other paraphernalia was stacked around all of the desks and counters, as if there wasn't enough storage room in the entire building to accommodate this one researcher.

Of course, after about five seconds of looking around the room, Ryouga quickly nodded to himself.

"Ummm . . . yeah, looks like we've found our culprit." The Lost One quickly followed up his statement by pointing to the large set of cages stacked beside and on top of each other at the far end of the room. Barring one, all of the cages were filled with two to three foot long, snow white lab mice. Two to three foot long, snow white lab mice that Ryouga remembered very keenly from his first night in town. Speaking of which, he still needed to get his umbrella fixed, not to mention finding a new pair of slippers! He looked down to the tattered and worn remains of what had been his dress slippers only days earlier.

The world is a dark and lonely place . . . without shoes.

Even as he lamented his inability to own a decent pair of footwear, Ryoko floated forward, scanning the room carefully. "Umm, so where's the culprit then?"

Again, Ranma smirked his infuriating smirk. "Hey, Brain, you got visitors!"

From somewhere within the darkness, a small rustling sound could barely be made out.

"Yes – yes, Saotome, just a moment, please."

Ryoko floated forward, looking around aggressively. "Hey! We don't got a moment. Get your geeky butt out here already!"

"Ahh, if it isn't our infamous Deputy Ryoko. To what do I owe this auspicious visit?"

"You owe it to me kickin' your . . ." The Deputy trailed off uncertainly, still looking for the source of the voice. "To me kickin-" A frantic spin. "Hey! Where the heck are you?"

To their side, Ranma chuckled in amusement, before pointing to one of the nearby desktops. Ryouga followed the line of his rival's finger, only to blink three times at what he saw. There, standing atop the desk was a . . . was a small white lab mouse – a lab mouse with a hugely disproportionate head.

"'Kicking my butt'? I must say, that sounds simply atrocious, if utterly one sided. Why ever would you want to do that?"

Ryouga blinked again. Even by his standards, things were getting a little strange- Wait a second! Ryouga snapped his fingers excitedly. "Hey! Are you one of those Pan-Dimensional, Hyper-Intelligent-"

"No!"

The wanderer shrunk back at the sharp rebuttal, only for Ryoko to surge forward, an unimpressed glare on her face. "Okay, that's enough of that, Rodentia. We know that you're behind that monster rat rampaging through the city."

If anything, Brain looked askance at the Deputy. "Monster rat? I can assure you, Misses Deputy, that I haven't created any monsters here."

A deep growl rumbled in the Deputy's throat. "Bull!" She then pointed back to Ryouga. "He saw your experiments with his own eyes."

At which point, the talking mouse turned his attention to Ryouga as well – only to point dramatically a moment later.

"You!"

Ryouga pointed to himself, a little uncertain. "Me?"

Brain frowned deeply. "You! You're the one, along with that bumbling oaf of a Sheriff, that attacked my test subjects!"

If anything, the wanderer was only more confused. "Attacked? What are you talking about? I stepped in to help Hercule because your rodents were attacking him."

"Preposterous. My test subjects are completely docile unless expose to hostile intent. I had let them out on a routine test run several days ago, when the Sheriff attacked them. The fool obviously didn't understand what was occurring."

Ryoko scoffed loudly. "And you expect us to just take your word for this?"

Brain scoffed right back at her. "Of course not. Those are test subjects, not pets. Not only are they tagged with radio transmitters, they have also been implanted with optical transceivers so that I may record their interactions and behavior patterns."

Well, that brought everyone up short.

"Well, I don't know about everyone else, but that sounds like the kind of thing an investigating authority figure should probably watch," offered an overly smug Saotome.

"Oh, shut up!" rebutted a witty Ryoko.

A little tentatively, Ryouga raised his hand up. "Ahh, before you show us that. Just why are you mutating all of these rodents in the first place?"

Brain looked back at him suspiciously. "Certainly not in a bid to take over the world, if that is what you are insinuating."

Ryouga looked at the talking mouse oddly . . . more oddly. "I . . . uh, never mentioned taking over the world."

"Good! Because that isn't what my research is for!"

At that point, Bulma stepped forward, wearing an adorably innocent expression. "Then what is it for?"

Brain looked at the overly cute child, but what only able to hold out for single moment before letting out a defeated sigh.

"If you must know . . ."

"Oh, we must," added a smirking Ryoko.

"I am . . . trying to develop a means to enhance my own body to human size." Brain finally admitted, sounding more that a slightly embarrassed at his confession.

Ryouga, Ranma and Ryoko all nodded in understanding. Bulma, however, just looked more confused. "Why would you wanna do that?"

Again, the research turned researcher sighed tiredly. "For various reasons, Child. While accommodating, this facility is hardly designed with lab mice in mind . . . aside from the obvious at any rate. And though my mechanical suit is useful, it is far too bulky and clumsy for the kinds of work which I must routinely do here . . . and – and it does get tiring always having ones contemporaries looking down at you all the time."

Apparently the Deputy had heard enough, as she let out an agonized groan. "Alright, alright! We've heard your sob story. Now, am I the only one here that notices the empty cage? Brain, you got some 'splainin to do!"

The tiny researcher let out an annoyed huff. "If you must know, Subject Number Nine did not return from the altercation with the Sheriff and this brute."

Ranma stared incredulously at the talking mouse. "Wait. One of your subjects vanished, and you didn't think to report it?"

Brain met the incredulous stare with an indignant glower. "I had assumed it had been terminated in the battle." The large headed mouse then spun dramatically, producing a tiny remote which he pointed at a bank of monitors lining the one wall. "Behold!"

The center monitor suddenly flared to life, showing a very poorly lit, but still discernible forestscape. Apparently they were watching some kind of POV camera, as the scene moved and jerked around constantly. Considering that Ryouga spent an unfortunate amount of his life seeing the world from that particular Point Of View, it didn't take him long to determine they were seeing what the rat was seeing as it scurried through the forest.

Then, without warning, the screen suddenly spun around jarringly, settling a moment later on the barely visible form of Hercule leaping heroically out of the underbrush. The impossibly tall figure pointed dramatically at the camera, then swept to both sides, likely encompassing the entire pack. It was obvious that the Sheriff was yelling something, but apparently the rats weren't wired for sound, so they couldn't make out what he was saying. The POV didn't change, so apparently the rodents were just as confused as the audience, choosing to just sit still and stare at the imposing figure.

The still picture doesn't last for long, though, as Hercule suddenly charged forward and began attacking one of the rodents to the left of Subject Number Nine.

A second later, the screen became an indiscernible blur of motion. White and black and other brief flashes of color filled the screen as the entire pack of mutant mice endeavored to defend itself from the Sheriff's attacks.

Even this scene didn't last long, though, as abruptly a new figure entered the fray, this one adding a bright flash of yellow and black to the world that wasn't present before. It didn't take long for the blur of yellow and black to resolve itself into a barely recognizable Ryouga Hibiki. And it doesn't take long for that figure to resolve itself into an image of a slippered foot flying directly into the camera at high speed.

The only thing they saw after that, was static.

Brain turned to glare at Ryouga once again.

"While I grudgingly admit that it is feasible that his young man's attack may have only destroyed the implants which allowed me to monitor Subject Number Nine, it is theoretically improbable for a mere martial arts kick to transmogrify it into the creature described in Saotome's report. The method I have been using has been a process of small, stable mutations. Such rapid and radical changes haven't been noted in any of the other test subjects."

Ryouga looked up to the ceiling, he could already see where this was going. "Why am I sensing a 'There's only one way to be sure' coming?"

The miniature researcher nodded in confirmation. "Indeed. The natural conclusion is to capture the creature so that it may be examined."

Ryouga was about to rebut that point strongly- when the room around them began to shake jarringly. Ryoko quickly scooped up Bulma, even as Ranma plucked Brain off of the desk as cages rattles, book stacks collapsed and furniture relocated itself. The squeaking of the caged rodents was nearly deafening as they tried to escape their confinement.

Then, a moment later, it was done.

"And the sooner the better, it would seem," continued Brain, not looking terribly concerned by the turn of events. "We might be ordered to evacuate soon."

Ryouga let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, but I'm not fighting that monster again."

Brain simply stared at him like he was quite mad. "Fight it? Do you spend all of your days in the Dark Ages?"

Before Ryouga could reply, the talking mouse pointed his tiny remote at the wall next to the caged rodents. A moment later, a good section of the wall slid away, revealing what looked to be a very advanced gun rack. The large number of feathered darts hanging around the various rifle-styled weapons made it more than obvious just what type of guns these were.

Ryoko smiled wickedly.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!"

OOOoooOOO

Gendo looked up from the holographic screen of Washu's theoretical laptop to the scientist herself.

"So, what does it mean?"

Washu spun the imaginary screen back around to face herself.

"Besides imminent disaster? I'm not actually sure. Honestly, if the seismic activity hadn't spiked so dramatically, I wouldn't have even noticed it."

The Government Liaison folded his hands before his mouth as he stared impassively at the screen. It was currently displaying a very detailed schematic of the entire GeoFront. The Global Dynamics facility and the town were both displayed, as was the incomplete city currently hanging from the roof of the cavern.

Disturbingly, not far beneath the town, there was a . . . a large empty space. It looked almost as if there were another cavern forming within the massive cavern which contained the entirety of the GeoFront, only this one was growing right beneath the town itself.

"What I don't understand," he admittedly freely, "Is why the entire city hasn't collapsed yet. To have such a vast absence appear so quickly, it simply can't be stable. Perhaps it is filled with water, or some other such substance?"

Sadly, Washu shook her head in the negative. "No, there's nothing there. I need more time to make a more detailed scan, but all I can say is that it defies explanation at the moment."

For her to admit that she wasn't sure what was keeping the city from caving in on itself so quickly, that just couldn't be a good sign. He wasn't sure what to think himself yet, either, so he continued to stare at the catastrophic image impassively.

"Hmmm-"

Only to have his musing interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Without blinking an eye, Agent Ikari activated the videophone on his desk. I took him only a second to recognize the caller.

"Report, Sergeant Sagura."

The sharp looking man on the small screen saluted crisply.

"I have located the Sheriff, Agent Ikari."

"Excellent. I would like to speak to him immediately."

Sagura didn't hesitate for a second as he replied. "That will be impossible, sir. The Sheriff is currently incapacitated."

What? But Hercule is one of the strongest fighters on the planet!

"Incapacitated? Explain," Gendo ordered sharply.

"It would be easier to simply show you."

With that, the screen suddenly shifted away from the cold face of Sergeant Sagura to settle on-

Gendo's eyes widened in shock at what he saw.

"I'll be there in twelve minutes."

With a quick press of a button, he terminated a call and turned back to Washu. She nodded in response to his unasked question. "I'll be in my lab. I'll start scanning this new anomaly as well."

"Good. This scenario is changing faster than we can anticipate. We need intelligence quickly."

Washu smirked.

"So, you don't want me to contact Ryoko?"

OOOoooOOO

Ryoko suddenly hunched over as a huge sneeze wracked her body. Before she could even recover, Ryouga was instantly beside her, shushing her furiously.

"Have you ever been hunting before?" he whispered harshly.

From his perch on Ryouga's shoulder, Brain nodded. "All of the subjects possess acute hearing. We must proceed cautiously."

From even further away, Ranma glared at everyone. "Why doesn't everyone shut up, then? I'm the one stuck with the mutant on a leash." He emphasized his point by pulling on the leash in his hand, the other end being attached to a frantically sniffing mutant mouse, happily dubbed Subject Number Five.

"Shhh!" Ryouga shushed everyone equally. Thankfully Bulma had agreed to be left behind, since there was no way that he was going to let such a small child anywhere near the beast they had fought, no matter how well they were equ-

"Wait, there!" he whispered as loudly as he dared. When everyone looked his way, he quickly pointed to the distance. Roughly forty meters ahead of Ranma, there was a rustling in the underbrush. Instantly, everyone stopped moving, and lowered themselves down into crouches. It was just as likely to be a rabbit as a mutant rat (which was a rather disturbing thought, now that he thought about it), but he wasn't about to take a chance.

Slowly, Ryouga raised his tranquilizer rifle up to his shoulder, Ryoko mirroring him movements. Both of them trained their sights on the rustling bush, just waiting for something to come through . . .

They didn't have to wait long. After only a few minutes, the bushes parted to reveal . . . a normal mutant rat (another disturbing thought). Ryouga looked quickly to Ryoko over the barrel of his gun, and she looked back, the expression of confusion on her face likely mirrored by his own.

Ryoko leaned over to him, somehow managing to combine the usually distinct acts of whispering and yelling into one definitive statement. "That isn't what we fought!"

Ryouga could only nod mutely.

"But it is Subject Number Nine," Brain exclaimed quietly. "Even without Subject Five tracking its scent, I would still recognize my own work." He turned to regard the two humans. "If you truly believe this is the monster you seek, then it is imperative that you capture it so that I might determine what could have caused such a radical mutation, and then reversed it."

Ryouga nodded, raising the gun to his shoulder again. "Alright, Doc, if you say so . . ."

With as much care as he could (as he'd never actually fired a gun before), he did his best to draw the distant rodent to the center of his crosshairs. After lining up his shot for nearly a full minute, he was finally confidant that he had it where he wanted it, and he slowly began to pull back on the trig-

Ryoko's cell phone screamed to life, singing some god awful pop song that he could only imagine she chose just to annoy the people around her. So shocked by the unexpected sound was he, that Ryouga jerked sharply to the side and pulled the trigger, lodging his tranq dart uselessly into the bark of a nearby tree. In the distance, the rodent, spooked by the grating music, disappeared back into the underbrush in a blur of white.

Ryoko, ignoring the heated glares being shot her way, pulled out her phone and flipped it open irately.

"What?"

"You are to report to the Sheriff's premises, immediately."

A low growl reverberated oddly in the attractive Deputy's throat. "Damnit, Ikari! We almost had the damned rat!"

"Is the experiment an immediate threat to any civilians?"

Thrown off by the unexpected, and unflappable, response, Ryoko's fury faltered. "Umm, as is, it ain't really a threat to anyone, really . . ."

"Then this takes priority. Dr. Brain is with you, correct?"

Ryoko looked around, confused. "Yeah, H-how'd you kno-"

"Have him remain. I am sending Sergeant Sagura to take over. You. Dr. Saotome and Mr. Hibiki are to make your way to the Sheriff's premises immediately."

The order was immediately followed by the sublime sound of dial tone.

Another growl escaped the demoness' lips as she snapped the phone shut and stuffed the offending thing back into her pocket. She spun back to her three male companions.

"I hate it when that bastard does that!" Ryoko then turned her attention to Dr. Brain specifically. "Well, you're on your own, Brain. Me, Ryouga and Lady Fingers gotta head out."

Ryouga looked at the Deputy with a helplessly perplexed gaze. "But what could be more important than catching an escaped mutant?"

Ranma shrugged, an intrigued look spreading across his face.

"Guess we're gonna find out!"

OOOoooOOO

Now, as a genius idea, I'll put the Crossover list at the end, rather than the beginning. (Why I didn't think of that myself, I have no idea. See, that's why I need you guys reading me, to remind me what common sense is.)

Cross/Cameo/I don't own them counter.

Chapter 1

Ranma 1/2

Eureka

The Road To Cydonia

Dragon Ball Z

Chobits / Naruto

Project A-ko

Tenchi

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cooking Master Boy

Yu Yu Hakusho

Bleach

Chapter 2

Kim Possible

Venture Brothers

Knight Sabers

Robotech

Naruto

Chapter 3

All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku

Pokemon

Dexter's Lab

Jimmy Newtron

Invader Zim

X-Com

Men in Black

Pinky and the BrainFull Metal Panic