White looked to Black, a questioning tone in it's voice. "You play an interesting game my friend. Do you think it is wise to reveal your pieces so quickly?"
"It is no different then what you yourself have played in the past. At times you have based your entire game around one piece have you not?" Replied Black with a chuckle. "Besides, it is only a pawn, and pawns can always be replaced. But if they prove useful and survive long enough, then they can become queens."
White nodded at it's opponent. "I see. That is true enough I suppose. My turn was it not?" White moved, and the game continued.
His body froze in place as he ended his martial arts kata. Sweat glistened on his brow from hours of practice. Ranma held his leg where it had ended a sweep into the air to attack an imaginary opponent. It had been three hours after he had come home from his argument with Akane, he needed to think. Though he had gone to the dojo to practice his kata's, he couldn't get what Akane had said out of his mind.
She's right. I don't normally get this distrustful. It ain't like she did nothin to me or Akane. Abruptly he brought his leg back before shooting it three times at a mental target in a blink of an eye. Moving back into another kata his thoughts continued uninterrupted. But the way she moves, its not natural. Like her body is resisting it somehow, but trained to do it anyhow.
It was almost like the male ninja Konatsu, who had been raised to be a girl. Most men would never pick up on this, and it has led to his popularity working at the Ucchan's. The way he walked and moved being an almost perfect imitation of a natural woman's. Though if you knew what you were looking for, as Ranma now did, you could spot it. Rei's walk was similar, though not nearly as graceful as Konatsu's. It still would be hard to pick up on if you didn't look for it. Was that the reason Ranma was uneasy around her? Could Rei be another guy?
He made a jump kick that sliced the air as he covered the length of the dojo, as he landed he threw several punches within the span of a second. That ain't it, not like we have a shortage of cross dressers here. He thought back to when he caught her by the canal. I swear that I saw something glint in her pants. But Akane of course didn't see it, and I can't figure out what it was. He made a rolling dive that finished with a kick level with an opponent's stomach. I guess it really is just her eyes. Ranma stopped his kata and stood there breathing lightly, despite the impressive display he had been performing.
"They were just like Saffron's," he said quietly to himself. He was startled as the dojo's doors slid open suddenly, the Tendo's middle daughter, Nabiki, stood there with a smirk on her face.
"What was just like Saffron Ranma?" She smiled as she walked in looking at the fresh walls and wooden floors. It had taken Ranma only a few days to speed through the construction by himself. Even though Mr. Saotome, her father, Ryoga, and Mousee had all helped it had mainly been Ranma's effort to pull it off. She hated to admit it, and never had aloud, but she had been impressed.
"Nothing Nabiki, what did ya want?" Ranma said offhandedly. Nabiki frowned, since the failed wedding Ranma had grown more distant. Not to the point that everyone was overly worried, the fathers took it as a sign that he had wanted to get married and was merely disappointed. But he had been growing more distant. He was insulting Akane less, and trying to avoid the fiancées all together lately. The only thing he didn't do was hold back in his fights with Ryoga. While this might be good in some people's eyes it wasn't like Ranma, and Nabiki didn't want a change in the status quo. It could threaten her income.
But still, she wasn't here to ponder on Ranma. Nabiki grinned as she turned back to face Ranma. "I hear you spent a good chunk of today with that new exchange student. I was just wondering if you could tell me about her?" Ranma blinked and turned to Nabiki.
"Why do ya want to know?" He asked off handedly. Nabiki usually only went after money, and it was plain to see that Rei wasn't the affluent type.
Nabiki waved off the question, "Oh you know what I always say. Knowledge is power. Besides, I was curious. Nerima isn't known for being a hotspot for the American exchange program. Yet out of the blue here comes a new student. Suspicious if you ask me."
Ranma walked over to his towl along the wall. "I guess so, she is a little weird-" He was cut off with Nabiki suddenly appearing before his face.
"Oh, so you did find out something! Tell you what, you tell me and I'll knock off five percent of your debt." Nabiki smiled up at Ranma, who couldn't figure out a reason not to take the deal. Shrugging his shoulders he repeated what Rei had revealed at lunch.
"Interesting, thanks Ranma." She started to walk away when she remembered another reason she had come out to the Dojo. "Oh, Kasumi wants you to take a book by the clinic if you could."
Ranma shrugged, "Sure, tell her I'll be inside in a few minutes."
"Ugh" Was the only sound the woman made as she sat up. Her hair was unbound and spilled around her face hiding it from view. She placed a hand on the mattress to steady herself and the other on her forehead.
"Are you ok Miss. Hunter?" Rachel opened her eyes and looked up through her hair at Dr. Tofu who sat beside her bed. She realized she was back in the clinical section that was beneath the doctor's apartment. She grunted and closed her eyes again.
"I feel hung over, seasick, carsick, and at least a dozen other 'sicks' all at once." She groaned and lay back down gently. The thunder of her pulse seemed to subside slightly to her relief. "What happened doc? All I remember is tugging on some energy and then pain." She pulled her hand from her forehead and noticed dark lines intermittingly broken traveling across her skin. "The hell? Doctor what's this on my skin?"
Tofu sighed and sat back in his chair. "Miss Hunter-" He was cut off by Rachel.
"Doctor, I understand the formalities of this country are slightly different then mine, but please call me Rachel, or Rach. Being called a 'Miss' in my country denotes a woman who is a little older then me." She smiled at the Doctor.
"As you wish, that won't be a problem. Rachel I looked over some texts while you were out. I think I know what is going on, but I need you to tell me what you know about a few things first." Tofu picked up a pad and paper off a nearby table.
"Um, ok. Ask away." Rachel returned.
"Ok, first, what do you know about the space station 'Guardian'?"
"Nothing, there isn't one." Tofu jotted down a few things and continued.
"Does the acronym 'ISO-PR' mean anything to you?"
"No nothing." Tofu again jotted a few things down.
"Finally, do you know anything about the PK drives that Japan has been developing with America?"
"Well PK could mean psychokinetic, but nobody in the scientific field has given it to much credit." Rachel looked over to the Doctor sitting in his chair. "Let me guess, all those things you asked me are extremely famous things that everyone should know no matter what. Am I right?"
Tofu sighed, "Yes Miss-, I mean Rachel. These things were world changing occurrences over the last few years. The Guardian is an international built space station of research and study. It was completed just two years ago. 'ISO-PR' stands for International Study of Paranormal Research. It is a growing field that has lead to the development of PK or psychokinetic drives, which basically allow thought to be turned into reality. Something only a few mystics across history could perform before."
Rachel's eyes widened in fear. "Dr. Tofu, nothing of that nature was even remotely in development. The closest would be the International Space Station, but it wasn't called Guardian. Heck it wasn't even completed yet. Not to mention that science hasn't even truly accepted Psycho-kinesis or anything of the 'fringe' sciences as a legitimate field of study."
"Yet I can tell you and show you articles that everything I said is true. This leads me to one of two conclusions. First is that you are suffering from some sort of delusion. However given how you came to be here along with what I saw in your aura and my apartment, I think I can safely discard that possibility."
Fear was in the woman's voice, "You aren't seriously about to suggest what I think you are, are you?"
"If you are thinking that I believe you might be from another world, then yes I am." Tofu managed to answer plainly and calmly. However Rachel's response wasn't so calm.
"WHAT?" She screamed, immediately reeling in pain as it lanced through her skull. She gasped a few times and managed to calm herself and her pain before she continued. "Ok, so you are thinking I come from another planet?"
"Oh no, I don't think that's the case." Tofu replied, "I just think you come from an alternate reality."
Rachel grimaced, "Right, because that would be so much better." She forced herself to sit up and pulled her hair back behind her shoulders. "How can you be so calm about this? Heck, how do you even know about this kind of stuff?"
"Miss Hunter, do you remember when I told you I had unusual clients?"
She blinked, "Yeah, your point is?"
"My clients are that unusual."
Rachel paused for a moment to let that sink in. "So what you are saying is that I came from another dimension, one that is similar yet not. How do you propose I get back?" She calmly replied. She had seen weird things before, and even if this was some sort of elaborate prank she figured it would be over with sooner if she went with it. Tofu sat back in his chair and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out over to the setting sun. He wasn't sure how to explain the next part of what he was reading and discovering about his patient. "Rachel, that isn't all of it. As I looked over my texts I came across an interesting piece of information. It seems that your body will gradually produce more energy and you will become stronger. I suspect given your previous world that you might even be physically stronger then you were, you might even get sick less if at all." He paused, unsure how to continue.
Rachel looked over at the good doctor. She listened and instead of putting her at ease the words she was hearing made her more nervous. "However all that will come at some kind of price, won't it?" She wasn't stupid; the universe strived for balance, to gain meant to lose. It was as simple as an algebra equation.
Tofu turned and nodded, "Yes, as your body gains this energy it will become dependent on those levels. The world you came from obviously did not have anything near the levels of Ki here. So once you adapted to our world, you would at best die trying to return to your own, at worse you would live." He sighed as he saw the horrified look spread across his patient's face, "After what happened upstairs I examined your Aura again. The lines are from Ki lines in your body, the fact they are visible is like seeing filament in a light bulb glow. To much energy was being forced through your body and it burned you from the inside out."
Rachel looked down at her hands, idly tracing the lines with a finger. She had heard of this before. Another member in her group dealt with divination with rocks. To her rocks 'spoke' to her and told her where they needed to be. Rachel had gotten a large chunk of Amethyst from her friend once this way. But her friend told her of a friend who had picked up the wrong rock, and it had 'burned' him. Black lines had covered the man's hand for over a week, and no amount of scrubbing would get rid of them. Was that what was happening to her, or had happened to her? If so that meant she had a time limit, but the Doctor shook his head as she looked up at him with the question plain on her face.
"I don't know, your body already is producing a significant amount more then when I first examined you. But the overall amount is still far below what is normal for this world. Still I suspect you have at least a few months. After that I don't know. As for getting you home to begin with, that I might have an idea about. I will need to do more research to-" He cut himself off as the chime for the front door ringed. "Excuse me, I probably should see who that is. Please wait here."
He stood up and walked out the room's door. Rachel tried to stand up and managed to shakily do it. She could make out the muffled voices in the main area in the quite room.
"Here ya go Doc, Kasumi told me ta give this to you." Rachel couldn't quite place it, but the voice sounded familiar. It belonged to a younger man, maybe in his late teens. It was gruff and brash, and yet held notes of something else she couldn't identify. She made her way to the door.
"K-kasumi? Why Betty isn't that wonderful? Kasumi returned my book!" The creeping woman began to hear crashes behind the door. The young man was loudly trying to calm down the older man. The more she heard it, the more she became certain she had heard that voice before. Reaching the door she opened it and looked out to a scene of chaos, with a dawning realization she recognized it.
Dr. Tofu danced with a plastic anatomy skeleton, calling it Betty. Another much younger man was tying to calm the Doctor. He wore a red shirt and black silk pants that were both of Chinese make. That alone wouldn't have been much except the voice of the man, and the iconic pigtail. Any doubt was laid to rest as spying the man Tofu called him a certain name, one that Rachel knew very well from her world.
"R-ranma. It really is him. That means that Dr. Tofu is from the local clinic." Her knees gave out and Rachel collapsed back onto her butt. "I'm in an anime, I'm in Ranma one half." She sputtered. Having the strength to do nothing else she simply watched the scene play out. "Shit." Rachel muttered in English. It seemed an apt appraisal of the situation.
Reiko looked out from behind the tree. She was a second year student who had been tasked with a mission, one she dared not fail. Her target was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt, one Rei Hibiki. Reiko glanced for the hundredth time at her watch.
"Man, I'm supposed to be at cram school!" The girl quietly whined. But an order from her superior, or more the threat of the blackmail had Reiko out trailing the girl before her. Her orders were just to find out where the girl had been staying, but it didn't seem that the girl was in a hurry to get home. She had spent an hour after school in an arcade and another in an antique shop. Reiko glanced at her watch again, noting that only an half hour remained. If she wasn't there when her mom picked her up, then she most likely would spend the next couple months grounded.
She groaned when the girl ducked into yet another shop, walking quickly to the store front. It was a bakery, and Rei was standing at the counter talking to a black woman. Deciding this might be important she started for the door when Rei walked back out onto the pavement. Saying something in English real quick she started to walk away when she spotted Reiko standing on the sidewalk with a guilty look on her face. Turning quickly Reiko's target walked quickly away.
Walking after her and trying to not stand out Reiko managed to keep Rei in sight, but barely. After three quick turns she knew Rei was trying to ditch her, but fear of Nabiki managed to keep the girl within sight of her target. Suddenly she rounded a turn and couldn't find her prey. Spotting an alleyway she thought that Rei might have ducked down it to lose her. Running over she looked in trying to see Rei.
Two hands shoot out and grabbed Reiko's blouse, already off balance the owner of the hands managed to yank her into the allyway and slammed her back forcibly into the brick wall driving the breath from her. She looked down to see the stormy eyes of Rei Hibiki, on her face a snarl that contorted her face into a fearsome sight.
"Who the hell are you, and why the fuck are you following me?" Rei snarled out.
"R-reiko. I w-w-was," Rei brought her off the wall only to drive Reiko back into it harder. Reiko cried out in pain.
"Answer faster bitch! I haven't got all day!" Rei yelled into the girl's face.
"N-nabiki wanted me to follow you! She wanted to know where you live!" Reiko said as fast as she could. She might be afraid of Nabiki, but this girl was a lot closer and a more immediate problem. Rei's eyes widened before narrowing into slits and she leaned in closer, so close that the two girl's noses were almost touching.
"You didn't find me, you didn't see anything. You are going to tell Nabiki that, understood?" Rei stated it slowly and calmly, but her eyes challenged her captive to disagree. Reiko nodded so fast she almost gave herself whiplash.
"Good girl." Rei smiled, it wasn't a nice one. "In fact you are so good I'm going to keep you. You are going to spy on Nabiki for me, if she finds out anything about me or keeps investigating me then you will tell me. Understood?"
Reiko nodded, who wouldn't? But she looked at the girl and said, "How will I find you to tell you? I can't do it on school grounds or she will find out."
Rei stroked the girl's black hair, "Good point, shows you have brains. But don't worry about that, I will think of something and let you know. In the meantime I want you to do as you're told." Rei released the girl and stood back allowing her to remove herself from the wall. "Oh, and I don't know how Nabiki put you up to this, but if you betray me I'll gut you and leave your entrails on Nabiki's doorstep. Got it?" Reiko nodded and with a bow hurried out of the alleyway and the girl contained within.
She didn't look back until she was at the cram school, just in time to be picked up by her mother.
The two fathers looked out over the backyard of the Tendo compound, both Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo in quite contiplation. The Tendo father was a thin and well built man who had long black hair and sharp features on his face. His long mustache and brown Gi gave him an air of authority. The man seated next to him was of a heavier build, but not to the point it hid his obviously powerful muscles. He wore a white bandanna on his head and glasses on his face. Though his body was heavy his features were strangely unaffected. From his face you could tell he was the father of Ranma Saotome.
The larger man was the first to speak. "Tendo we need to get hose two together. Have you noticed that they fight less now? This could be the moment we have been waiting for."
"I agree Saotome." Tendo replied. "But how do you think we should do it?" The man cracked one eye to look at his companion.
Genma moved to hold his chin in thought. "We have tried so much. How about forcing them on a date?"
"We tried that Saotome…several times in fact." Soun replied tiredly, closing his eyes in frustration.
"True, but this is the best they have treated each other." Genma paused, "It might work this time. But old friend, if it doesn't maybe we should move on to another of your daughter's?"
Tendo sighed and opened his eyes to sadly look over his home. His gaze settling on the Koi pond just as a fish jumped into the air. "They love each other you know. We might just be pushing to hard."
Genma looked over at his friend, "True, but as the old saying goes, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder." He suddenly opened his eyes wide, "I got it Tendo! How about me tell them this is their last shot. Either they complete a date or we permanently disqualify them from marrying each other!" He excitedly explained.
Soun still looked skeptical, "You do realize Saotome that they will refuse a date on principle right? They have broken up before"
"That's the beauty my friend! They have broken up before, but we always let them get back together. If we draw up a contract and they sign it, it will show that we are serious."
"And if they call you bluff?" Tendo asked.
"Then we let them stew for awhile. They will be begging us before long to get married. It's a foolproof plan!" He stated triumphantly.
"You are right Saotome! It's time for Tendo-"
"-and Saotome-"
"Operation 'marriage or bust'!" They finished together. Immediately the two started to plot.
Upstairs a certain brown haired girl was removing her headphones. With yen signs dancing in her eyes she began to make plans of her own. She would let her father set out the details, and then she would make some calls. She was going to get rich off this one!
In a remote part of the Middle East a woman of Japanese decent stepped off of a jeep. The woman was dressed in a black tank top with a grey camo print pants. Over her black hair she wore a grey cap with a white star overlaid with a bow and sword. She had stopped in a nondescript village whose features were worn and drab. It was completely insignificant in almost everyway. With precision she pulled out a satellite phone and set it up. After a few turns of dials she began to speak into the mike.
"At destination and proceeding with pickup. Mission commenced. Proceed with phase two in twenty minutes." With that she put away the phone and walked into town. Picking a seemingly random house she simply kicked in the door. Striding purposefully into the single room she spoke nothing, and the occupants didn't either. There were three men and a woman who had been sitting around a table.
Immediately one tried to rush the woman bare handed. The thrown puch was easily avoided as the woman glided down, grabbing the arm in the process. With a quick and audible snap she stood up twirling the man around and dislocating his shoulder in the process.
It was done just in time for her hostage to become a meat shield, as the remaining members opened fire from cached guns they had recovered. The woman calmly waited for the guns to run out before kicking the corpse she held at the table. This caused it, and the body, to bowl over the two men. Turning to the other woman the attacker took out a long stick with a long curved blade. A kama. As the woman before her fumbled with her guns, two pistols, the attacker glided forward smoothly. The woman managed to bring up her guns only in time for the attacker to bring her Kama down across the woman's wrists.
Leaving the woman writhing on the ground screaming as she bled out of her stumps, the attacker turned on the last two men. One was pinned under both the table and corpse, while the other was stumbling to his feet. He brought his gun to bear as the attacker threw her Kama, it sliced through the air into the man's head killing him instantly.
Retrieving her Kama she stood over the last man. He began to speak in Arabic, begging for his life and for mercy. The woman who stood over him merely tilted her head, with a flash of light the man's head rolled away from his shoulders. Standing she walked over to where the table had stood, revealed now was a trapdoor. Opening it she pulled out a grenade from her pants. Pulling the pin the woman threw it straight down the long shaft. Seconds later it exploded, bringing with it short screams. She then proceeded to climb down the shaft, grabbing the steel handles imbedded into the granite wall.
At eh bottom she stepped over the shredded corpses of the defenders. Striding with purpose to a simple wooden door she again kicked it in. Behind the door sat a man in the lotus position. He sat before a magnificent red stone that was easily the size of a small child. Surrounded by the flickering flames of candles he gazed sadly at the woman who had killed many in only a few short moments.
"You have come for it I suppose?" He spoke gently in Arabic. Though his voice was young, it carried the tones of a very old man who had seen far to much in his time.
The woman's response was cool, and though beautiful it to carried tones of age. But unlike the man it was the voice of someone who had started to kill years ago and found that they enjoyed it ever since. "Of course, will you surrender it peacefully? I might even let you live, like that man upstairs wanted to so badly."
"He was a child, and like all the children you have killed today will be avenged." He stood up, picking up an ancient scimitar that had lain beside him. The candles flickered as if in a stiff breeze even thought the air was still.
"Ah, the noble death scene. Tell me, ancient one, why you will be so special to defeat me?" The man's eyes narrowed and began to glow a fiery red. Suddenly the blade in his hands ignited in a mass of bloody red flames. With a quick rush he brought down the blade on his attacker. The attacker brought up her Kama, and a second one she had to join it. "Nice trick." She stated and effortlessly threw the man across the room. The man quickly discarded his flaming shirt after he had landed on some candles. Standing up he was suddenly before the woman. With a smile she grabbed his bare chest, piercing the skin with her thin fingers.
"Now here is a trick of my own." The man felt a sudden pain in his chest, and tendrils of energy began to snake across the man's body into the woman's hand and arm. "Oh, this always feels so orgasmatic!" She cried with her head thrown back. The man threw his head back as well, but it was in a silent scream. In seconds the energy had stopped and she released the now dead man. Licking the blood off her fingers she moved to stand before the stone. "Now to be done with it."
The woman drove away from the village. The stone in the back wrapped in cloth and tied down. As she drove she reached up and adjusted the rear view mirror. She smirked as she heard the scream of a missile overhead. IT swept past her and struck the village, in an instant it was gone. Either the blast had killed almost everything, or the flames finished the rest. "One down, four more to go!" She cried triumphantly as her jeep drove away from the broken lives she had left in her wake.
In the back, beneath the cover, the stone flared an angry red.