Chap 11: Insanity Plea
When Ichijyo finished delivering his message to all of his operatives, he heard the distinctive familiar sounds of his ZX-Shadow Basher's hydraulics at work, meaning that it was transforming from its base vehicle mode to its robotic battle mode. He turned around to see Genma clutched in the Shadow Basher's left claw, struggling to break free. He was holding Ichijyo's briefcase. Obviously, he hadn't taken Ichijyo's warning seriously and thought he could steal the contract. He thought wrong as the vehicle's security system detected an intruder and immediately went into action.
Ichijyo walked over and the robot placed its cannon arm under him. He sat down on the cannon barrels, which were the robot's exhaust pipes in vehicle mode, before it lifted him up to Genma's eye level. He snatched the briefcase back and smirked, "So, you actually proved your treasonous nature. I never thought you'd be this stupid but I'm glad for it." He took out one of his Camera Knuckles and took a quick snapshot. "I'm sure Ranma would love to look at this." He noticed that Genma was turning blue since the Shadow Basher was crushing him. The robot turned its head to look at its master, awaiting further orders. "Drop him." The robot then removed its grip from Genma, letting the man drop like a sack of potatoes. He stood up to at least look threatening but his eyes widened in horror as the robot had its cannons aimed right at him with Ichijyo sitting on its back. "Mr. Saotome, a word of advice; never mess with people who can and will try to kill you. It's not a smart thing to do." His eyes narrowed, "I'm giving you to the count of 5 to run before I start shooting." Ichijyo counted, taking the controls. "One…" he started arming his robot's weapon, "…Two…" There was a whirring sound as it charged up, "…3…" Genma's eyes widened in horror. "…4…" And this time Genma ran away screaming. Ichijyo smirked and snorted, "Heh, coward." He checked the contents of his briefcase and smiled the contract was still safely inside. He reconverted his robot back into its vehicular mode before putting on his helmet. "I better get there fast." He placed the briefcase into the sidecar and dashed towards Tokyo.
Jinx collapsed to the ground, facedown, exhausted. Her clothes were drenches in sweat and her pigtails were uneven and drooping. What Cologne had put her through could only be called a nightmare. The training in the HIVE was much more merciful!
For starters, Cologne had struck certain pressure points on Jinx's body, rendering Jinx's probability influencing powers useless. Before this, after having met Draco, Jinx discovered with some help from Shadow that she could also manipulate good luck in her favor and anyone else she was targeting. It was basically an aura she would generate without thinking. It started a few times when she realized she was falling in love with Ryuki.
Ryuki collapsed next to her, exhausted as well. His face was red and her eyes were lidded. The sweat was drenching him too.
Cologne frowned, "City life has made both of you weak. You've also grown dependant on your powers that your bodies have grown weak. Why, I'm almost tempted to bring you to the village to have you both properly trained."
Hearing those words made Jinx's eyes widened in horror. She could imagine the horror Cologne would put her through once they were in Amazon territory. Did all Amazons train like this? Because, if they did, it explained a lot.
"Can't we take a break?" Jinx begged, "Please?"
"Hai, obaa-sama," added Ryuki. "Onegai."
Cologne sighed and then threw two bottles of water at the pair who grabbed them and started drinking.
"Let's call it a day, you two," said Cologne. "You both need a shower. I can smell your stench from here."
Jinx smiled tiredly. A warm bath would be so nice right now. She cast a glance at Ryuki and grinned deviously. Though he had reservations when it came to water, Jinx helped him overcome his fear bit by bit so they could share a bath.
Cologne then returned her grandson his Zodiac Deck, his link to his Zodiac Powers. When his hand grasped it, his eyes flashed golden for a moment as he saw a vision. When the glow subsided, he wore a very grim frown.
"Bad news?" Jinx asked.
"The worst," Ryuki replied. "I think we need to warn Ranma-san."
Takada sat across from Kuno with a table between them. While the young scientist was eating some dog biscuits, the delusional samurai wannabe was tied to the chair and had a strip of tape covering his mouth. Both were in the holding cell and Takada had volunteered to watch Kuno.
"You know," Takada said as he chewed on one of his biscuits, "I've seen a lot of wackos in my line of work, and you take the cake." Kuno tried to make a comment but the tape on his mouth only allowed him to make muffled sounds as he struggled against his bonds. "What was that? You hungry, boy?" Takada chuckled. "Sorry, but these are mine." Kuno glared.
Ichijyo came into the room and when Kuno saw him, his eyes went ablaze and he struggled to get up despite his bonds. He was screaming behind the tape but it only came out as loud muffles.
"I see you're entertaining the prisoner," noted Ichijyo as he spoke to Takada.
"Yep," Takada grinned. "It's fun to make fun of him."
"I can imagine," Ichijyo nodded. "So, did you get my message?"
"All operatives are on the lookout as we speak," Takada replied. "It won't be hard to spot her. They have her description and all they have to do is listen for her cackling."
"That's good." He then turned his attention towards Kuno and noticed something around the young man's neck. "Is that a dog training collar?"
"Yep," Takada smiled. "I thought it would make a good accessory."
"I better remove the tape if we need to talk to him," Ichijyo said as he walked over to Kuno.
"Be careful, snake," Takada warned. "I put that tape on him for a reason."
Ichijyo rolled his eyes and ripped the tape off Kuno's mouth. The prisoner yelled in pain, spitting hatefully, "You dare take me prisoner, you fiends!? I am the great Blue Thunder of Furinkan and Nerima! I am Tatewaki Kuno! Release me at once and I shall make your demise quick and painless."
Takada blinked and the dog training collar activated. Being a technopath, Takada had limited control over machines. This was an ability he'd gained from the nanobots in his system. Kuno felt the jolt and stopped ranting.
"Now I understand why you put the tape on him," Ichijyo noted. He pulled up a chair and sat down. "Now, it's time we take care of things."
"Thou are allied with the fiendish sorcerer Saotome! I shall smite thee!" Kuno ranted and once again was jolted. "This I swear!"
"He doesn't shut up, does he?" Takada questioned.
"Judging from his psychological profile, no, not really," Ichijyo said as he leafed through a file. "He has a high opinion of himself, sees himself as a samurai and everyone else as lowly peasants. He also has dreams of grandeur. Though he has skills to back it up, he's not really threatening." Kuno glared.
"How dare you insult me! I am the great-!" Ichijyo slapped the tape back on Kuno's mouth, ceasing his rant. Takada then jolted Kuno again.
"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" Ichijyo asked his friend.
Takada snorted, "Right, like you're not."
"Point." Ichijyo then turned his attention towards Kuno. "Kuno, Ranma Saotome isn't a sorcerer. I doubt he'd be able to stay awake to learn magic, much less sorcery. He doesn't even have a latent magical aura around him." Ichijyo narrowed his eyes, "I, on the other hand, am a sorcerer." Ichijyo created an orb of darkness and Kuno's eyes widened. Ichijyo removed the tape.
"Fiends! Demons! Monsters! Unhand me at once! You I shall smite with the blade of-" and once again the tape was on his mouth.
"Wow, he sure has a lot of hot air," Takada admired.
"Not to mention his hold on reality is rather limited," Ichijyo added. "Of course, he's relatively harmless compared to his sister."
Operatives were posted around the city. They'd been given a description of Kodachi and had their weapons ready to neutralize her. They'd been warned of her exceptional gymnastics skills as well as her poisons. They were ready. A small squad of Smartroopers was also in hiding, ready to take the insane girl down.
Then, they heard the chilling cackling of Kodachi.
"HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!"
Now it was time to strike!
"KODACHI'S COMING HERE!?" Ranma yelled out in shock at the news he'd received from Jinx and Ryuki. "And I thought having her brother here was bad enough!"
"What are you afraid of? You can take her, right?" Jinx asked.
"It's not that easy," Ranma frowned, "I just can't fight girls."
"Because you think they're weak," Akane scowled.
"It's in my nature," Ranma denied. "Blame pops."
"We can assign blame later," Ryuki said, raising his hands. "Right now we need to know how to take care of her."
"You're going to fight her?" Ranma blinked. "But she's-"
"I don't fight ladies," Ryuki interrupted. "From what I've heard, this Kodachi Kuno is not a lady."
"And neither am I," Jinx grinned maliciously. Kodachi wasn't the only one to use gymnastics in battle. Though, she was still sore. "We can so take her."
"You're my lady," Ryuki complimented, causing Jinx to blush. Ranma was a bit confused by the way Jinx and Ryuki interacted. His relationship with Akane was based on yelling at one another and then he would end up on the wrong end of her mallet. Then again, he did lack proper social skills.
"I'm gonna fight her," Akane said confidently.
"I don't think there's much of a need," Ryuki shrugged. "We got operatives ready to bring her in."
"Will she get hurt?" Ranma asked.
"Why do you care?" Jinx asked.
"Well…she's just a girl and well…" Ranma hesitated.
"She won't be hurt. Their weapons are set to stun," Ryuki assured Ranma. 'I hope.'
Kodachi leapt into the city, clad in her leotard, laughing like a maniac. People and their children steered clear of the insane young woman who was waving her ribbon around.
"Oh, Ranma-sama! The Black Rose has come to claim you and whisk you away! Be ready for wedding bells shall ring once I defeat that temptress Akane Tendo!" Kodachi ranted as she laughed.
The operatives got their weapons, their SB-Cells, ready and in their gun mode. The Smartroopers also had their rifles set to stun. One shot was all they would need.
"NOW!" the leader shouted and they came out of hiding.
Kodachi ignored them since they were insignificant in her eyes. Big mistake.
BANG!
Kodachi's eyes widened as a direct shot between her shoulder blades was all it required to bring her down. She fell forwards like a sack of potatoes.
One operative lifted her up and draped her over his shoulder. He then carried her into a hummer. The rest of the operatives started to take care of crowd control as the hummer drove off.
Ichijyo was reading a book while Takada was doing crosswords. Kuno still hadn't stopped glaring at the duo. He still tried to struggle, but the ropes were tied tightly and digging into his arms. He couldn't even rant out since his mouth had tape over it.
The door to the holding room opened and an operative dragged a struggling Kodachi into the room. She had her wrists handcuffed together behind and tape over her mouth. She couldn't do much without use of her hands and the operative that brought her in was particularly strong. Kuno's eyes widened as Kodachi was shoved roughly into a chair. She tried to stand up but found herself shoved back down before Ichijyo took matters into his own hands and tied her to the chair via telekinesis and another set of ropes which was conveniently in the room.
"So, we got them," Takada said. He felt cheated. It'd been too easy.
"Well, we do," Ichijyo nodded. "Now, call Ranma."
Takada blinked. "What?"
"Just do it, and also get some hot and cold water," Ichijyo added. "I need to do something."
"I was hoping you'd reprogram their brains or something."
"As a last resort. Now, get Ranma and the water."
Ranma was sitting in the living room along with Akane, Jinx and Ryuki. Akane could only stare as Jinx and Ryuki flirted with one another. She was a bit disgusted at the perverted display of affection, yet Jinx didn't seem to complain. She just welcomed it. She felt the ever familiar seething rage bubble up inside of her at anything perverted.
A part of her knew Ryuki wasn't a pervert, but she'd forever considered boys as perverts, save for a few exceptions. Still, to see such a display was a bit disturbing for her.
Ranma's cell phone rang and he answered it, "Yo."
"Ranma, I need you here now," Ichijyo said from the other end.
"Why?"
"It's something important. Just get down here."
"OK," Ranma said and then Ichijyo hung up.
"Who was that?" Akane asked, interested.
"It was Ichijyo. He said I have to go down to Smart Brain for something important. He didn't say much else and just hung up."
"That was rude," Akane frowned.
"Ichijyo is like that," Ryuki said in his friend's defense.
"Well, he did say it was important," Ranma stood up.
"You're going? What about me?" Akane asked.
"He asked me, not you," Ranma shot back.
"I'm coming too!" Akane shouted.
"No you're not!" Ranma snapped back.
"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane got out her mallet but then it was yanked out of her hands before she could swing it. "HEY!"
Ryuki grasped the mallet by the handle before incinerating it to Akane's horror.
"Why don't you both go?" Jinx suggested, "And don't fight here. You're just staying in this apartment."
"Mind your own business!" Akane yelled angrily. She threw a fist at Jinx who dodged to the side and then struck Akane in the stomach. Akane doubled over in pain and growled.
"Akane!" Ranma shouted but found he couldn't move. He looked towards Ryuki who had his eyes focused on him. He knew Ryuki was telekinetic but still… "Let me go."
"Let them go at it for a little bit," Ryuki told Ranma.
Akane continued to attack Jinx but the svelte sorceress dodged each strike. She wasn't as strong as Akane, but she was still faster. Plus, she had an ace in her sleeve. Her eyes glowed pink and then Akane's foot slipped. The angry girl crashed to the floor on her back. She was about to get up but Jinx pinned her down with her foot. She also aimed a glowing hand at Akane's head.
"Just stay down. My hex blasts can do a lot more than bad luck at this range," Jinx threatened.
"You…cheater!" Akane accused.
"No such thing as a fair fight, darling," Jinx mocked, remembering what she'd been told in the HIVE. "The only thing that matters is survival. So, you better calm down or else." Jinx removed her foot from Akane. The prideful heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes just glared at Jinx. "Go ahead and attack. I promise you that it'd go down pretty fast."
Akane fumed and walked towards the door. Ranma palmed his face.
"Oh, crap," Ranma groaned.
"We better get to Smart Brain then," Ryuki said.
"Several accounts of sexual harassment, destruction of private and public property, assault, and disturbing the peace," Ichijyo said after reading the Kuno sibling's case files.
"Is that all?" Takada asked, hoping for more.
"Well, that's the summarized version of it but it goes down a lot deeper," Ichijyo said as he slapped the files on the table. "So, what do you both have to say for yourselves?" The two siblings still had tape on their mouths. "Oh, right." He then used his telekinesis to tear the tape off. The siblings winced in pain. "Now, where were we?"
"You fiends! Release us!" Kuno demanded, "Release us I say! I must release the fair tigress and pigtailed girl from the evil clutches of Saotome!"
"I must also defeat Akane Tendo and release my noble Ranma-sama from her spell. This, I the Black Rose, swear!" Kodachi shrieked.
Takada and Ichijyo exchanged looks.
"Wow, they are nuts," Takada noted.
"Look at who their father is. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Ichijyo said. He turned his attention towards the two Kunos. "Let me remind you that you both are neither in any position in making demands. Plus, no matter how much money you have, this isn't Nerima. So, don't waste our time and yours and just listen to us. You can help yourselves that way."
The two siblings continued to struggle and it was waning on Ichijyo's patience. They weren't just stubborn, but completely out of touch with reality.
Ranma then came in, carrying two pails of water, one hot and one cold, each with a scoop inside. Kodachi's eyes brightened while Kuno scowled.
"Saotome!"
"Ranma-sama!"
Ranma cringed. He spoke to Ichijyo, "So, I'm here. What do you want me to do?"
"Just stand there," Ichijyo stood up. "Takada, help me out here."
"OK," Takada shrugged.
The two former Riders stood flanking Ranma. Takada stood to Ranma's left with the hot water pail while Ichijyo stood to Ranma's right with the cold water pail.
"Now, lady and gentleman, and I use that term loosely," Ichijyo spoke as he picked up the scoop with cold water in it, "Allow me to demonstrate the curse of the Spring of Drowned Girl." He poured the cold water over Ranma and he immediately morphed into a girl.
Kuno's eye brightened, "My pigtailed girl!"
"You harlot!" Kodachi spat.
Takada blinked, "Man, they are either blind or can't face reality." He poured the hot water over Ranma, morphing her back to his male form.
They did this a total of 5 times and still Kodachi and her brother couldn't get a clue.
"Ranma and the pigtailed girl are the same person!" Takada shouted.
"YOU LIE!" the two Kunos shouted in denial.
"Man, I've seen people in denial but this is a case for the psych ward," Takada scratched his head.
"And can you guys please stop?" Ranma-chan said in her drenched clothes. "I mean, I don't appreciate getting splashed on purpose."
"Hold on," Ichijyo narrowed his eyes and this time he had an idea. "I'm gonna try something." He walked around so he now stood between Kuno and Kodachi. He leaned his head between their's and said. "Watch closely." He then plunged his hands into their heads, causing their eyes to go wide.
Ranma-chan panicked and was about to run over to stop Ichijyo but Takada held him back.
"Don't worry," Takada said reassuringly. "He won't hurt them, much."
Ichijyo's eyes were closed as he started to do some fine tuning to the sibling's brains. After this, the veil over their eyes would be removed. He then removed his hands and muttered, "I need to wash my hands after this." Then he went back to stand next to Ranma.
"Was that really necessary?" asked Ranma and Takada in unison. Ichijyo gave them a silent and cold stare, making them stop.
"What have you done to us?" Kuno questioned. "Tell me!"
"First things first," Ichijyo said and then told ordered Takada, "Hot water, please."
Takada poured the hot water over Ranma-chan, turning her back to male. Now, without the veil of denial to stop them from believing, Kuno and Kodachi's eyes widened. This time, they shouted out.
"WHAT IS THIS DARK MAGIC!?"
"I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! THIS IS A TRICK! A TRICK!"
"Sorry to disappoint," Ichijyo smirked triumphantly, "But the persons you both love and hate are the same people."
Kuno and Kodachi sputtered in disbelief. The strips of tape were then slapped back onto their mouths.
"And you couldn't have done that before?" Ranma questioned. Ichijyo shrugged. "So, what now? Even this won't stop them from coming after me."
"We could lock them up," Takada supplied. "I mean, we got plenty of charges against them to name a few."
"I doubt the court could send them to prison due to insanity. The worst they can get is getting locked up in an asylum," Ichijyo frowned. He then wore a sadistic grin. "But, after this, they won't even remember a thing."