Assassin Drones: The original saga
Silent Invasion Arc. De Arimasu!
By Alex Young
Kasumi's room, 7:45 am. June 6, 2002
Kasumi had just tried on her graduation hakama, and the whole thing basically fit like a glove. This was all knowing that her final days as a high school student were upon her. If this meant anything for her, it meant more free time to tend to familial needs without ever having to worry about schoolwork. As she could see, It was only a few days till graduation day, and preparations for graduation day were well on their way to being complete. Akane dusted off Ranma's usual Chinese communist worker's uniform, and her father, Soun made the necessary reservations for a grad's night out to dinner.
Kasumi had Akane's new kimono reserved just for that occasion, the same kimono that she had bought a month back. "Ugh, where is that Ranma?' Akane complained rather dully. "To answer your question, Akane, he and mister Saotome have decided to cross Huangshan bridge, also known as the bridge of immortals in the yellow mountains of China, as part of a ritual to mark the beginning of the anything goes martial arts summer festival." Nabiki elucidated. Akane, of course replied with an "Oh yeah, now that you mention it..."
Meanwhile, near the Huangshan bridge in China.
"C'mon Pops, how much longer?" Ranma bemoaned as he hiked up the side of one of the yellow mountains. "Quit your griping little boy, we're almost there!" Genma chided loudly, much to Ranma's apparent ire. "What did you just say!?" Ranma roared as he thrust himself up ahead of his father. He landed on a tree branch or two, and bounded off with Genma snarling out a "COME BACK THIS INSTANT, RANMA!" at a distance.
From there on, it turned into a race to the Huangshan bridge with Ranma as the clear victor. "Now that pops, you had comin, hahahaa!" Ranma gloated as Genma clambered up to meet him. "That's not what I meant, boy! How can you be prepared to lay down your life for the art if you keep acting like a girl!" Genma rebuked. "Oh, here we go again with the 'girl' talk! At least I don't come from outta nowhere looking to pick a fight with you!" Ranma shot back venomously.
"Prepare to die, Ranma!" Ryoga interrupted as he charged in Ranma's direction with all the fury of a rabid honey badger, only to get picked up and tossed over the edge by Ranma. "Anyways, let's put this petty argument to bed if we are to cross the bridge of immortals and begin the anything goes martial arts summer festival, because that's exactly what we came to the yellow mountains for." Genma offered as he and Ranma took it upon themselves to cross the bridge together.
Ranma stood on one side, and Genma stood on the other in preparation for a martial arts duel on that same bridge. The duel is between father and son and would last until one of them is knocked off of the bridge. Genma was about to just grab Ranma, and hurl him off like he usually did before. "Yo, pops! you have a nice trip?" Ranma queried as he grabbed the bridge railing. "What are you blabbering on abOOOOOOOOUUUUU..." Genma screeched as he was catapulted by Ranma over the edge using his back legs.
After that, Ranma taunted with a "Then see you next fall! Hahahahahahahaha!" Fuyuki was watching from the sidelines in a solid black polo shirt and a pair of jeans for a more toned down look. As Fuyuki stared off into space at Ranma, he couldn't help but get this gut feeling that they will cross each other's paths very often throughout the rest of the year. So too, did Ranma.
{Why do I get the sinking suspicion that I'm gonna be training that kid that keeps recurring in my dreams again?} Ranma pondered as he took his leave, thus initiating the summer festival of anything goes martial arts. Back at the base of the yellow mountains, Ranma was casually strolling around looking for Genma. He did eventually find Panda Genma emerging from a lake being supplied by a waterfall.
[Get me some hot water, will you?] Panda Genma requested of his son. "Here." Ranma replied as he doused his father in hot water from his trusty thermos. "You know, boy. That fall sort of jogged my memory about the day you pilfered a buried treasure allegedly belonging to a yakuza boss's dead father back some 8 years ago." Genma lamented. "I didn't steal no... well, I did pick up the case, but I was only interested in the case itself, as I could give two shits about what was actually inside it." Ranma confessed in defense as he and Genma made their way home for the graduation ceremony.
Flashback; In the sewers of São Paulo, Brazil. July 14, 1994
"It is rather odorous, down there. Don't you think, Saotome?" Soun carped pinching his nose. "I know that Tendo, but legend has it that there is a lot of cash that is to be had in a suitcase buried behind a section of this wall." Genma answered as he felt around the wall. Genma knocked on the wall looking for any hollow cavities within it. As soon as Genma found a very specific cavity, he pulled his fist back, and launched it at the wall, thereby breaking it apart.
It was at that moment that Ranma grabbed the gleaming steel suitcase, just so he could play around with it totally uninterested in what was inside it. Soun and Genma on the other hand, were very interested in what was inside it. In fact, they were totally sure that it contained an awful lot of money. The money would come to be the Tendo dojo's saving grace after the death of Soun's wife, although it won't come without a hitch, as Genma would soon discover roughly 8 years from then.
Present day; At the Tokyo international airport, 2:00 am. A couple of days later
It was dark and cold out at a night in the Tokyo international airport, and two figures were perched atop a radio tower overlooking the scene for Ranma; the one they were hired to dispose of by the very man to whom the money originally belonged; Tanken Kurain, also known as "Tagu" among his fellow yakuza members. "There he is, over!" One of them, apparently female, blurted out as she pointed towards Ranma making his departure from the commercial airliner, with Genma in toe. "There is no escape from Tagu, not while we're around, over!" The other, also female, declared as the two begun their shadowing of Ranma and Genma Saotome.
The forest near Momoka's mansion, 8:00 am
"Why in the living hell do we hafta go skulkin around in the woods, anyways?" Ranma griped. "Listen boy, we're trying to tire those two assassins out." Genma admonished. "Well then, maybe YOU should be the one ta sacrifice yerself!" Ranma roared as he swiftly tossed Genma at the assassins sent in by Tagu to retrieve his inheritance money. Ranma made a break for it immediately afterward as Genma crashed into the assassins, and sent them all the way down the native Japanese conifer they were perched upon. Genma was quick to get up and chase after Ranma, but the assassins would remain unconscious for the next few hours.
At her mansion, we can see that Momoka, too is excited about graduation and is therefore discussing the possibilities of eating out to dinner for an after party. She had already prepped the kimono she had chosen to wear in attendance with Fuyuki. The kimono itself had a pattern made to look like a navy blue t-shirt with the rest of it colored to match her white obi. Coincidentally, that's exactly what the Tendos' plan on doing after Kasumi's graduation from Furinkan high.
Unsurprisingly, Kululu was acting as a sort of middleman, reading the messages exchanged between Momoka and Fuyuki as they pass through the internet. "So that's it, eh? Kukukukuuu." The yellow devil mused as he read that both plan to eat at a very expensive 5-star restaurant. This was before recalling that he told Nabiki about a sweepstakes held at that very restaurant motivating her to enter herself. All while taking the necessary measures to ensure that she be the grand prize winner.
The grand prize being that she along with the rest of her family only need to pay half of the original $330 for getting in to the restaurant, other than that the food is all for free. It would seem as though Kululu has a certain determination to have both Ranma and Fuyuki have yet another chance encounter, thereby entailing more premonitions and drawing them ever closer together. All in preparation for the impending assassin drone invasion.
On the rooftops of Kissho Junior high, 12:00 pm
"Man, those two are more elusive than we thought, over." One of the identical twin assassins hired by Tagu, apparently going by the name of Pink, lamented. "Lin Ke give those two credit for eluding our relentless pursuit, over." The other, named Link, commented citing the fact that she sort of lives for the hunt. "By the way, Pin Ke begin to suspect that assignment nothing more than pure snow job, over." Pink suspected.
"Lin ke recommend we keep quiet about it until then, over. We get Ranma first, then if he escapes again, we get the boss, over." Link suggested in preparation for a double crossing, when an all too familiar "Myeheheheheeeeh" began to echo out resonating throughout the school's atmosphere. That insidious cackle belonged to none other than Happosai!
"Hey, ladies! Hahahaha! Try these brassieres on!" Happosai exhorted as he bounded towards Pink and Link brandishing some adult women's lingerie in his aged hands. What Happosai's figure lacked in stature, he did more than well to make up for in sheer dexterity, as his spider like fingers wrapping themselves in and around the herbalist twins' bodies could definitively attest. This was to the point where Pink and Link wore the underwear over their existing clothes.
This angered the twins enough to want to get back at Happosai, with their own, doubly devious wiles. "Wind direction okay, over!" Pink called out as she fanned a mess of mandragoria seeds and very thin water balloons at Happosai. They applied their earplugs immediately afterward. Link proceeded to beat the living hell out of the mandrakes, as well as Happosai. Finally, Link just straight up booted Happosai into the stratosphere after the herbalist twins took the underwear off, and wrapped them over and around him.
"That takes care of that, for now, over." Pink mused sighing in relief. "Now to resume our objectives, over." Link declared as they bounded off to their next destination, with a more shadow like Dasasa following them. "What was that all about, Summer?" Fuyuki queried back on the ground. "I have no idea, but whatever just happened Winter, it's over now." Natsumi reassured, to which Fuyuki simply nodded in wholehearted agreement as they went on with their lunch time.
The Hinata household, 3:30 pm. Graduation day, 2002
The Hinatas were all getting dressed to go out for dinner, with Aki dressed in a royal blue skirt suit over a black tank top. Natsumi was in her room, opting for an odango hairstyle, broke out a bright red sleeveless qipao with gold leif accents, and put on her favorite party make up. In addition to Momoka, Angol Mois would also join the camaraderie in a prom dress, complete with a sewn in choker and a pair of matching long gloves.
As for Fuyuki? Well, let's just say that he wore the same outfit as with his midnight love outing with Momoka a few days earlier; A black dress shirt, white tie, dress pants, belt, and dress shoes. As soon as the family were all together, they headed out for the waiting limo. "Just try not to take over the whole word while we're gone, okay?" Natsumi warned gently suspicious about the sarge's decision to hold down the fort with the rest of his platoon.
"Don't worry about that! I'm a frog of my word!" Sergeant Keroro replied as he returned to his platoon's underground base. "Just to let you all know, the house won't be the only thing we'll be keeping an eye on, not with Mois' secret spy flower we installed on her dress." Keroro proclaimed in a highly ornery undertone citing the fact that his platoon will be spying on the Hinatas during their family outing as well as keeping any intruders out of the house.
The aforementioned 5-star restaurant, 7:00 pm
At last! The Hinata family has arrived, with Momoka having already paid for all the necessary fixings ahead of time. In a nearby back alley, Pink and Link had just arrived sometime before, already hiding a nasty surprise under some tarps, patiently awaiting their prey; Ranma Saotome. Back at the restaurant, Natsumi had found the dress code to be slightly more liberal than she expected, as indicated by the fact that they just let her in despite the fact that the party dress she was wearing would have gotten her kicked out elsewhere.
This meant that it was one 5-star restaurant that simply wanted to stand out a little bit. As the Hinata gang took their seats at their reserved table, it became clear for the reader that not only did Momoka go out of her way to make reservations, she also paid for entry and any meals that her compatriots would like to dig in to, all in advance. This was to ensure that the Hinatas do not have to pay for any of it themselves, because Momoka has plenty of cash to spare as the scioness for the Nishizawa group.
Ranma's fiancees were there, too, patiently awaiting their prey as they enjoy their meals. This was the case, although they had their own table on which to await the arrival of Ranma Saotome. As soon as Nabiki presented the grand prize coupon, the Tendos and the Saotomes sat at the table on the other side of the restaurant. Fuyuki and Ranma turned around to take a good look at each other before returning to their tasks at hand.
That was when the coincidentiality of it all hit home for both parties. Just like Ranma with Akane, Fuyuki knew that he wasn't going to have any other lover than Momoka. However, Fuyuki did get the feeling in his bones that Ranma may very well be the key to further securing his future with her. This is because Ranma may help Fuyuki get ready for an inevitable confrontation with Momoka's parents, and ultimately with the god figure later on.
It was halfway into Momoka's and Fuyuki's finishing their meals that Natsumi led Angol Mois into the acoustically insulated women's room, for a little "girl talk" as the expression goes. Ranma and Genma went into the men's room, also acoustically insulated for some father-son talk. Back outside, Pink and link start assembling what looks to be a double reverse compound ballista, aimed squarely at the restaurant entrance.
In the women's room, Natsumi was staring at the wire hanging out of Mois' dress. She gingerly extracted the flower from her Angol tribeswoman's dress, and inhaled more deeply than usual. "If you thought that I wouldn't catch on to your little spy tricks, THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING! SERIOUSLY, WHY THE HELL WOULD ANYONE LET SOME STUPID FROGS RECORD SOME VIDEOS ABOUT SOME FAMILY OUTING, HUH!? HUH!?" Natsumi shrilled before panting and realizing that the bathroom was acoustically insulated from both sides so that anyone within earshot could barely hear her yelling.
As though that weren't surprising enough, they all just went on with their meals in spite of all the hoopla. "Well, um, can we just pretend that you didn't just yell at my uncle Keroro, okay?" Mois proposed. "Sounds good to me." Natsumi replied as her ears perked up a severely muffled "...if you keep squealing like a girl!" from Genma over at the men's room.
"Now you've done it! EAT THIS!" Ranko cried as she knee launched Genma into a toilet stall in the men's room. [Uhh, can I help you?] Panda Genma queried upon noticing a frightened Natsumi. "EEEK! A PERVERTED PANDA!" Natsumi screeched before she pounded the crud out of Panda Genma for his "Intrusion." Ranko extracted the panda from the wall as soon as she realized that Natsumi and Mois have vacated the women's room to join the Hinatas at their table.
Ranko doused herself with hot water before having repeated this with Panda Genma. "Saotome! Are you alright, Saotome?" A tuxedo clad Soun called out of apparent concern for Genma. "Never better, Tendo. In fact, getting beaten to a pulp is just another part of anything goes martial arts." Genma, also tuxedo clad replied as all three gentlemen walked out the door to rejoin the Tendos at their table.
Pink and Link were getting ready to arm their compound ballista with a huge bomb sporting a shark-tooth design. "Out of way, limo, over!" Pink hissed as she aimed the compound ballista at the door with the Hinatas getting ready to leave the restaurant via the Nishizawa limo. Link pulled the firing lever after the limo accelerated slowly out of the way. The giant, shark toothed projectile that smashed through the glass door was actually a womanhood flower bomb.
Thankfully, Ranma and company deflected the incoming blast by flipping the dining table forward. "Everybody alright?" Ranma queried. "I think so, yeah." Akane replied. As soon as everyone got up, they could notice that Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi have all deflected the womanhood flower bomb as well, and were more than a little well prepared to face Pink and Link, who stormed into the ruined compound in search of Ranma.
"Now would be a very good time to leave!" Nabiki called out as the Saotomes and the Tendos pushed the dining table forward out the entrance leaving the fiancees to battle the herbalist twins. Suddenly, a figure had leapt from out of the podium wearing an oil drum and a girl's sailor uniform underneath. "CHAAAARRRGE!" She howled as she tackled Pink and Link glomping them in ther process. Her name was Tsubasa Kurenai, the same Tsubasa that pummeled Genma as the floating trash pile two months back.
"Am-scray! Now's our chance!" Ukyo cried as she along with her compatriots scrambled out of the ruined restaurant in pursuit of Ranma. Pink and Link, too took up pursuit after having wriggled their way out of their captor's grasp. "Why you! You won't escape that easily!" Tsubasa roared as she hopped, and then rolled her way after the girls. Ranma and Akane split off with the rest as they went into hiding for a while. This resulted in his fiancees being busy searching for Ranma, and being sidetracked by Tsubasa and company. In short; another chase that would last until the cows come home.