Author's Forward – I've got to say, ouch, the review totals and traffic metrics indicate that last chapter was a flop. As for the cause, well, there is plenty of room for debate. My intuition says that the appearance of an 'invincible enemy' triggered a sudden onset of post traumatic bad fanfiction syndrome in some of my readers. Another viable hypothesis is that this story comes across as 'too predictable'.
On the predictable end of things I am forced to admit that, yes, there are aspects of this story that are predictable. Why, I've already told you some future events 'outright'. And, of course, there are other events that can be foretold because they are a natural consequence of things already set in motion. But, dear reader, I warn you that I have revealed only a tenth of my hand and I am skeptical that anyone out there truly grasps that which remains hidden.
But don't take my word for it. Feel free to prove me wrong. If you can. That right. Go ahead. Predict. I dare you. Just know that I'll be silently snickering at your feeble attempts.
Meta Note: This is not, in any way, a subtle attempt to manipulate you, dear reader, into giving more reviews.
Author's Warning - This story is Ranma-centric but most interaction is between Ranma and original characters. There is also a moderate crossover (and several minor ones), but I don't consider the crossover important enough to put this story in the crossover section.
Beta reader: obsidian_fox
-oOo-
Chapter 3: Knight
-oOo-
Limp as a dead fish, I spilled from the pink candy cocoon. My body flopped forward, face first onto concrete, my gelatin arms unable to break my fall. The sharp shock of impact did little to ease the dizziness that assaulted me. Pain was ephemeral, a false sensation amongst an ocean of torpid tranquility.
A pestilent fervor bubbled beneath the surface of my thoughts and a giggle teased my throat. Amongst those emotions there remained enough rationality for me to realize that, though I had escaped Chiyo's cocoon, I had not completely evaded its effects.
"Do not think you will get away with this, Chiyo. The Director will not forgive this transgression."
The woman's strong voice stole my attention. I turned my head, my cheek scratching against the concrete of the rooftop. I fought to focus my eyes on the speaker. She was armored, astride a giant, flying wolf. The last glimmers of twilight trickled through the mirrored buildings behind her. With polished steel helmet beset with wings, corslet belted in place over a mail shirt, and an iron shafted spear in hand, she seemed an ancient warrior fresh from an epic painting.
Chiyo's cackle echoed cutely from where she stood, atop a bent girder. "Gondul, you remain naïve." The saccharine demon leaned lazily on a candy-cane battleaxe, her fingers playing along the hilt creating an air of imminent threat. "Have you not realized how this works? As long as I fight at the Director's side, she will forgive me anything. Unlike you, I do not need to dance like a puppet to her every whim."
Beneath the armored warrior, Gondul, the great silver canine shifted. The wolf stalked Chiyo, its padded feet finding purchase on the vast voids in the shattered skeleton of the building's top floor. To the magical beast, air was no different than solid ground. Neither of the women paid the creature any mind.
"Loyalty may be concept beyond your grasp, Chiyo, but I had thought you capable of comprehending a plan," Gondul declared. "The Saotome girl was not to be tainted."
I looked away. Neither of the women had noticed I was free, and chances were they would not catch my movement for some time. Instead, I took in my surroundings. During my time in the cocoon, I had been moved. The now empty husk of pink cotton candy occupied the seat Chiyo had set aside for me around the tea table. Kodachi's red cocoon was directly across and still intact. Even now the poor twisted girl was becoming more twisted. Hikaru was also there. In the last couple of hours he hadn't moved an inch. Hikaru sat as he had through my entire fight, eyes glazed, and a lollipop hanging from his lips.
Hikaru. That was a problem I could solve. I glanced once more at the women to confirm that they remained preoccupied.
"- so pathetic as to let her fall into my hands," Chiyo was retorting. "You failed, Gondul, be glad you'll have her at all."
Good. Certain that Chiyo and Gondul were focused on each other, I stood. Weak muscles protested the movement, and giddiness played with my balance. I wobbled briefly and I became aware that my weight would not settle correctly. I looked down and found the culprit.
Heels, or more correctly, a heel. My left foot was encased in a crystalline, stiletto-heeled shoe. My right foot was even worse. The toe box of my right slipper was transformed into the same crystal, shoving my digits up at an awkward angle, while back of the slipper was untouched.
There were other changes. My clothes were covered in splotches of white frill and pink coloring. My pants were half transformed, the back stretched out in a ruffled skirt, the calves thinned into stockings, while the front was unchanged. A breeze blew my hair across my eyes. While within the cocoon my pigtail had come partially undone. The length of my locks was uneven, and my red mane had been adulterated by strands of glittery pink.
"Hand her over now, Chiyo. I will not ask again," Gondul bellowed, holding her spear aloft. The iron shaft crackled with lightning, and Gondul's battle aura surged. The fierce illumination cast the roof in a flickering blue hue. Gondul's power was nowhere near as monstrous as Chiyo's, but it was still strong enough to shake my core.
There was no question now. Chiyo and Gondul were going to fight, and when they started the whole building was coming down.
I had no more time to waste. Snapping out my arm, I ripped the lollipop from Hikaru's mouth. A mistake. My eyes zeroed in on the translucent red candy, my nose twitching with the strong cherry scent. My whole world tunneled in on the saliva slicked the lollipop, all my senses vanishing into a dull emptiness as my entire existence devoted itself to the tangible sweetness.
Unbidden, I brought the lollipop toward my lips. My tongue stretched out.
The flavor was a hammer blow. My vision exploded into dancing rainbow spots. The bubbly emotion frothing beneath the surface of my brain burst out setting my mind awhirl. Wonder swallowed me. I looked with bright eyes on the city lights, a child witnessing them for the first time. Dazed with delight, I could no longer hold back the musical giggle that escaped my throat.
Lightning flashed. The roof exploded.
The crash of thunder was deafening, and the concussion caused me to stumble. The ground tilted beneath me, ravines opening up in the building's structure. Gravity pulled and a thousand tonnes of rock began to tumble. I plunged, surrounded by ragged chunks of structural concrete, steel beam, and rebar.
I hardly noticed any of it. I drowned in bliss, my tongue molding itself to the cherry sweetness of the lollipop. My senses sang with the taste, and I felt as though I were floating through a silent void. Consumed by the flavor, I happily watched new patches of pretty pink and the cute frills sprout on my clothes.
Thud! Ooof.
A well-muscled shoulder slammed into my gut, forcing my lungs to cough out half their contents. Arms as thick as my waist wrapped around me and held me tight. The force of the blow changed my trajectory. Instead of smashing down atop of the two-lane, one way road below, we crashed through the glass window of the office building across the street.
My back hit industrial carpeting at a low angle, and then we tumbled. My head slammed into the hardened floor twice, making me even more whoozy. Eventually the spin stopped, my savior's weight settling atop of me.
My eyes focused on Hikaru's twirling face.
We were face to face, eye to eye, noses centimeters apart. Hikaru's body pressed down on mine, and his heat sank into my soft female form. I could feel his hot breath as it washed over my face. It smelled of musk, tinged with the cherry sweetness of Chiyo's lollipop.
Th-thud. Th-thud. The pounding of my heart was heavy. The drum beat was not driven by adrenaline, but an attraction. I recognized the feeling, the buried memories of past experience rising from the recesses of my mind.
Time stood still, the air between us grew thicker. Hikaru reached up, thick calloused fingers brushing across my face. My breathing stopped. There was nothing in me but desire and anticipation.
Clack. The click of hard candy ripped through my teeth shattered the moment.
My muddled mind at first failed to realize what had happened. Hikaru had torn the lollipop from my mouth. That thought completed itself as the salary-man slashed his arm to the side, throwing the candy out the broken office window. Eyes wide, and filled with desperate need I lurched up, only to slam into Hikaru's mass. My momentum slowed, my head swung forward, and my forehead conked into his.
I fell back to the ground, blinking away the pain. Hikaru took the chance to shove himself off the ground and take a few steps back. Two emotions, gratefulness and annoyance, flashed through me at the increased distance, but it was the latter that held sway.
BOOM! Rumble. Rumble.
Thunder banged with physical force. The room rattled, shattered shards of glass trembling on counter tops. Wind howled past the broken window, and the chill night air surged into the room. Papers fluttered from their desks, sucked into a spiral in the middle of the open office. I shivered, and watched more chunks of concrete fall from the building we had left. Then I switched my eyes back to Hikaru. I'd be much warmer if he was laying here with me.
Hikaru did not return my gaze. Instead, he stared out the window head angled up where the battle raged. His nervousness showed clearly in his tense, corded muscles. After some time, he dragged his eyes away from the window.
"You okay over there?" he asked.
I blushed, first from the joy of his attention and then with embarrassment. I was unpresentable. I did my best to improve my appearance, pulling myself to my feet and using my hands to smooth my skirt. That was the limit. My clothes were ugly. The candy had gotten rid of the half-pant half-skirt combo, but the product remained an ugly pink and black splotched mess. At least my balance had improved. My shoes were now a matching set. I admired how cute they were, and how nicely they offset my stocking clad legs.
A real pity though. If I had stayed in Chiyo's cocoon for a few more minutes I'd be much prettier. But there was nothing I could do about that now. Looking as best as I could, I put on a charming smile and answered Hikaru's question.
"Yes. I'm lovely," I replied. A girlish thought popped into my mind. Crossing my ankles, and fingers lightly lifting my skirt, I dipped into a cute curtsy. "Sir Knight, thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome, but I think I'm going to interpret all that as definitely not okay," Hikaru drawled.
Hikaru looked away again, shifting his angle so he could better see the storm that raged above the broken building. Flashes of lightning strobed in through the window, lighting Hikaru, and the scattered desks that filled the office. His white shirt and the white papers were especially bright under the electric glow.
The joy of Hikaru's attention dissolved. Annoyance returned, this time darker.
What was his problem? Sure, I wasn't very cute right now, but I was still pretty enough that Hikaru's attentions should have been on me. That was where his eyes belonged. He didn't need to think of anything else. I was his dream, I was his passion, I was his destiny. Hikaru-
From deep within another part of me slammed down on the thought, cutting it short. But my indignation persisted. Dark, sweet, and twisted, I trembled with a new desire. My aura fluttered, an invisible ripple, carrying the scent of nectar. My lips parted, ki gathering between them. My spirit stretched out, grasping for an unknown magic. It found only vapor. The spell could not be conceived, its form aborted by my early emergence from the cocoon.
"We should leave."
Hikaru's words broke the unthinkable thought. Twisted desire vanished. I found myself again in a daze.
"Leave?" I asked, confused. "Why would we leave?"
"Chiyo and Gondul might be busy murdering each other right now, but they'll drop their fight when they notice we're gone," Hikaru explained while walking away from the window.
Hikaru approached and I swayed toward him. He paused at the threshold, close enough that I could feel his body heat jumping the thin gap between us. He peered down at me, appearing unsure. I drank the sight of his shaggy blond hair, and the rough hairs poking from his chin. The masculinity of it made him more enticing.
"Uh, just so we're clear, this is for your own good. So no kicking my ass later, got it?"
I smiled and stepped in closer, the tips of my breasts pressing against his chest. I tilted my chin up, so I could maintain our gaze.
"I would never do that," I said sweetly. "Not to you, Hikaru."
Hikaru nodded, "Yeah uh, we'll see how you feel about that later. Now, sorry about this."
With that Hikaru dipped down and plucked me from the ground and flung me over his shoulder. With arms of steel he held me in place while walking rapidly toward the window. Anger boiled in me again, and I lifted up an arm and smacked Hikaru in the back.
"Ow!" Hikaru yelped. "Damn it, don't hit."
"If you're going to carry me, do it properly," I huffed. "Like a princess."
Hikaru snorted out a laugh. "You're no princess," Hikaru retorted. With that, he jumped through broken window.
We fell, the buildings lit by the baleful glow of electric discharge. The sky rumbled, and more concrete boulders plunged with us. Hikaru landed on the road, my stomach crashing down on his shoulder. I barely had time to recover before we were in the air again.
With dizzying leaps Hikaru danced amongst the sky scrappers. The experience, me, a girl, carried in the arms of a handsome knight was new. The giggly happiness surged, eclipsing the discomfort of being being hauled around like a sack of potatoes. It wasn't the proper girlish dream, but I made the best of it by adding cute squeals.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!" "Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"
Hikaru ignored my sounds. He was a man with a purpose, and as seconds turned to minutes I found myself wiggling in his arms, craning my head to see where we were going. I didn't recognize this part of Tokyo. I rarely ventured far from Nerima, and I had explored only a fraction of the nooks and crannies of that ward. My smile though became sly when we slowed.
A public bathhouse.
"Oooo, a bath. You aren't going to peek on me, are you?" My silky words were a request not a question.
Hikaru answered with a snort. Tightening his grip he strode through the curtain that separated outside from inside. A man in his forties looked up, and the cigarette nearly fell from his lips when he caught sight of me. Hikaru said nothing, he merely reached into a pocket and dumped a pile of coins on the table without bothering to count them. Then, he headed for the men's section.
I smiled at the desk man as we left, and then struggled in Hikaru's arms when he continued past the rinsing section and toward the main bath.
"We need to clean ourselves first, Hikaru," I whispered into his ear. "It'll be fun. I can wash your back and- Ieeeaaaa!"
Splash!
I plunged into the heated bath, my bottom thudding on the shallow bottom. I barely had half a second more to think before pain took hold of my head and squeezed. Bubbly bliss, and dark desire evaporated. For an instant my mind was perfectly blank, then my perspective was twisted 180 degrees.
With my psyche reeling, I surfaced. The pain was gone now, but I wasn't yet able to make sense of my recent memories. So, to help my thoughts clear, I concentrated on the most basic of processes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breath in...-
Okay. I'm Ranma Saotome, martial artists extraordinaire, and the manliest man the world has ever seen. No matter how hard anyone looked, they'd never find a single feminine thing about me. That stuff from before, just another day of mind control.
-... Breath out.
I opened my eyes, and, with a start, realized I remained female. Damn. My mental reboot was successful, but my body wasn't following the program. I still had breasts, frilly clothes, and pink hair extensions. Actually scratch that, my soaked clothes were slowly dissolving in the heated water. Red spread through my shirt, and black splotches grew on my newly reformed pants. As the last bits of pink and lace faded, my body started to twist. It was a slow, uncomfortable, ten second shift, but in the end my natural male form was restored.
Tension drained from my body, and the hot water started its work of easing my sore muscles. Good. I really didn't want to deal with another locked as a girl episode.
The funk of embarrassing memories lingered, but I pressed them aside. I've had worse. Instead, I waded to the edge of the bath, and took note of the other occupants. It wasn't busy, just two old men and a little kid. The child gazed an me with wide eyed wonder. To the boy, I was a mysterious creature with magical powers – a girl that turned into a man. I expertly avoided imagining what old men might be thinking.
Years ago, when I was first cursed, those searching gazes would have left me defensive. I would have yelled and shouted, and otherwise acted like an idiot to make the stares go away. I no longer had that energy and anger. These days, all that remained was a tired chuckle. That's right. I'm weird. Live with it.
Nearby, Hikaru entered the water.
"We staying then?" I asked.
Maybe I wasn't up to snuff with the latest escape techniques, but I was pretty sure stopping for a relaxing bath wasn't an approved strategy for fleeing mortal peril. Well, minus those cases where one was fleeing flying, minotaur, tentacle monsters and other assorted Jusenkyo freaks, of course. Bath houses worked great for those kind of encounters.
"Chiyo's powers are candy based, and sugar dissolves in water," Hikaru explained. "So it is best if you soak here for a long while. That way you'll be rid of the worst of it. Besides, most magical girls will hesitate before busting in here."
I gave a half grin. "The girls I know wouldn't stop. Though, they'd crack the skulls of every man in here for daring to be naked perverts." My expression dropped into a scowl. "From what you said, I take it that I can't expect Chiyo's magic to disappear completely."
"I recommend you avoid candy and other sugary foods for the next couple weeks. If you ever start transforming again, take a bath. That's about all you can do."
Hikaru leaned back, eyes closed, and spread his arms wide across the pool's edge. My own thoughts drifted inward. 'Next couple of weeks' implied things would get better, but it also implied lingering effects. How much would linger and for how long remained a mystery. It was all too easy to imagine the worst. Ever since Jusenkyo I've had nightmares that I would awake a girl in mind as well as body. Two years of being cursed had done a lot to cure that phobia, but from time to time I ran into something like the koi rod and that terror became all too real.
I stomped down hard on that train of thought. I couldn't let myself be sucked into that abyss again. I had more immediate concerns.
My ikisasu wasn't enough. Even against Kodachi, the technique served only to degrade her defense. In the end, true victory had eluded me. That was the bitter truth. Against Chiyo? Against Gondul? I could not imagine how I would defeat either of them, even with a month to perfect my ikisasu. I'd be better off facing down a main battle tank with a can opener. The difference in scale was that big.
Ikisasu? Who was I kidding worrying about that. Akina had destroyed me with a lullaby, and while I had broken Chiyo's mind control twice, and I'd succumbed to the third assault. The challenge of overcoming a magical girl's defense was matched by the difficulty of surviving their offense. Normal stuff I could deal with. Energy beams, deadly carrots, or sharp swords, all those were things I'd faced before, and all could be dodged or deflected with my standard skills. My training, though, had gaps when faced with mind numbing music, allergenic pollen, and misfortune.
I was short on offense, short on defense, and armed with only half-formed ideas. It wasn't an unsurmountable obstacle. Magical girls were not invincible. With a couple of weeks to pick Pop's mind, and a pinch of his madness to mature the resulting skills, I'd be ready for this fight. But even that wouldn't be enough to take down monsters like Chiyo and Gondul. Survive them, yes. Outlast them, if I got lucky. Defeat them? That wasn't going to happen.
I didn't have weeks. I didn't have months. The clock was ticking. I knew for certain now that these magical girls would brainwash Ukyou and Akane. They'd succeed too. If this Pretty Princess Institute could make Kodachi heel, neither of those girls would stand a chance.
I clenched my fist. I had to save them. There was no 'if' or 'buts' about it. Saving Akane and Ukyou was the only choice. Kodachi too, when it came down to it. Though, in Kodachi's case, I had to face the possibility it was already too late.
Yet, I couldn't walk forward. I was weak.
How I hated that thought. Me weak? Ha! Ranma Saotome wasn't weak. I was the best damn martial artist alive. That was what I liked to tell myself anyway. Truth was, I wasn't that stupid. Cologne and Happosai were better martial artists than I'd be a decade from now. Herb, while marginally less skilled, was unquestionably the stronger fighter. Tarou had flattened me repeatedly with that monstrous form of his. Then there was Rouge with her Asura curse and, of course, Saffron.
I'd never been the biggest fish in the sea, but until I ran up against these magical girls, I hadn't realized how small I actually was. I hated that, but I couldn't deny it. The truth hurt. I, Ranma Saotome, was weak.
And where did that leave me? No. I knew exactly where that left me, I just didn't like it. I knew what I could do to move forward. I had, hypothetically, an ace up my sleeve that would put me back in the game.
But, oh, the price I would have to pay to play it.
Even in hot water, I shivered.
Forward. I told myself. Don't wallow in doubt. Save Akane and Ukyou. That was the only thing I need to think about. I could win. I would win. I would do whatever it took to win. Damn the price. Victory or nothing. That was how I fought. And that, more than anything,was why I was the best.
"Weren't you a girl before?"
The little kid that had seen my transformation was floating in the bath a meter away. He had a curious expression on his face that I didn't particularly want to indulge. Yeah, I don't like explaining the whole gender bending experience to everyone I've met. It got tiring after the first ten times, and I was way past that number now.
"I'm a guy, brat," I replied. "Now go bother someone else."
"Leave youkai-sama alone, Taro," one of the old men said.
Taro's eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped open. I guess this was the first moment it had dawned on him that freakish humans like me might be a bit dangerous. Normally I'm nice to kids, but I couldn't resist the opening.
"Yeah, run along brat, or I'll eat you," I said, grinning nastily.
I chuckled quietly when the boy fled to the other end of the bath.
In the lull of the child's confrontation, I was able to appreciate the absurdity of the my current circumstance. Here I was, contemplating war with magical girls, while relaxing in the bath in my street clothes. Crazy stuff like that only happened to me.
With an amused grin, I took the chance to strip myself. That was the one aspect of my silliness I could easily fix. Besides, I didn't want to walk around at night with soaked clothing. Jusenkyo might prefer to activate with a splash, but submergence in cold water was a close second. I'd rather not tempt fate, especially while I was unsure what Chiyo's lingering magic had done to me.
So I stood and peeled off shirt, pants, and slippers. With a twist, I wrung the water from them, and with a flip of my wrist they flew across the room, and found a low wall to hang off of. When I dropped back into the hot water, my mind had returned to its mental calculus of how I was going to free Ukyo, Akane, and hopefully Kodachi.
There were three major obstacles I knew of: Gondul, Chiyo, and some director chick. Those I'd need to avoid. There were four I could defeat: Kodachi, Lilac, Carrotcake, and Fencer. My chances of victory against Akina and Michiko remained uncertain.
That gave me nine definite opponents. Given my luck I'd better assume that Akane and Ukyou would also be enemies, upping the group's size to eleven. Those kind of odds were horrible, but not overwhelming provided I used stealth and had a bit of luck. Of course, I was still assuming that a place named the Pretty Princess Institute didn't have a whole lot more girls than that.
Which brought me back to the reason I'd been looking for Hikaru in the first place.
"So where is this Pretty Princess Institute?" I asked.
Hikaru opened his eyes and shifted them to me. "You aren't going to assault the Institute are you? Because that's a suicide mission."
"So what if I am?" I challenged. "Whether I'm getting in over my head is my business."
"Hey," Hikaru returned, sounding a bit angry himself. "I'm not about to help some kid kill himself."
My eyes darkened, "Either you talk, or I starting beating up magical girls for information. Its all the same to me."
Hikaru stared into my gaze as though trying to force me to waver through force of will. I didn't back down. Eventually, Hikaru looked away, resting his forehead in his hand.
"Shit," he muttered. "Fine. But you better listen to all I've got to say before you run off half-cocked."
My annoyance grew. "I'm not sitting here for a lecture."
For a second it looked like Hikaru was about to force the issue, then he relented. "Fuck it. It's your head, kid. Okay, what do you know about the PPI?"
"Nothing," I answered with a shrug. "Except they've got Akane and Ukyou, and aren't above busting up a school and kidnapping. That, and there are magical girls working for it."
Hikaru frowned. "That it?"
"I'd never heard of the Pretty Princess Institute until this morning."
"Wait. What?" Hikaru asked, incredulous. "Don't you read the news? Watch TV?"
I grit my teeth and swallowed my aggravation. "No, I don't. Just fill me in, okay."
Hikaru shook his head. "The Pretty Princess Institute, or the PPI for short, is a magical girl institute. It was put together about ten years ago when the government decided enough was enough. Basically, the PPI's job is to scoop up magical girls who are off their rockers, and teach them how to fight without toasting half the city."
"So it's a reform school for magical girls," I deadpanned. I wondered how long it'd be before they started to do the same for crazed, super martial artists. Heh, that might be what this whole affair was about.
"Yeah that's a pretty good descriptor. Except the Director, Artemis Serenity Silvervine, had her own ideas. Instead of turning the girls into model citizens, she's been converting them into her own private army."
Ugh. Of course she was. What else could anyone expect from the director of a magical girl school? Still, it was a little unbelievable that the PPI had been up to this craziness for years. The Furinkan grab wasn't what I'd have called a low profile operation.
"And the Diet is just sitting on its hands while this happens?"
Hikaru shrugged. "Its more complicated than that. The PPI's existence lets the government claim it is doing something about the constant demon problems. Lots of politicians have supported the organization for that reason, including the Prime Minister. Dissolving the PPI would be a huge loss of face.
"Plus, there is a good bit of quid pro quo involved in the current arrangement. As long as the ministries avert their eyes, Artemis hands off a percentage of the brainwashed girls she has collected. The big recipients are the National Public Safety Commission and Defense, but there are girls scattered all over. Everybody's a winner. Well, not the girls themselves, but who's counting?"
"Thats..." My words trailed off and I felt my stomach turn. "Never mind. So, if the PPI is a magical girl school, how many girls are we talking about?"
"Hundreds," Hikaru answered easily.
My hand suddenly clenched. Hundreds? That had to be a joke. Hundreds of girls was an army. The PPI, literally, had an army of magical girls.
"Not all of them are there at any one moment, of course. A bit over a hundred normally, best we can guess. But, like I told you, attacking the Institute itself is a suicide mission."
"There is no way in hell I'm backing off," I growled.
Hikaru shook his head. "Kid, there's no sense getting pissed about it."
Hikaru's rationality only fueled my rage. I slammed a fist down on the edge of the pool with force. Concrete exploded in a spider web of cracks, small gray chips shot out, and dust puffed into the air.
"I don't lose!"
The words, even to me, sounded fake. Hundreds. Hundreds! How many Chiyo's would there be? How many Akina's? How was I supposed to win? How could I save Ukyou and Akane from an army of magical girls? Even if I did, how could I stop the PPI from stealing them back?
It felt as though the world was cheating. Even when standing against Saffron, it'd been me and him. His supporters, with the exception of Kiima, had been jokes.
The same, to some degree, would be true of the PPI. But an army of girls like Carrotcake and Lilac, each with an aura of invincibility and each with dangerous unique powers, was entirely different monster. Even with my ikisasu I wasn't sure I could defeat those girls instantly, and yeah, their offensive skills might be laughable, but throw in a few broad area shots by stuff like Lilac's allergenic pollen, and things would stop being funny real quick.
If a handful of Fencers, Carrotcakes, and Lilacs got themselves organized, they'd be enough to slow me down. That was all it would take, because even if a normal magical girl didn't stand a chance one-on-one, the PPI had no shortage of girls that did.
"I understand what you're feeling, believe me." Hikaru let out a heavy sigh, and his eyes grew distant. "Five years. I've been up against the PPI for five years now. I can't count the number of times I wanted to throw caution to the wind and storm the gates."
I didn't want Hikaru's sympathy. I wanted to win. My fury refused to die.
"You expect me to just let it go? Damn it, they kidnapped my fiancée and my best friend. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and hope for the best."
"I'm not telling you to do anything, kid," Hikaru answered. "I'm not your guardian. Frankly, I couldn't stop you if I wanted to. But I wouldn't be a decent human being if I didn't make an effort to set you on the right path."
My muscles tensed once more, but I forced them to relax. Hikaru wasn't the target of my anger. He'd done nothing but help from the moment we met. I couldn't make myself like him though. Standing off to the side and with a cool head accepting the nastiness of the world, that wasn't my way.
"Do you, at least, have friends to back you up?"
Names shot through my head. Mousse and Ryouga, both had 'helped' me a fair number of times. I dismissed them instantly. Magical girls weren't normal fighters, and without properly developed ki techniques, those two were be worthless. Besides, there was no way I'd ever get Ryouga to raise a hand against female opponents. Worse, neither of the them would accept the seriousness of the battle until it was already too late.
There were other, less obvious names, but most of them had no advanced ki techniques. When I filtered for that the list was small: Pop, Cologne, and Happosai. Pop, like Ryouga and Mousse, wouldn't take things seriously. Cologne wouldn't lift a finger to help Ukyou or Akane unless I made a down payment, and probably not even then. The old ghoul was too wise and too old to get dragged into a fight of this scale. If push came to shove, she'd pack up and go.
When I got down to it, the Happosai was my best bet. But Happosai was the most unreliable of an unreliable bunch. Happosai didn't help people for any reason. He'd refuse out of principle. I could trick him though, send him into the Pretty Princess Institute to do some damage.
No. Bad idea. If Happosai saw me there, he'd attack me for no other reason than our petty differences of the past. That was just the start of it. If the old freak discovered that the PPI's victory would end up with me in lingerie, he'd might end up helping the organization I was seeking to destroy.
Happosai could not be trusted.
"No," I answered eventually. "Most the guys the back me up normally would be useless against magical girls. The ones that can fight either won't, or can't be relied upon."
"That makes things harder," Hikaru murmured. "Tell you what, I'll have Chiba talk to Hecate. If we can convince the senshi to throw in their support, then we can probably accomplish something real."
I glanced at Hikaru. "I thought you weren't getting involved in this?"
Hikaru gave me a grin. "It's not that simple. I don't know if I'll be able to pull enough firepower together that I can risk giving you more than a leg up. But, if you're going to throw yourself at the PPI, I'll be certain to do what I can to up your chances of success. Just do me a favor and hit them where it hurts, okay?"
I felt my anger wane and a feeling of hope replace it. I gave a cocky grin. "Heh, they'll wish they never messed with Ranma Saotome."
Hikaru chuckled. "Yeah, well we'll need to start-"
A sudden buzzing sound caused Hikaru cut himself off. In a flash the dirty blond was out of the water and searching through the pockets of his discarded clothes. A second buzz was followed by Hikaru pulling a large, chocolate bar from a pant pocket. Hikaru placed the candy next to his ear and started talking.
"What is it? ... Yeah. ... Shit! I'll be there soon." Hikaru stood and gave me a look. "Sorry, but I have to go."
I frowned at Hikaru, pausing for a second before I stood and started getting dressed. My clothes were still soaked from their long dip in the bath. Wearing them wet would be unpleasant, but I've lived with worse. My focus instead was on the chocolate bar communicator-phone-thing that Hikaru had just used.
"What is that," I demanded.
Hikaru glanced at his hand and the device he was holding in it. "This? Just a communicator. You should see the one Chiba got off the girls. It's pink."
"It's a candy bar," I said, noting the obvious. I didn't mention that we'd just finished fighting a very powerful candy themed magical girl. I didn't have to.
Hikaru sighed. "I'll explain later. I really have to go. Chiba and Fumio need my support. Tell you what, we can meet somewhere tomorrow. Just give me-"
"No," I interrupted. "I'm coming with you."
"This isn't your-"
"It's my fight now. They made it that way."
Hikaru opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut. "Fine. But try to keep up."
I snorted. "You don't need to worry about me keeping up."
With that, the two of us where dashing away from the bathhouse and back into the cold Tokyo night.
-oOo-
At night, the city was a sea of stars, and the streets a river of light. Towering glass buildings, streetlights, neon signs, each held their own beauty. Each bright dot pierced the shroud of darkness, mankind's mighty attempt to beat back the primordial fear that lurked within our animal brain. It was a powerful, yet haunting sight. Man fought a winning war against nature, but in doing so it replaced the beauty of the universe with a pale, artificial imitation.
To me, the stars that shined from the void of the sky would always be greater and more comforting than electric light. A pity the two could not coexist.
Ahead, Hikaru flew above the streets. His plain, white, button-up shirt a bright ambiance in the shadows of the giant buildings surrounding us. He hurried ahead of me, and I struggled to keep up. My breath puffed painfully with the weariness of today's battles, and I was not quite used to navigating the deep city. Here, leaps from roof-to-roof were often impossible, but I watched and learned, echoing Hikaru's steps as we ricocheted off walls, touched down in dirty alleys, and occasionally crisscrossed atop the peaks of the buildings.
Tokyo wasn't a small city and this kind of movement wasn't exactly as the crow flies. We made pretty good time though, given the amount of distance we had to cover. I didn't think it was more than fifteen minutes before Hikaru and I came to a stop. I didn't need anyone to tell me we had reached our destination. The bristling towers of ice rising from manholes, each sprouting long, spindly, bladed branches was a damn good give away. I gave it ninety-nine out of a hundred that this was Fumio's battle field. I held out the slim possibility of error only because I didn't know what kind of wacky powers magical girls might have.
Hundreds. Again, I reminded myself of that fact. The PPI had hundreds of magical girls, so I'd better assume there wasn't a single form of magic that couldn't be brought to bear by the Pretty Princess Institute.
"I don't see either of them," I said.
No sounds of battle. That didn't mean much. The city was a big, noisy place, and warriors like Hikaru and me could cover a lot of distance during a fight. Fumio and his opponent had really torn up the place. There were gashes of melted pavement across the ground and smooth holes punched through the debilitated buildings. Michiko's work, if my guess was right. The silver suited beach babe had a beam cannon that would leave markings like that. I didn't see any signs of Chiba, but his fighting style was more subtle.
Hikaru dropped to the ground and I followed him, sticking my hands in my pockets, nonchalant. The inner cloth was still wet, but even that discomfort was an improvement over the cool breeze that rolled in from the bay.
"I guess we look around then?" I asked when the silence dragged on too long.
Hikaru jerked toward me, as though remembering I was there.
"Yeah. Doesn't look like we have a choice there. I hate to say it, but we better split up," Hikaru said. He gave me a guarded glance. "Be careful. Michiko is out there, and none of us has anything that can take her down."
I clenched a fist. Another unbeatable girl. Even if that was true, I would still take my best shot. I needed to evaluate the effectiveness of my technique against someone whose strength was less than that of Chiyo's insane power, and yet who had more spiritual force than Kodachi. It was hard to say that Michiko was that woman, but even if she wasn't I'd need all the training I could get if I wanted to survive the likes of Chiyo and Gondul.
"Don't," Hikaru warned. "If you fight her, you'll lose."
Even though my instincts agreed, my pride smoldered. "Didn't we go over this? Whether I fight her and whether I lose is my problem, not yours."
"Sorry, kid didn't mean to touch a nerve," Hikaru said quickly, raising a hand to ward off comments. "You can face her if you want, but let me give you a heads up. Michiko has one hell of a barrier, and it is strong enough to take all the shit Chiba and I can throw at it, combined."
I gave a dismissive nod. I could handle myself just fine, and while I was thankful for the help I'd been getting, I wasn't exactly looking for it either. Besides, I wasn't planning on repeating the mistake I made when fighting Chiyo. I would pull out if Michiko proved to be too much.
"Are we going to search for Tuxedo and the brat or not?"
"Yeah. I'll scout the bay. You see if you can scare up something a little closer. We meet back here in ten. Got it?"
After saying his piece, Hikaru jumped up and grabbed a live wire with his bare hands. Cascading sparks shot across his shirt, and rippled along his pants. Undamaged the salary man fell back to the earth, a continuous bolt of lighting stretching from the wire to his raised arm. Then he pulled. Current ripped free from the wires in a sheet, and wrapped itself around Hikaru's arm in shimmering, chaotic, shroud.
I raised an eyebrow. "Neat trick."
Hikaru flashed a grin. "I'm better with fire, but there's nothing burning around here, and the city would probably appreciate it if I keep the property damage to a minimum." Hikaru's expression sudden became serious. "In ten."
Then, Hikaru was gone. Vanishing as he bounded between buildings.
I stayed put, taking a second to admire the fountains of icy death. I considered the battlefield. If I was a twisted little brat with the power to turn water into deadly ice, where would I run to? Yeah, it was pretty obvious. The sewers, no shortage of water there.
Hands still in my pockets, I lazily strolled to one of the manholes. A sharp, low kick shattered the ice at the root, and five stomps splintered the solid matter that blocked my path down. A short hop afterwards and I was in Tokyo's enormous sewer system. The place was big enough to walk in. Hell, it was big enough to fight in, and that was saying something.
The sewers ran for some distance to both the left and the right. There was a trail of ice and scarred walls to the left, so the direction of choice was clear enough. I followed the path of destruction, keeping my ears open for any sounds. Nothing. Either the fighting had left the sewers some time ago, or the kid was playing hide-and-go-seek with his opponent.
I ventured on. The sewers were a maze and the icebergs and melted stone were intermittent. I solved that dilemma by picking up the speed, zipping down the tunnels and quickly getting lost. I didn't worry too much, I was capable of making myself an exit topside if it came to that.
I wasted six minutes, and was considering doing exactly that when luck decided to side with me. Out of the corner of my eye, and down a sewer tunnel to my right, I spotted one of Michiko's mini-UFOs. The silver disk had its profile to me. A sheet of red light emanating from the UFOs front ran up and down another branch of the convoluted tunnels. Once done, the disk turned its back to me and floated further away.
I crept after it.
The device wasn't very smart because it never turned to face me. Every once in a while it turned and scanned down a new path before floating onward. Then I hit the jack pot.
My first clue was a tiny drop in the temperature. That was enough to draw my eyes to the water. The already smooth surface turned to glass as dark crystal spread across water's top. The growing sheet of ice zigged and zagged like a snake, seeking out the silver disk. Once beneath the UFO, glacial crystal turned an opaque white and then thrust upward in a giant spear.
The blow caught the disk from the bottom and cut a gash into the metal. If the attack had been centered, the UFO would have been destroyed instantly. Instead, the silver disk was blown to the side, spinning like a coin as it bouncing off one of the walls. Then, in a flash, it righted itself and turned its glowing face down a corridor.
I didn't give the silver disk a chance to shoot. I dashed along the device's blind spot as it reoriented itself. When the UFO's gun began to glow, I was right behind the disk. Without hesitation I grabbed it with both hands, snaking my fingers into the sliced metal. Then, using brute force, I tore the disk in half.
BANG! Something inside the disk blew when I ripped it open. Heat washed over my arms and swept across my face. Little pieces of shrapnel bounced off my chest and forehead. My hands twitched with the discharge of electric current. I ignored it all, discarding the scrap into the water.
"Fool," hissed Fumio's quite voice. "You've given our position away."
I eyed Fumio's hiding spot. The boy had his back flat against a small divot in the tunnel walls. I gave a snort and rolled my eyes. "You gave yourself away when you missed, brat. I'm just cleaning up your mistake."
"My mistake? My mistake! I don't need your help. I had everything under control until you stuck your incompetent-"
"Shut up," I barked. I tilted my head to the side.
Fumio's eyes lit up like a bonfire, and his hand twitched causing the water to form frosty, white ice on its surface. I tensed, ready to dodge the insane kid's attack, but Fumio paused when he heard the same sound I did.
Click. Click. Click. The punctuating sound of hard, high-heeled shoes upon the stone surface of the sewer walkways. Michiko had found us.
"She knows where we are," Fumio whispered, his eyes burrowed into me, placing all the blame on my shoulders.
I grinned wide and cocky. "Good. That'll save me the trouble of looking for her."
"You are insane."
I shot Fumio a dark glance. "Says the brat who tried to kill his companions because he lost his temper."
I didn't catch Fumio's response because at that moment Michiko rounded the corner. The tall blond was wearing the same skimpy outfit as before, a tiny, silver bikini and high-heeled sandals. Her curves filled the swimsuit to the bursting point. Of all the magical girls I'd seen so far, Michiko was the one that best deserved the title magical woman.
Michiko strutted forward, the same giant chrome bulk slung over her shoulder that I had spotted out the windshield of Hikaru's van. It was a metallic cannon of sorts, the size of a small motorcycle. I assumed that big meant the gun was a lot lot stronger than the ray canons sported by the silver disks. Though, given this was magic, that kind of logic didn't necessarily apply.
Michiko paused a decent distance away. She dropped her gun from her shoulder and held it in both hands so that the barrel pointed down the hall. "Ranma Saotome, designation XT-11. Your presence was not anticipated." Michiko's steel blue eyes were cold and calculating.
"Surprise," I said with a grin.
I shifted into a loose stance, one not far from a normal standing position. My eyes took in the terrain, making a mental map of the tunnels from guesswork, memory, and limited experience. I didn't hear the droning sound of Michiko's silver disks. Good. But I'd be a fool to forget that they were out there, and probably moving to outflank me right now.
Tactically, Fumio had the right approach. There weren't many places as well suited for ambush as the Tokyo sewer system. But, I wasn't fighting Michiko so that I could pick off magical girls one by one. This was a test of my strength, my theories, and my limits. A good, clean victory would prove an assault on the Pretty Princess Institute wasn't complete madness.
I suppose my stubbornness, my all consuming need to throw myself over and over again at each powerful magical girl I saw, wasn't an indication of mental health. My record so far was horrible. Victory, however, was only half the battle. I learned nothing by running away. If I couldn't learn? If I failed? I could live with it if I lost under those conditions... well, I could live with it briefly.
"Surrender. You do not possess the capabilities required for victory. My weapons are not suited for capture. A fight between us may prove fatal," Michiko said evenly.
My eyes skirted the sewer water. Trails of black ice slithered across the surface, closely hugging the waterway's edge. The brat was planning something then. Fumio wasn't the type to worry about friendly fire. I decided to let him have the first strike.
"Yeah, well, shit happens," I replied with a shrug. "If you fight you might die. That's how it works. If death scared me, I'd would have stopped fighting a long time ago. So sorry, no surrender here. Besides, cutesy candy princess wasn't on my list of future occupations."
Michiko's mouth curved into a sudden frown. Her left hand left her gun causing the barrel to dip lower. Long nailed fingers hooked a pair of glasses that hung between her breasts. The wire frames were as thin as threads, and lenses crystal clear. It made the glasses practically invisible. In fact, until Michiko had grabbed them, I had not realized they were there.
With a total lack of regard for the brewing battle, Michiko flipped the glasses open and placed them on her nose.
Crackle! T-t-thud! Great glaciers of ice exploded from the sewer surface, smashing into the cement surrounding Michiko. Of the hundred frozen spikes that slashed at her, not a single one reached. The spire shattered on a sphere of spectral light. Broken shards of ice, many the size of my fist, ricocheted off the barrier and bounced throughout the tunnel.
Barrier type, I reminded. Too strong for the kid to break too. I wasted no time testing it myself. With a diving dash, I slipped under the shower of Fumio's ice, swatting away the frozen blades that came too close. Stepping in I span my body, pivoting on my left foot and striking out with my right in a powerful reverse back kick. My leg, and all my weight behind it, rammed into Michiko's barrier and stopped. Pain shot through my shins and the heel of my foot went numb. I'd have done more damage kicking a steel wall.
Surrounded by ice and with my foot a meter from her head, Michiko nonchalantly adjusted her glasses, fingers tapping the top of the rims twice. Then, with a lazy motion, she allowed the tip of her cannon to sway toward the watercourse. Screeeeeeee! Brilliant light poured from the barrel with such fury that the air screamed. Even with the beam pointed away from me I felt my skin bake. Instinct forced my eyes closed, but even with them shut the light continued to penetrate, searing a long line across my vision.
Poosh! Hiss! Bubble, bubble, bubble. The boiling watercourse spat geysers of water and clouds of steam. The atmosphere became thick, hot, and humid. The weak light of the sewers was now brightened by the yellow trench cut along the bottom of the frothing water.
The mist parted around Michiko's invisible barrier, leaving her untouched. She scrutinized me from head to toe, the lenses of her glasses covered with flickering patterns of orange light.
"Your spiritual matrix has been contaminated," Michiko commented coolly. "I will have to reconfigure the model to account for that. Tedious."
Th-th-th-th-th-th-thud! My attempt at an ikisasu augmented amaguriken proved itself unable to pierce Michiko's barrier. Okay. Heavy and strong was a no go. Fast and concentrated wasn't any better. That left me with slow but forceful.
"The magnitude of the forces required to penetrate my barrier are beyond your ability to produce. Surrender, and save us both the unnecessary unpleasantness associated with reconstructing the bottom half of your body."
"You can forget me surrendering," I growled.
I placed my palm on Michiko's barrier and pushed. The sphere was smooth and hard like steel, but had no temperature. I focused my ki, and felt her aura react to mine. Twisting the form of my ikisasu I corroded her defense and slowly but surely my hand sank inward.
Michiko's eyes snapped toward my hand, and with one arm she hefted her canon so that it was pointed directly at my abdomen. I wasn't about to sit there and let her have the shot, so I blurred into motion. With lightning speed I sprinted up the wall and onto the ceiling. Michiko's reactions were slow, I was already falling on to the top of her barrier when she pulled the trigger. This time I closed my eyes and looked away to avoid being blinded by the searing beam of light.
Flopped atop Michiko's invisible sphere I immediately refocused my ki into the modified ikisasu. My aura tore at hers, causing the barrier to soften and sag. The technique took a couple of tense seconds to work. Fortunately, Michiko's beam cannon had an even longer lag time. The moment I fell through I knocked the weapon's barrel away from my face and toward the ceiling.
Screeeeeee! The screeching light of destruction carved a third trench into the sewers as Michiko's cannon swung wide. I didn't see any of that, because I snapped my eyes closed the instant I saw the barrel's glow. Blind I fired a punch at Michiko's face, holding nothing back. Girl or not, I couldn't afford to play around.
My fist blew Michiko's head back and caused her to stumble. Blinking with renewed sight, I followed, jabbing twice before throwing a low fist into her gut. She didn't block any of it. Despite that, I continued the combo, finishing with an uppercut that caught her chin and flipped Michiko onto her back and sent her glasses flying.
On the ground, Michiko lay stunned for half a second, then she flopped over and reached for her gun. I was faster. Stepping in close I used the side of my foot to send the chromed weapon skittering into the drink. Then, as an afterthought, I kicked Michiko into the foul water as well. I grinned when her barrier fragmented around me.
"You know," I gibed, stooping down near my fallen foe. "You might want to surrender, cause there is no way you'll ever beat this kind of awesome."
Michiko's steel blue eyes traced the rivulets of dark water that ran across her ivory skin. Then she lifted her gaze and met my own. Her expression was cold, conveying no emotions beyond an infinitesimal irritation. Deprived of my just reward, I couldn't resist nabbing Michiko's glasses when she reached for them.
"Spoils of-," I froze. Something was wrong. The water no longer boiling. In fact, it was getting cold.
Whirling, I summoned my ki and unleashed a bolt of condensed pride toward the encroaching sheet of ice. My ki blast left my hands just as the water turned into a thousands spears of ice. Ice that shattered upon my attack, sending crystal shrapnel across the sewer tunnels.
Furious, I jumped to my feet and stomped down the tunnel where Fumio was hiding. "What the hell is wrong with you brat? I had her beat."
"Only a fool allows an enemy to walk away," Fumio called back, voice scathing.
My eyes flashed, and I decided it was high time that I gave the brat a piece of my mind. "There isn't going to be any killing on my-"
A sudden spike in Michiko's aura ended my rant. I turned to watch sparks of light converge on her. They formed a thin oval wall around the magical woman, and then exploded outward. Raw spiritual force hit me as a pressure wave. It didn't hurt, but the power behind it was enough to knock me off my feet and send me flying three meters into the now cold sewer water.
I surfaced and spat out the filthy liquid that had invaded my mouth. I ran my eyes across the sewers and relocated Michiko. I growled in frustration. My almost dry clothes were soaked again, and my body had transformed into its female form. Thanks Fumio. Compared to my 'practical' clothing, Michiko's silver bikini now seemed prescient. Most galling of all was that Michiko's barrier was now restored. The spectral sphere did more than guard Michiko from attack, it carved her a nice dry spot in the watercourse.
On the bright side, things could be worse. No happy shiny Ranma. Returning to my female form failed to renew Chiyo's mind altering sugar rush. I didn't detect any obvious alterations to my clothes or body either. Yay me. Knowing my luck, the lack of changes wouldn't be because I'd been cured of Chiyo's magics, but because I'd been dunked in sewer water.
"See what you did brat?" I grumbled. "I had things under control and then you come and screw everything up."
"If you hadn't interfered and let me kill her, that wouldn't be a problem," Fumio retorted, for the first time stepping into clear view.
The boy sneered down at me, his face twisting with disgust.
"XT-04," Michiko said. "I will offer one more time only. Present yourself for detainment or you will be terminated."
My eyes shifted back to my enemy. Michiko was focused on Fumio to the point of ignoring me. Whatever good that would have done was cut short by the four silver disks that now surrounded the magical woman. Michiko had also fished her chrome cannon out of the water. Disturbingly, the damaged device was regenerating in real time.
Crap.
My girl form was too short to touch the watercourse's bottom. Michiko had distance and four guns to fire with, soon to be five. Even if I had time to reach dry land where I could effectively move, I didn't have a clue how I was going to breach her barrier a second time when Michiko had a greater rate of fire.
C-c-c-c-c-crack! Sp-plash! As bad as things were, I couldn't help but look up when fissures formed on the ceiling, and chunks of rock and earth joined us in the watercourse. Well, wasn't that convenient, the roof was going to cave in. That's all I had chance to think, before the sky fell down on me.
Boulders plunged into the water while I scrambled for land. I didn't make it half a meter. Descending with the road was Hikaru, his white shirt glowing with the reflected light of crackling electricity. His hand was pointed down ready to release the lightning. Lightning. Water. Water that was touching me and not Michiko.
Sparks spewed from every stone and every wave in the water. The tunnels lit up as bright as discharge from Michiko's beam cannon. Jagged bolts, horizontal, vertical, and every angle in between, crisscrossed the room. The electric storm shredded two of Michiko's disks, the others surviving only because they were shielded by her invincible barrier.
That was all I caught. My vision swam, and my limbs swung wildly. My whole body convulsed, straining against itself as it attempted to complete the steps of twelve different dances simultaneously.
Consciousness faded with the dying sparks. Blackness. Untellable time. Then, a rounded hook jabbed into my ribs. I awoke, blinking and sputtering as I was dragged upward and out of the water. I glanced around. Michiko was gone, and Tuxedo was salvaging me with his extensible cane. Exhausted, I happily grabbed the wooden pole and allowed myself to be hauled from the sewers.
Once I was back on the streets, I flopped on the ground. I shivered for a few dozen seconds, and fixed Hikaru with a dirty look.
Hikaru had the decency to look embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't see you down there when I jumped in."
"You might want to work on that white-knight routine, salary man," I said nastily, "Otherwise those damsels will be going from distress to death."
Hikaru flashed a grin. "Good thing for me, then, that you're no damsel."
"Damn straight," I grunted. I rolled up so that I was sitting instead of laying on the sidewalk. "Now, do you guys have a nice hidey-hole where I can crash? Because I'm not too sure how much longer I can pretend to be mobile."
"I won't let you drag that thing into our headquarters. She is one of them," Fumio sneered. His eyes glowed with hatred.
I swiveled to the brat. I didn't disguise my distaste for the fourteen year old murderer. "Don't think that just because I got lit up like a Christmas tree I can't kick your ass, brat."
"He is coming with us, Fumio," Tuxedo said. "I won't accept any other decision."
Fumio fumed, his hands twitching to the empty water bottle at his belt. Suddenly the dark haired boy glared at Hikaru.
"Don't be looking at me for back up. I'm with Chiba on this. Saotome is coming with us. You owe him that much. We all do."
"Fine," Fumio said with disgust.
I took that as my cue to return to unconsciousness.
-oOo-
Ending Notes:
Trivia:
Diet – The Japanese legislature. The Diet can dissolve the government through a vote of no confidence, and is officially the highest organ of state power in Japan.
National Public Safety Commission – Cabinet office in Japan that administers the National Police Agency. Hikaru's reference here is essentially stating that the magical girls lent out by the PPI to this department are later distributed to high level policing forces throughout Japan.
Tokyo Sewers – Tokyo's sewers are famously huge. Look it up. There are some amazing photographs.
Characters:
This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.
Chiyo Mori (Crystal Candy Princess Chiyo) [PPI, Luck] – A magical girl with candy styled powers. She fought and defeated Ranma on the city rooftops after having captured Hikaru. Amongst Chiyo's many skills and abilities is the power to use her defensive aura aggressively and produce an effect best described as Jinx. In the Pretty Princess Institute she is considered second strongest, marginally ahead of Gondul. Chiyo rates Saffron on the Daisuke-Saffron scale and her monstrous spiritual power is exceeded only by that of the Director.
Dr. Michiko Nishimura (Techno Witch Michiko) [PPI, Barrier] – A magical 'woman' who can use 'technological weapons', which are in fact manifestations of her magic. She is the magical girl that blows up Hikaru's van. She is notably stronger than Ranma in terms of spiritual force, just under Herb on the Daisuke-Saffron scale, but is an unskilled combatant.
Michiko exhibits limited superhuman physical abilities, which is surprising given the scale of her supernatural power.
Fumio Miyagi [Resistance] – A partially insane fourteen-year-old boy. Fumio has the power to magically freeze water and control the formation of ice. He actively hunts magical girls for his own private vengeance. Fumio is not fond of his allies, but has been forced to recognize he needs all the help he can get.