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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that belong to Ranma 1/2. The Ranma 1/2 cast belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Nor do I own Suikoden 3 or any other characters that I put into this story. Neither do I own any of the character in any of the crossovers I do. I'm just using them in this fan fiction and I have no money so don't bother suing me.
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Chapter 16 – The Clock Tower
An old clock tower that was built even before the war stood in the old part of Shibuya that are still left standing. It was originally a mission, but it was closed down when the war started and never reopened afterwards. Volunteers are still maintaining the tower since it has a beautiful garden in the walled in compound. It even has a pretty big koi pond in the courtyard as well. Standing at 12 stories tall the clock tower loomed over the surrounding buildings that aren't even more than two stories tall. There's even a wide balcony around the tower itself that lets you see across the landscape. It's used quite often as a place for a picnic or a date or just a place to relax in. However, today it's a place for conflict.
Two men in dark suits are shooting at a speeding car that's coming straight at them. A dark haired woman popped her head out of the car and fired two shots that brought both of the gunmen down. She then popped her head back in as the car crashed through the main gate into the clock tower's compound. More gunmen fired upon the car as soon as it came into view. A bomb is thrown in front of the car as it as it came to a stop. When it blew up it made a thick cloud of smoke that covered the area around the car. The gunmen in the courtyard couldn't see their target. Then shots are fired out from inside the smoke. Three gunmen fell to the gunfire as three figures jumped out from the smoke.
The remaining gunmen didn't know what hit them as the three people attacked. A shorthaired blonde woman threw bombs at them as she ran by them before ducking behind a wall, blowing up several of her opponents. The dark haired woman from before began firing her weapon wildly as she took down the ones on the surrounding walls before finding some cover too. The last of the three wielded a broken katana that he used to take down the gunmen before they could even get a shot fired at him.
"Ranma, get out of here! Minnie and me will hold these guys off! You save your sister and her friends!" Rally shouted as she gave Ranma cover fire as he made his way to the tower.
"Watch your backs!" Ranma shouted to the two weapon crazed girls.
Minnie gave him an evil grin, making him feel sorry for the gunmen. "Watch OUR backs! You should tell them to watch THEIRS!" she shouted as she threw more bombs around the place, creating devastation in the once beautiful garden.
"Wait! You're not going in there without me!" said a voice from the backseat of the car. Ellen grabbed her camera to catch everything on tape as she followed Ranma into the building that houses the clock tower.
Up in the tower watching the fight down below is Faceless. He and the others are in the bell room waiting for Ranma to arrive. The only path leading to them is through the huge bell room, which are the last 6 stories of the building that Ranma and Ellen just went inside of. There's a skylight letting someone look up onto the clock tower that stood above the bell room. The huge bells are set in two rows on either side of the room. Smaller bells hang on the sidelines of the bigger ones. The only clear path to the clock tower is the space in the middle of the room between the bells.
Faceless looked down at the tiny figures of Rally and Minnie still fighting against the gunmen. "So you didn't bring any of your friends along, but you did bring along some help. Oh well, I'll let that go. No one will kill you but me." He turned to the monsters with him. "Grasper, you watch the kids. Nail, Spindrive, go to your places and wait for Ranma to come to you." Nails and Spindrive nodded and left for the lower floors. Grasper took his place at the top of the tower where the kids are being kept.
Ms. Uikkan stepped up to him. "What will, I do?"
Faceless turned to her. "I want you to go with Grasper and keep an eye on the kids and the fight outside. Your men will be enough to keep the two women busy for awhile, but I don't want anything to interfere with my fight with Ranma. Understood?"
"I'll see to it," Ms. Uikkan said before leaving.
He then turned back to the fighting down below. "Soon, Ranma, soon. Your rune WILL be in the hands of my master after I'm done defeating you."
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Earlier that day –
At the temple Ranma is waiting for his grandfather to arrive. Dr. Jones had called earlier that day that he would be stopping over to meet Ranko and Yun. Yun should have gotten out of school by now. Her school is still talking about the duel that her friend Sayo and Landis had yesterday.
Currently Landis is under lockdown in Mind's lab for the next couple of days. Everyone was ticked off when he came back to the temple after being gone for hours. In his defense Yun did say that if it weren't for Landis Sayo wouldn't have gotten over her fear of Jack-O. But still, he said that he would go outside again tomorrow, so this time they're prepared for him. Tina had Molly make a shield around her lab that made it impossible for Landis to leave the lab till the field is turned off. But only Mind knew how to turn the field off so he's going to stay in her lab for a while. Landis said he didn't want to stay in Mind's lab and made a big fuss out of it. However, Kodachi's threat of letting Mr. Green Turtle stay in the room with him made him VERY cooperative. They apologized to him about keeping him cooped up, but they had no choice. If they think of a way to let him out without people seeing him they'll tell him. In this effect Ranma had asked Mind if she could make something that would make him invisible. She's still working on it, but hasn't made much progress.
Sasuke (who Kodachi had bought another trailer for) has been getting along with Ayame and Watari. He might not be a good as a fighter as they are (actually, he's horrible and the worse fighter besides Yun), but he's really good at making traps. Sasuke had helped them set up traps around the temple to keep the reporters away from the temple grounds. The reporters are STILL sneaking around the temple. Seems they are a lot dumber than thieves as they got the message and stay away. There's even one reporter that's been trying to get into the temple more than the others. She's a spunky reddish brown haired young woman who is looking for her big break in the news business. She's convinced that getting the scoop on them is it and has been trying to get inside every day. They would have called the police on her for trespassing, but that would bring more attention on them. They let the traps and other 'surprises' handle her.
She was almost eaten when she had jumped over the wall and landed on top of Mr. Green Turtle. The alligator wasn't happy being stepped on and almost made her his lunch. Every time she comes in, no matter where she tries to get in, Mr. Green Turtle would be on her even before she hits the ground. Kodachi had taken a piece of her clothing that she had dropped when she was running away and familiarized the alligator to her scent, making her his target if she ever tries to trespass again.
She has been trying to get pictures of Ranma by sneaking into the house. But thanks to Molly's gadgets she hasn't been able to get into house yet, if she had managed to get pass Mr. Green Turtle. She would be repelled every time if she SOMEHOW makes it pass the alligator and Sasuke's traps (which are only located outside and all the temple members know each and every one of them). But that hasn't stopped her from trying.
Over the phone Dr. Jones had an idea for a cover if the police ever found about all of their supernatural stuff going on around the temple. The plan sounded like something out of a comic book, but it's the only thing that could explain everything going on here.
As he's looking over the CDs Ms. Hinako had ordered him to brush up on (just why he doesn't know. He can understand the language and even speak it with only a very slight accent) the doorbell rang. He opened the door and predictably it's his great-grandfather and the Gunsmith Cats.
Jones smiled warmly at his great-grandson. "Hello, Ranma."
"Hiya grandpa. Come in, all of you." He ushered everybody inside the main room and offered them drinks like Kasumi had taught him to.
The dark haired brunette introduced herself first. "Hi. We weren't introduced last time. I'm Rally," she said as she took his hand and shook it.
"I'm Minnie," the short blonde said, repeating Rally's actions.
"And I'm Becky," the one with glasses said as she closed the door behind her. She also went up to him and they shook hands.
Ranko entered the room as she came in from tending her garden. "Hey Ranma. That's our grandfather right?"
Jones smiled widely as he approached the redhead who can be considered his great-granddaughter. "So you must be Ranko. Ranma told me how you were born. If you don't mind I would like to call you granddaughter." Ranko's answering smile would have melted the polar ice caps.
Ranma introduced Ranko to the Gunsmith Cat Girls and then walked over to the door. "Ranko, could you show grandpa and the others inside. Sorry grandpa, girls, but I need to pick up Yun from school." He hasn't called Ranko 'sis' since his talk with Tofu, but hasn't told anyone of the two of them not being brother and sister yet. Ranko has been getting a bit worried and flustered since the night Tofu and Kasumi had come to visit. That night Ranma seemed a bit distant for a while, then halfway into the night he returned to himself. However, he seemed different, as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He snuggled with her even more warmly and brought her closer to him than before. It made her feel like a wife being hugged by her husband, but had been suppressing the feeling as she didn't know if she can control herself if she ever lost control like last time.
Rally and Minnie also walked to the door when they heard his plans. "Minnie and me can drive you there."
Minnie gave him a smile. "Yeah! I heard your sister's just as cute as you are!" Ranma blushed a little at the compliment, but pushed the embarrassment down and gave a mumbled "thank you".
Becky moved to go with them, but Rally told her to stay. "Hey! Why are you two going and not me?"
"Well, there could be trouble and you're not the fighter of our group. You're the brains," Rally said with a smile that said she's not telling the truth.
"And you need to help Jones explain the plan you two came up with," Minnie said with the same smile.
The two women pulled Ranma out of the temple grounds, leaving behind a sighing girl. 'They just want to be able to sit on either side of him on the three seater front seat of the car. Oh boy, it's going to be a tight fit for them.'
Ranko guided Dr. Jones and Becky around the temple, introducing them to everyone else. But unknown to all of them, the reporter that's been hanging around the temple had broken into the car outside, and hide behind the back seat of the car (the trunk space really). The car is one of those types that can collapse the back seat so you can access the trunk from the inside of the car) to take her wherever Ranma is going. She didn't hear what happened inside, but she did hear that Ranma is going out and decided to come along.
'This is my big break!' the young reporter thought as she felt the car start up.
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Meanwhile at the school -
Sayo is sitting with her two friends Masato and Yun in the schoolyard waiting for her big sister to walk her home. She's still the talk of the school since her duel with Landis yesterday. Their mom had a LOOOOONG talk with Ran about looking after her again and keeping her out of trouble. Yun suddenly gasped for no reason. Sayo and Masato turned to her to ask her what's wrong. They saw that her eyes are glazed over and her face had a fearful expression on it. (A)
On the other side of the schoolyard walking pass the gates are Ran and her two friends Miyu and Aya.
"So your mom yelled at you again?" Aya asked from the left side of Ran.
"Yeah, but I did say that Sayo wanted to face him so that she could overcome her fear. It didn't matter thought so she still yelled at me." Then she remembered something. "Hey where's Shiori today?"
"She went to see her grandmother on the far side of town," Miyu said from her right.
"Oh, okay. Let me go and dro..." Ran stopped talking when Yun lost her glazed over expression and screamed. She tried to pull Sayo and Masato somewhere with a panicked expression when a black van suddenly went through the gates and stopped in front of them. Men in dark suits came out and grabbed them and pulled them into the van. One of the men threw a rock with a piece of paper on it before the van took off.
"SAYO!" shouted Ran as she ran into the street and saw the black van speed its way down the street, dodging slow moving cars and pedestrians.
Ms. Hinako ran to the front gate. "Ran! What happened?" She was coming by to pick up Yun and go back to the temple with her and Ranma who's supposed to pick her up when she heard something happening at the front of the school.
Ran is frantic as she ran up to the teacher. "Sayo, Yun and Masato were just kidnapped!"
"WHAT?"
Ran then remembered what the men had left behind and picks up the paper. She read the name on the front and handed it to Ms. Hinako. "It's for Yun's big brother."
Ms. Hinako took the paper from Ran and read through it quickly. She then looked up at Ran. "Ran, go to the office and call your father quickly!" Ran nodded and took off running to the main office.
Ms. Hinako is about to run to her car when another car stopped in front of the school. Ranma stepped out and noticed his former teacher running to him with a worried face. He got a foreboding feeling when she stopped in front of him with a piece of paper in her hands.
"Ms. Hinako? Where's Yun?" Ranma asked her worriedly.
"Ranma, she was kidnapped along with Sayo and Masato! The kidnappers left you this letter!" He snatched the letter out of her hands and read through it.
Ranma,
(You are to come to the Clock Tower in the old part of Shibuya without any police or any of your friends from the temple. Be there in one hour or your sister and her friends die.)
"Your sister was kidnapped?" Minnie asked from the car.
"Yeah." Ranma growled and handed the letter to her. She and Rally read through it and then turned to pigtailed martial artist who's glowing with a black battle aura. It creeped them out a bit, but they had read about this in the report and got used to it quickly.
Rally picked up a gun from the back seat and cocked it. "Don't worry Ranma. We'll back you up. We're not from the temple or police so technically we can help you out."
Ranma nodded to them in thanks and turned to his former teacher. "Hina- chan, have the cops follow me and others. We'll go ahead to save Yun." He then hopped in the car and it sped off.
Hinako watched as the car speed off. "Good luck Ranma."
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Inside of the car -
"Do you know where the clock tower is Rally?" Ranma asked her as she drove them around the city. He had taken out his old shoulder guards and boots from his subspace pocket and put them on. He even took out the 'armor' that Brute Hat had given him and put it on as well in case his enemies used magic. He didn't care that he's riding up front with Rally and Minnie or that the two girls had ogled him when he took off his clothes to replace them with the anti-magic clothes. How Rally managed to keep her eyes on the road and him at the same time he doesn't know. At his side is his broken katana.
"No, but an old clock tower in a city like this can't be that hard to find right?" Rally asked as she drove the speeding car.
"In other words she has no idea where she's going," Minnie said exasperatedly.
"I know where the clock tower is!" a voice behind them said.
Popping out from behind the back seat is a reddish brown haired young woman that Ranma already knows. It's the reporter that has been hanging around the temple. He was talking with Rally and Minnie during the trip to the school and then concentrating on putting on his clothes on the way to the tower that he didn't feel her presence.
The reporter beamed a triumphant smile as she held up her video camera. "I can lead you to the clock tower, but I get to catch it on tape in exchange!"
Ranma didn't like her instantly. She's putting her career in front of saving his family and innocent people! "What? You're that reporter that's been hanging around my place!"
The reporter didn't even flinch from the anger in his voice, obviously used to people being mad at her for invading their privacy. "Yup! My name is Ellen. I got into the car because I know this is my big break!"
Ranma is about to speak again when Rally cut him off. "Fine! But you stay out of the line of fire, got that!"
"Got it!" Ellen said as she pointed Rally the way to the clock tower. Ranma didn't like this situation at all.
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Back to the present with the fight in the Clock Tower -
Ranma had entered the building as Rally and Minnie kept the gunmen outside busy. Ellen is close behind him filming all the action. The inside of the building is empty of gunmen. Ranma didn't like that one bit.
They climbed the steps till they reached the third floor where the stairs stop. The third floor looks like the ballroom at the hotel, but smaller. The low lights and Gothic scrollwork gave it a kind of shabby elegant atmosphere. A wide marble staircase dominated the large room, leading up to a second floor landing with stained glass windows. There are some doors on either side of the room. A couple of dusty wooded tables are in front of them and in front of them on the staircase is a woman.
She was a pale, but beautiful, busty dark haired woman. She's wearing a sexy white dress that showed off all her curves. Her midnight black hair went well with the skimpy, white silk top she wore which ended just below her voluptuous breasts. It was amazing how they seemed to bounce whenever she would that she took in a breath. The white dress she wore ended just past her knees and had rather long slits in the sides which allowed her shapely thighs and long legs to move without being confined by the clothing. Her skin is flawless and she had a curvaceous body that a supermodel would kill for, but her eyes are those of a cold hearted killer that Ranma knew from the moment that he looked into her eyes. Also she has long green nails that look like they could cut into flesh as easy as a sharpen knife would.
"Hello there," the woman said in a husky voice that would have bothered Ranma if he didn't already know what she really is, a monster. "I'm called Nails and, I will be your killer for today."
Ranma got into a ready stance. "Where's my sister!"
Nails also got into a fighting stance. "She's up in the Clock Tower, but first you have to get by me!" Then she shot forward, lashing out with her nails. Ranma jumped back as her nails clawed through the air where he once stood a split second ago.
She shot out her hands out and let loose a volley of her nails at him. Ranma moved fast as the nails flew past him. If he learned anything from his past fights that those nails are covered with poison. Mousse used that tactic often enough in his battles with him. When the volley is done Ranma saw her nails regrew as fast as she had shot them at him.
Pulling out his sword Ranma began to slash away at her. However, he's not making any hits on her. She's as fast as Ranko is, but he could see that she wasn't as strong as she is. But with her poisoned nails she didn't need to be strong to win this fight.
"You know, you're really quite the looker," Nails purred as she ducked Ranma's swings at her. "After the boss is done with you maybe I can see how good you really are, in bed of course." She licked her lips as she dodges his attacks with ease.
"Sorry, but I don't hang around with someone like you. Besides, I'm already taken," he said as he ducked a knife hand from her. Ellen and her producer, unfortunately, will take out his last sentence later on so his troubles with the female population will not cease since if the females of Shibuya heard that they might stop watching their show in a fit of depression.
"Oh really? Well, let's see what you have to say after I'm done with you!" Nails said as she shot out her nails again at Ranma. Bringing up his sword Ranma blocked all of the nails before breaking away from Nails to come up with a better plan of attack.
"This is great!" Ellen exclaimed as she caught everything on film. She couldn't believe her luck as she filmed Ranma Wild taking on this woman that could shoot her nails out like a dart gun. This is going to be her big break!
Ranma knew that he didn't have time for this. He needed to take her out fast, but with Ellen around her couldn't use his magic on Nails. The fight had taken them onto the staircase looking over the room.
Using his speed Ranma grabbed her right arm when she slashed at him. Two quick jabs to her gut and solar plexus and an uppercut to her chin disoriented her. Getting a good grip on her arm Ranma swung her around before throwing her down from the staircase. She fell onto one of the heavy wooden tables, breaking it into pieces. Ranma had used his real strength when he threw her down so he knew she isn't getting up anytime soon.
"Come on! Let's go!" Ranma shouted to Ellen as he took off to the upper floors.
"Hey! Wait up!" Ellen said, not wanting to miss out on anything.
Climbing up to the fifth floor they came to a small outdoor deck overlooking the pond in the courtyard. A door is on the far sidewall ahead of them. When Ranma is halfway to the door he stopped when he heard the sound of drills turning on.
Standing on one of the ledges was a fairly tall man who was almost looks normal. But he has two metal tentacles popping out of his back and a large drill sticking out from the top of his head. The two metal tentacles came out from where his shoulder blades are. They're tipped off with two drills just like the one on his head. He's dressed in a green uniform with a pair of goggles on his head.
"Hello down there. I see you have gotten pass Nails, but I won't be as easy as she was," the drill man said as the two metal tentacles on his back waved through the air, their drills spinning fast. "My name is Spindrive and you won't get by me!"
Ranma pushed Ellen back to the doorway as the drill tentacles strike where he was standing at a second ago. The tentacles acted like snakes trying to get a bite out of him. Ranma had to jump and block with his sword as the two drill tentacles attacked him relentlessly. As he blocks one drill the other one would attack. Only his fast reaction saved him from getting a hole in his chest.
Looking up Ranma saw that Spindrive is several feet above him. He knew that if he wanted to win this fight he needed to take the fight up to him. Jumping onto the wall Ranma began to climb up the wall by grabbing onto the stone works that are carved into the wall.
Seeing Ranma climbing up to him Spindrive began to drill away at the wall above Ranma. Ranma had to jump from one side to the other as the falling stonework fell towards him. Seeing that the drills aren't in his way and he had a clear shot Ranma grabbed one of the falling stones and threw it at Spindrive, beaning him on his noggin. While he's stunned Ranma drove his sword into the wall and using it like a pole-vault, and catapulted himself right into striking range. He gave Spindrive a head kick that sent him falling down the ledge.
Using one of his tentacles Spindrive broke the ledge underneath Ranma sending him falling down as well. As they fell they continued to duke it out. Spindrive was lashing out with his tentacles as Ranma blocked them with his sword he had retrieved from the wall as he fell. Since Ranma was close to the wall, he kicked at the wall, sending him flying at Spindrive. Ranma gave him a punch to the jaw, sending him flying down away from the deck. Ranma landed on the deck floor while Spindrive fell away from it.
But his two tentacles grabbed onto the stone railing, trying to pull himself back up. Not wanting to waste anytime Ranma jumped over the railing, aiming for Spindrive. Landing with both feet on Spindrive's abdomen he kicked off of him so he could jump back up. Ranma saw his plan work as the two tentacles broke free from the railing and sent Spindrive falling to the ground below. A murky thunderous splash is heard as Spindrive fell into the pond down below. (1)
"Come on! We can't waste time!" Ranma shouted as he ran to the door.
"Wow! That was something else!" Ellen exclaimed as she ran after her biggest story. 'He's just like a comic book or manga superhero, especially with that armor he's wearing!'
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Up in the Clock Tower -
Sayo, Yun and Masato are locked together inside of a cage. Grasper is watching the door leading down to the bell room while Ms. Uikkan is watching the gunfight below them. She doesn't like what she's seeing. Her men are losing to two young girls even though the women are totally outnumbered.
"What are they doing?" Ms. Uikkan said as she watched her men lose to the two women that came with Ranma Wild.
Elsewhere in the room Shiori had been hiding for awhile now. She had come to the clock tower to look around inside after she had seen her grandmother who lived close by. She always loved exploring this place and had gone up to the tower. Then when she looked down at the landscape strange men dress in black drove into the compound. They looked like trouble so she climbed up onto the rafters to hide from them. But then a few minutes ago a huge man carrying Sayo and her friends came in and threw them into a cage she didn't notice before.
He was at least ten feet tall and built like a gorilla. He has long arms, but short legs. His hands are big enough to grab a fully-grown man like a rag doll. His bald head is normal sized, but on his overly large body made him look like a pinhead. He's wearing blue overalls and a red shirt underneath. He also has on black fingerless gloves.
Along with him was a middle-aged woman wearing a red business suit. She was carrying an uzi and wearing sunglasses she's also wearing a collar around her neck. And on the table in the middle of the room is the key for the cage.
Then she heard a gunfight going on outside. She knew that help had come, but still she has to get Sayo and her friends out of here. She knew that she couldn't hope to take down that huge man that the woman called Grasper in a fight. Looking around she found a way to knock him out. An iron bell is on the same platform she's on. It's to be used to replace any of the smaller bells if one of them broke down. It's one of the smaller bells for the bell room, but it's big enough to do what she's planning to do.
Knowing that she needed to move fast after doing this she pushed the heavy bell off of the platform. The bell fell onto Grasper who fell under its weight. Ms. Uikkan brought her uzi up, but it's knocked away from her when Shiori jumped down from the rafters and using her bokken knocked the weapon away from her.
"Shiori!" Sayo shouted out seeing one of her sister's friends coming to save them.
"Sayo, catch!" Shiori shouted out throwing her the key for the cage. She's keeping her weapon on the woman, keeping her at bay.
"Watch out behind you!" Yun shouted out.
Looking over her shoulder Shiori saw Grasper getting back up. He had lifted the heavy bell above his head and threw it at her. She jumped out of the way in time, but Ms. Uikkan isn't as lucky as the bell slammed into her and sending her and the bell crashing through the wood and stone wall falling down to the ground below.
Shiori only had time for a split second to look at the gaping hole when she saw Grasper coming at her. He brought down his hand at her like someone trying to swat a fly. Shiori knew that there's no way she can beat someone like him in a straight out fight, but she could buy the three kid's time to get out of the tower.
Shiori drew Grasper's attention away from the kids by hitting him with her bokken. "Sayo, you and the others get out of here!" Splitting her attention cost her. Grasper slapped her into a wall. The force he used is the same when being hit by a truck, but thankfully Shiori lived. When she reoriented herself she couldn't move her legs. She knew they're broken and she felt too weak to move around much. Looking up she saw Grasper coming at her. Closing her eyes she waited for her end.
"Lightning come forth!" both Grasper and Shiori heard coming from behind the huge man. Turning Grasper saw Sayo leaping at him with Shiori's bokken in her hand covered with lightning. She slashed at his back, making him scream out as he felt the lightning powered weapon strike him.
"Agent Sayo here to bring you down!" Sayo said as she readied her weapon at Grasper.
"Agent Masato backing you up!" Masato said as he held up the uzi that the woman dropped as well as three clips that are on the table. He had watched Sayo's brother and father practice with their guns long enough to know how to properly use a gun.
Grasper ran towards them to incapacitate them and put them back in the cage, but is cut short as Yun shouted out, "Ice Strike!" Grasper is knocked back as he felt ice blades striking him. Yun had asked Piccolo to let her have her own water rune.
"And Shaman Yun has you two covered!" Yun said as she and she two friends faced off against the gorilla wannabe.
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In the lower floors -
Ranma and the reporter Ellen had made their way up to the bell room. The setting sun is casting long shadows of the bells as well as making the sunlight look like beams of light coming through a tree line. Looking up Ranma could see the clock tower towering above him. The only path he could see to it is between the two rows of bells in the room. However, blocking his path was Faceless.
Ellen is catching everything as it happened. She's now pointing her camera at the man standing in front of them. The person she's filming is a tall looking man. He's wearing a light brown coat and tan colored pants. His face couldn't be seen thanks to a skintight metal mask that covered his whole head. There's no mouthpiece, no breathing holes or even eyeholes on the mask. However, Ellen could swear that she can feel evil coming from him.
'This is just like something right out of a movie!' Ellen thought to herself giddily as she filmed everything going on in front of her.
When Ranma and Ellen are a few feet from him Faceless spoke. "So, Ranma, once again we meet."
Ranma drew his sword from its sheath with an audible shink. "Faceless! Where are my sister and her friends?"
Faceless pointed up. "They're up in the clock tower, but if you want to get to them you have to beat me to do it." With the same finger he beckoned Ranma to fight him.
Ranma assumed a stance in response.
Holding both his hands up Faceless pushed his second and third fingers on both of his palms. This action caused the machinery that he wore in his gloves to make an odd 'shink' sound and brought up two long blades hidden along both of his arms. Seeing these blades Ellen's eyes widened in shock. The blades practically glowed with an evil aura. Seeming to feed off of her fear, Faceless spread his legs apart while lifting his heels up, making it seem like he's about to pounce like a deadly tiger.
Both Ranma and Faceless let out a roar as they both charged at each other. Both of their weapons clash against each other, sending out sparks out as the blades hit each other. Ranma blocked both of Faceless' overhand swings at him, but fell when a leg sweep hit his feet. Ranma rolled out of the way as Faceless tried to stab him with his blades. Jumping back up, Ranma let out a roundhouse kick at Faceless, connecting with the side of his mask and knocking him back.
Getting back up Faceless jumped onto one of the bell and sprung at Ranma with both of his blades pointing at him. He's spinning around through the air like a drill to inflict more damage. Ranma jumped over him as Faceless flew under him. He sheathed his sword for a second and used the Yama-sen- ken to send out a vacuum blade. Faceless created his own air blade with his twin blades and sent it flying at Ranma's. Both cancelled each other out when they hit each other.
Ranma's mind was racing as he looked for a way to defeat Faceless. He's a lot more skilled and even stronger and faster than Nails and Spindrive. He isn't holding back at all since he needed to get pass him, but Faceless is matching him with every one of his moves. And with Ellen around filming everything he can't use his only advantage, his runes, or else it will end up on TV.
Faceless charged at Ranma, swinging wildly as he tried to overwhelm him with his attacks. Ranma is forced back from the onslaught as he blocked all of Faceless' attacks at him. Faceless started spinning around like a top, slicing away at Ranma as he tried to block the spinning attacks. A few of Faceless blows got through his defenses, but thankfully were absorbed by his shoulder guards. Faceless stopped spinning when he got his blades locked with Ranma's sword.
Then a loud crash suddenly erupted above them. Ellen turned her camera up to the clock tower. The three saw what looks like a woman being knocked off of the tower by a bell, sending her falling with it to the ground below. Then gunfire is heard as somebody is having a fight up in the tower. Three small figures could be seen on the balcony, running away as if something is chasing them. Then the wall behind the figures burst open as a hulking figure came through it.
Ranma broke away from Faceless when he recognized who the small figures are. "Yun!"
"Oh no you don't!" Faceless shouted as he jumped in front of him to block his path. "You still have to get by me!"
He knew he didn't have time for this as Yun is being chased around by that huge figure. He blocked Faceless' attacks on automatic as he looked for a way to end this fight quickly. Then he saw his chance. He jumped up to the rafters that held the bells. He looked down to see where everyone is. Seeing that Faceless is right below him and Ellen is still near the doorway he made his move. He sliced through the wooden beam with all his strength (he hoped the sword wouldn't break, miraculously it didn't), sending the huge bells crashing down. Faceless tried to jump away, but the floor collapsed underneath him before he could, sending him and the bells crashing down through the floors to the ground level.
Ellen, who's still near the doorway, jumped back from the crumbling floor when she saw what's happening. When the smoke cleared there's a gaping hole where the bells went through the floor and she couldn't see to the other side of the hole where Ranma is. Looking around for him she saw that he is now scaling up the wall OUTSIDE of the building to the clock tower. Luckily there are a lot of handholds since the outside hasn't been maintained like the inside. Looking up through the camera she zoomed in on the fight happening up there.
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In the Clock Tower -
Masato is blasting away with the uzi at the hulking figure of Grasper, but it looks like the bullets aren't strong enough to even hurt him. His arms hurt like hell from the kickback, but he would rather have his arms hurt than be killed by the giant. Sayo is striking him every time she could get a clear shot at him. Her lightning weapon looks like it's hurting him a lot though. They are keeping Grasper back as Yun healed Shiori's broken leg with her water rune. Shiori's eyes are the size of dinner plates as she saw Ran's sister with her bokken with lightning around it and Yun healing her leg with what is obviously magic. "We'll explain later." Yun said to her.
"We need to get out of here!" Sayo shouted. Her arms are getting tired from repeatedly hitting Grasper. He may not be very smart, but he's as tough as a tank.
"How? There's no way we'll be able to get by him!" Masato shouted out as he took out the spent clip and place a new one in. He only had two clips left after this. He already spent two full clips on Grasper already and not making much damage.
"We need to knock him off the tower somehow," Sayo shouted as she struck Grasper's hands as he tried to grab one of them. She's the only thing that's stopping Grasper from grabbing one of them already.
Looking over the side of the tower Shiori as she is leaning against a railing she saw who she knew is Yun's big brother climbing up to them. Getting an idea she saw some rope near her. Grabbing the rope and making it into a lasso Shiori lassoed Grasper's right arm and pulled on it, tightening it. Before he could use the rope to pull her to him she threw the end of the rope over the side.
"Ranma! Catch the rope! It's tied to that guy Grasper!" Shiori shouted down to him.
Nodding to her as he figured out what she's thinking Ranma jumped away from the wall and grabbed onto the rope. Feeling a heavy weight pulling on his right arm Grasper is pulled back into one of the stone railings. Looking over the side he saw Ranma pulling on the rope on the other end of it.
Seeing their chance Sayo and Masato attacked him full on. Masato blasted away at Grasper, but stopped blasting when he saw Sayo running at him. Sayo jumped onto Grasper's chest and slash away at his face making him lean back even more on the stone railing until it broke under his weight. Sayo jumped off of him when she felt him begin to fall and saw him fall off of the balcony to the ground below.
Ranma seeing Grasper falling down the tower looked down to see where he could land. A stone pillar jetting out of the tower that's used as a rain gutter gave him an idea. Making sure he still held the rope Ranma moved to the other side of the pillar so that he and Grasper would fall on different sides so that his plan would work.
The rope got caught on the pillar and as Grasper was falling down on the other side Ranma felt the rope tighten up. Using this Ranma swung around so that he would swing over onto the other side and up on top of the pillar. Landing on it Ranma saw Grasper swinging to the side where he fell. He cut his end of the rope, which sent Grasper flying into the courtyard down below.
Rally and Minnie are finishing up with the last of the gunmen when they heard a loud crash near them. Looking around they saw a huge man had crashed onto the stone sundial, which broke under his fall. The metal needle in the middle of the dial is sticking out of his chest. He's clearly dead.
Rally and Minnie heard the sound of police cars coming towards them. The remaining gunmen seeing that back up is coming their way took off running. A police helicopter flew overhead as they followed the fleeing gunmen. Sayo and the other kids waved down to the police cars as they drove into the compound. Sayo saw her mother and father getting out of one of the cars and shouted down to them that she's okay. In the bell room, what's left of it anyway, Ellen couldn't believe the story she just made. This is her big break after all.
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A few hours later in the downtown police station -
Mrs. Kotobuki is hugging her daughter none stop since she had gotten hold of her saying she never wanted her to be in that kind of danger ever again. Mr. Kotobuki had called Masato's parents to pick him up saying that their son is very brave for helping out during the fight. Shiori is surrounded by Ran and her other friends thanking her for what she did to help out.
In the other rooms Rally and Minnie are answering some questions for the cops about the gunfight. Ranma and Yun are waiting in a room together in another room waiting for their turn to be questioned. The few scrapes and bruises he has had been patched up by one of the female officers who knew first aid, but he could have done without all the staring she did at his bare chest when she told him to take off his shirt, which he actually didn't need to do but was ordered to anyway. He REALLY could have done without the prolonged touches she did on his muscles.
A lot of female cops are dropping by the room asking if he wanted anything, or hinting about something that they are careful not to let Yun get any ideas what they wanted from her big brother. Ranma is glad that Yun is with him since she's the only thing holding off the female cops from taking advantage that he's in a small room with them blocking the only way out. He wondered what the hell he did to deserve this kind of attention. He didn't know about the photo Ayame had given to the two female officers who in turn spread it around. Neither did he know that there's currently a shortage of good quality men in Shibuya, and the women didn't care about the age difference either. He also didn't know that in some districts like Nerima and obviously here in Shibuya the traditional ways of acting all reserved and proper are thrown out of the window, at least by the women of the police station anyway. The string of women 'visiting' the room he's in stopped when a high ranking female officer told the large group of females in front of the doorway to get back to work.
She introduced herself as she sat down across from him. "I'm Lt. Wen and I would like to ask you some questions on what happened today."
Ranma nodded to her. "Of course. Go ahead."
The female cop, who is a very busty young dark haired woman, began asking some questions about what happened at the clock tower while writing down notes in her report. He wondered how come there are so many women with great figures in one city. Not even Nerima had this many women with good figures. They're nothing compared to Tina, Chris, Viki, Kodachi and Ranko of course.
He shivered when he thought about the great times Happosai would have here if he bothered to leave Nerima.
His musings is broken when the officer in front of him asked him another question. "Why did you go after your sister and the two other kids? Why not let us cops handle it," Ms. Wen asked as she held up a clipboard with papers on it.
Ranma answered, "But I did get the job done fast and the kids are all safe and sound. Also the letter said so."
"Well that's true. A fine job at that too. Now to the other questions." She asked him about the letter they sent, which he replied he had lost it when he went to the clock tower. He told her of its contents at least. He also told her about the fights he had with the four monsters.
When she's done with her questions she asked if they wanted anything. Ranma didn't want anything, but Yun did ask for a drink that Wen got for her. When she came back she pressed her overdeveloped chest onto Ranma's shoulder from behind him as she gave Yun her drink since Ranma is sitting down on the couch in the room with Yun sitting on his lap. She said it was very brave of him fighting for his sister like that and maybe she should give him something special for that. Laughing a bit nervously as he understood what she's getting at he told her he needed to stay with his sister. 'Kami-sama, I hope the girls don't find out about this!' He shivered in fear when the group of female officers returned.
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Down in the lower floors -
Down in the morgue room Ryo and Sakeo are looking over the body of Grasper.
"So what of the other three monsters that Ranma said he fought?" Sakeo asked as she wrote things down on a pad of paper.
Ryo shook his head as he looked over the dead body. "The guys looked all over the place, but they found nothing. Looks like the others got away."
"So what about Ms. Uikkan? How did she die?" Sakeo asked, looking over the dead body of the late crime lord.
"She either died from the fall or from the impact with the bell," Ryo said, looking at the body of one of the top crime lords in Shibuya.
"Okay. We need the reports when you guys are done," Sakeo said to the morgue workers who nodded and got to work.
"Make sure that there some armed guards in the room and outside of the door. Also bolt down the body," Ryo said. "I don't want what happened with Jack-O happening again. We thought he was dead too and you know what happened." The morgue workers nodded again as they tied the body down.
As they stepped out of the morgue Sakeo asked Ryo, "Where are Ranma and his sister?"
"They're up in the upper floors being question about the fight."
"And the reporter that was with him during the fight?"
"She left a while ago. The video she filmed is going to be shown at 6 tonight," Ryo said. He and the rest of the police had watched the fight between the four monsters and Ranma when they copied Ellen's tape (which she did a quick edit on when one of her company's news vans arrived and took out that Ranma is taken). They still couldn't believe the way he can fight like that against three of the monsters of the new crime lord. They also wondered where he got his armor from, which is now missing.
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In the lunchroom the female cops are talking about Ranma and his exploits in the tower.
"Can you believe it! He just took off and fought off four of those monsters just to save his sister," one of the cops moaned. Obviously she's a romantic.
"Yeah! That was so brave of him, fighting those monsters just to save his sister like that," another one cooed.
"The footage of his fights is going to be shown at six," one of them said. They had all watched Ranma fight off Nails, Spindrive, and Faceless and helped the three kids and that teenage girl to knock Grasper off of the tower.
Kaori walked into the room. "Ladies, get ready. Ranma and his sister are going to be leaving soon and he doesn't want the reporters to get anywhere close to his sister. Understood?"
"Right!" the girls sounded off. They didn't want to look bad in front of Ranma after all. It's so cute that he wants to protect his sister like that!
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In the upper floors -
Ranma and Yun are waiting in the room they were asked to wait in for the police escort back to the temple to be arranged. With them are Rally and Minnie. Rally seeing the camera in the room disconnected it to stop its filming on them.
"Well, the camera is out. What now?" Rally asked.
"Viki should be here about now," Ranma said. He had called her after he had finish answering the questions that the cops had for him.
Minnie sighed in relief. She figured that Ranma's group has magical powers too considering what she had seen Ranma use in the park when Kuno attacked. One of them is probably coming by to get them out of here. "Yeah, that's good. I saw what's happening outside and it's crowded with reporters. We'll get our car later."
"I want to go home now," Yun said tiredly from Ranma's arms. All the excitement has worn her out and now her big brother is carrying her. Before Rally and Minnie arrived Shiori had come by and had been told by the siblings to come to the temple tomorrow to explain everything to her.
A flash of light popped up in the room and Viki appeared. "Hi. You're ready to go?"
Ranma smiled warmly at her. She's always there to help get him out of trouble. "Yes dear. Take us home." He came up to her side and put an arm around her while his other arm is carrying his sister. Rally held onto Yun's hand and she held onto Minnie's in case the spell needed physical contact to work.
Viki loved it when he called her dear or any terms of endearment. He doesn't always call any of them terms of endearment. He hasn't said it out loud, but they figured out that he rarely uses terms of endearment because he doesn't want them to get used to it. If they do the words looses their meaning, so he only uses terms of endearment every once in a while. She put her head on his shoulder as she prepared to teleport them home. It's funny that her magic has been working really well ever since she came here and started to fall in love with him and he with her. "Ready, Set, and Go!" she exclaimed as she teleported everyone out of the room and back to the temple.
Then a few seconds after they are gone the door opened with Sakeo entering the room. "Mr. Wild are... you..." Sakeo stopped as she looked into the now empty room.
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That night at the temple –
Everyone except one person is asleep, especially Yun. The totally exhausted girl only ate a small dinner before plopping down on the couch. Tina had carried her to her room and Ranko gave her sister a sponge bath while she slept before going to bed herself.
Ranma also ate a small dinner and then took a bath before going to bed. Everyone understood how tired the two are after their ordeal and decided to talk to them about it tomorrow.
Right now though Ranma is out in the backyard sitting against a rock looking up at the stars. He had been asleep for only an hour before he woke up for no apparent reason. He couldn't go back to sleep so he went outside for some fresh air.
Now he's just thinking about what has happened today. That's the first time Neclord has went after innocents like that. Sure there was the ball, but they were after only him and the displays. Even if he has given up the old notions of honor he still thought going after noncombatants is a big no-no. He has to find a way to find Neclord and kill him, or at the very least find the Chaos Mirror and send him and his group back to the other world. This world isn't ready for the likes of them.
His musings is cut off when Viki appears next to him. She had woken up when she heard Yun mumbling in her sleep. She had hummed a little lullaby for the girl until her fitful sleep came to a rest. She then heard Ranma walking outside her and Yun's room and followed him. She let him stay by himself for a while before approaching him.
"Are you okay?" she asked him worriedly.
Ranma looked up at her and gasped a bit. With the way the moon is behind her and how cute she looked in her frilly nightgown the scene looked stunning. When he didn't reply to her question after a few moments she bent down and tested his forehead.
"What's wrong? You don't feel sick. Are you okay?" she asked him now really worried.
Ranma nodded his head to tell her he's okay. He wordlessly took her into his arms and settled her in his lap. He took in her scent as he snuggled with her in the cool air. It made him feel light headed. He caressed her side as he planted small kisses along her collarbone as she moaned a little in pleasure. He's very thankful that she's here now in his world. Her sudden appearance was a surprise to him, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He has a lot to thank her for. Not only does he have such a great woman in love with him he has fallen for her too. Without her appearance Ranko wouldn't even exist, just another thing he owes her. She's always there to help him as well. Without her they wouldn't have been able to make it out of the hospital or the police station without going thought the reporters. Heck, he would rather take Arthur and Kidd pestering him than the reporters here, especially that Ellen. Viki would do anything he asked of her without question. That kind of loyalty and love is hard to find. He's great full that he found it five times over. He would have to thank little Viki for pestering him to go out with the older Viki. He would have just thought of her as a friend if it weren't for little Viki telling him to give her a chance. He did...and he loved what he found in older Viki.
But that doesn't matter right now. He has a beautiful woman on his lap who is in love with him and who he loves in return. He kisses her along her neck until he reaches her lips where he kisses her hotly, which she returns with equal passion. When they parted for air he said only two words to her.
"Thank you," he said to her from the heart.
Viki looked at him a bit bewildered. "Huh? Thank you for what?"
Ranma smiled at her as he gives her another peck before answering. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe always being there for me? How about getting me out of trouble all the time? Or maybe it's because of you Ranko is alive right now. How about making me fall in...you know...with you." He still can't say it yet so instead he tries to convey it with his eyes.
Viki knew what he's trying to say and she returned his gaze. She caressed his cheek as she said, "I know. You don't have to say it yet. Don't force it either. When you say it to me I want it to be natural. I can wait until then. I love you too." She settled herself in his lap and just had him hold her. The two sighed in contentment as they shared body warmth while looking up at the few stars they could see in the sky.
After a few minutes of just enjoying each other's company he asked her, "Viki, what are you going to do once everything is done? Are you going to stay or are you going to look for your hometown?" She had told him of how she's blinking around the world looking for her hometown.
Viki sighed. "I don't know. I want to find Waffu so badly, but I've been looking around for it for decades. I don't know if I'll ever find it," she replied sadly.
Ranma raised an eyebrow. Decades? "What do you mean by decades? You look only a bit older than me, around twenty-one or twenty-two."
Viki looked a bit sheepish. "Whoops. You didn't need to know that." She sighed. It's time he knew. "Ranma, I've been hiding something from you. You know how I look around my early twenties" He nodded. "Well, I'm not." She looked a bit nervously at him.
Ranma looked at her bewilderedly. "Huh? Then how old are you?"
Viki sighed again in resignation. "Around at least a hundred and fifty years old." (B)
Ranma's eyes widened. "But...how? You don't have a True Rune do you? Is your Blinking Rune one?"
Viki shook her head. "No. The reason why I look so young is because I've been blinking wrong for such a long time that I actually skip whole decades when I do blink. That way when those years pass I don't actually age. To ME maybe about three or four years have passed since I blinked myself far away from my hometown, but decades have passed since I started looking for Waffu. Sometimes I even end up joining in a war or something when I blink around. The oldest war I can remember joining in is the Gate Rune Wars, but I know I've been in one or two before that one. But I just don't remember them. I've...I've been trying to go back home for so long now."
By the end she started crying softly. Ranma almost panicked before calming himself and just holding her while rocking her gently, all the while whispering comforting words to her. When she got herself under control again after a few minutes he spoke to her. "Viki, I'll help you find your hometown. It's probably still there waiting for you along with your family. Even if it isn't I'll help you anyway. We can go through a few archives and such when we get back to the other world. I know you might not want to, but please don't blink unless you have to. I...I don't want to lose you that way."
She smiled at him with a smile that showed how much she cared for him and how much that meant to her. "Thank you...my love. I promise not to blink away from you. If I do somehow, by accident, blink away from you I swear I will find you again. I don't care how long it takes me or even if years have passed, I will find you again. If I have to I will blink myself to heaven to find you. I have met so many different men in my travels, but I never felt like this about anyone before. I love you." With that the two kissed again, but unlike before this one is different. Like when Tina and Ranma kissed after their big dance during the ball this one sealed it for them. They both knew they just found the one they are meant to spend the rest of their lives with. Tina realized it then, but as Ranma is kissing Viki a small part of his brain not currently concentrated on the woman on his lap also registered that kiss days ago as the one sealing his fate with Tina together. Instinctively he realized it, but not consciously. He's a bit slow on the uptake for this emotional stuff so he can be excused. He's still learning even now. That same part of his brain made a note to do that kiss again with her and to make it up to her for not realizing that sooner. At the same time his mind registered this kiss as the one sealing his and Viki's fate together.
When they parted for air Ranma commented, "I guess since I'm with you and Chris I'm in love with older women huh?" Both laughed a bit at his comment before snuggling together even closer. Both occasionally kiss every now and then as they waited for sleep to take them. They will sleep here and won't wake up until hours later when they'll prepare breakfast for everyone so as to not let them know that they slept together under the stars. (C)
They didn't know they had an audience, five actually. Three of them are of course Watari, Ayame and Sasuke as they had spotted the two during their rounds around the temple. Sasuke just smiled in appreciation of the touching moment and left to continue his rounds. He should be mad at Ranma for not doing that with his mistress, but knew that he occasionally does moments like that with each of the girls he's with as equally as possible. That one seemed more emotional and vital than usual, but he knew that Kodachi's moment would come sooner or later. Watari nodded at the actions of his master and went on with his rounds while Ayame stayed to watch them until one of the other audience members told her to go.
Ranko had gotten so used to Ranma sleeping next to her that she had woken up when he didn't return to bed. She sneaked around looking for him. Watari directed her to the backyard where she saw Ranma and Viki just cuddling and looking at the stars right after the first part of their conversation. She felt jealous for a few seconds before she remembered that she can't a relationship with her brother. She watched them for a few minutes before going back inside content with the knowledge that at least he's happy, and utterly miserable because the fates had made it that they are brother and sister. She left just before the two started talking again.
Their last audience is Chris. She had gotten up to get a drink from the kitchen when saw Ayame looking at something in the backyard. She joined her and saw Ranma and Viki cuddling with Viki in his lap and Ranma propped up against one of the big rocks. She arrived just before Ranma asked Viki about her hometown. She motioned for Ayame to leave her as she listened in to their conversation. She felt surprised when Viki admitted how old she is, but accepted it anyway. She also committed herself to helping the two find this 'Waffu'. She blushed crimson when Ranma admitted that he's in love with older women. She had forgotten that she's twenty while Ranma is only eighteen well almost nineteen now. But she didn't care about that though as long as Ranma doesn't either. She went to bed happy with the knowledge that Ranma loves her too, even if he can't say it yet.
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A little after breakfast time -
Ryo is driving down to the temple where Ranma Wild lives. Kotobuki had asked him if he would go down there and ask Wild what is his connection with the new crime boss and those monsters that have been appearing. He got 'volunteered' for the job because almost all of the female officers wanted to go, but Kotobuki said if they did they would be more into asking Ranma out rather than getting any information out of him. He even prevented Kaori from going.
None of them understand how he and his sister and the Gunsmith Cats had gotten out of the station without being seen by the reporters outside. Then they found out that they are back at the temple and got pass the reporters there too. They didn't even take the Gunsmith Cat's car since it was left behind at the station. Well, they're going to find out today. Ryo's wired up so that the ones back at the station could hear what's going on.
When he reached the block the temple is in he parked it close by, but a bit far away from the temple. The front gate is crowded with reporters after seeing the footage that Ellen got the other day. The rest of them are drooling to get more footage like that. Seeing there's no way he could get through the front Ryo climbed over the wall.
Landing near the koi pond Ryo looked around the temple compound. The place is HUGE. Being in Japan a place with this much room is hard to come by in cities like Shibuya. The place is well kept. He can see it did need a bit of cleaning up here and there, but it still had something to it that made it special. He doesn't know what it is though.
Then Ryo saw something big moving through the water of the pond. Looking into the pond he saw an outline of something BIG in the murky water. Then a giant...SOMETHING jumped out of the pond and slammed him off of his feet, knocking him back into the outer wall. It all happened so fast that Ryo didn't actually see it before he's flying through the air, his mind feeding him the picture what it was as he hit the ground.
"An alligator!" Ryo screamed out.
On the other side of the wall the reporters all wished the guy stupid enough to go across the wall luck in surviving his encounter with the temple 'pet'. Almost all of them had scrapes, bruises and whatnot showing that they too had done the stupid thing and climbed over the wall.
'There's an alligator in the Koi pond!' that thought ran threw Ryo's mind as he got on his feet and stumbling away before he even knew he could get up. The ground trembled as the mammoth reptile crawled up from the waters of its home, gallons of murky water streaming from its toothy, grinning jaws.
"Holy! Its jaws are as big as me!" Ryo shouted to himself.
The beast let out a roar, an impossibly low bellow that rattled his bones from the inside. Sweat burst out from every pore on his body. As Ryo was pulling out his gun a woman's voice was heard.
"Mr. Green Turtle! Stop right now! Go back into the pond!"
The gator hearing this went back into the pool. Looking over to where the voice came from that stopped the gator from attacking him Ryo saw a VERY shapely twenty something-year-old woman. Ryo's mouth hit the ground when he saw the knockout babe standing in the doorway into the temple.
Hinako is used to such reactions from men so she paid his oogling no mind. "You must be the City Hunter, Ryo Saeba, right?"
Ryo is still in a daze, but he managed to nod and say, "Yes that's me. And who are you?" Drool is escaping from the corner of his mouth. Actually, a lot of drool is escaping the corner of his mouth.
"I'm Hinako Ninomiya. We've been waiting for you. Come inside," Hinako said stepping inside the temple.
Not wanting to make her wait or let the gator in the pond have another go at him Ryo ran inside the temple. "Wait up!"
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Inside the temple -
Ryo looked around the place he just entered. Seeing this much open space in Japan is a rare thing to see. He can see why people are after Ranma for a story. A place like this doesn't come cheap. Ms. Hinako had walked him into the living room. Also in the living room are Fred and Rico.
Hinako walked towards Fred and stood next to him. "Mr. Saeba, I hope that Mr. Green Turtle didn't scare you too much, but he does an excellent job keeping the reporters from entering the compound. He just thought you were another intruder. Although you are we will excuse it this one time."
Fred turned to her and smirked. "So he tried to eat him too, huh."
Ryo changed the subject before they got to teasing him. "Ryo's fine, but what's with that gator?"
"Oh, he's a pet. We have all the paperwork for him too. Also, keep the noise down. Yun is still sleeping in her room. Now come along. The others are waiting for us," Hinako said. She nodded to Rico who walked over to a picture frame and opened it, showing a panel hidden under it. Pushing some keys Ryo felt the floor under him give way as all four of them went down like an elevator.
"What is this!" Ryo felt like he's in a bad science fiction movie.
Hinako looked seriously at him as she replied, "Ryo, as you have seen in the past few weeks there are things that go bump in the night. We're the ones that bump back," Hinako said as the elevator ride stopped. The wall in front of them opened to show Ryo the room before him. (2)
There are inset fluorescent lights on the ceiling, concrete walls, and even the floors. Weird machines covered with blinking lights are running experiments all over what is obviously a laboratory. The place is filled with all kinds of machines of every shape and size. Pistons pumped, cogs turned and wheels revolved and making a lot of noise while they did that.
Ryo couldn't believe that something like this could be built underneath a temple without anyone knowing what's going on. "What is this place?" he asked with a bit of awe and wonder.
Hinako smirked at him as she said, "This, my dear City Hunter, is the secret base for the Japan based operations of the Dark Hunters."
Ryo's eyes still hasn't returned to normal from their current size of dinner plates as he asked, "Dark Hunters?"
Fred nodded. "Yes. You see after Teddy Roosevelt shot and killed a werewolf while he was hunting in the backwoods of Europe he saw the danger that the supernatural world has in store for a world that no longer believes in them, so he created the Dark Hunters to hunt down the dangerous creatures of the dark. Dr. Jones can tell you more about how the D.H. got started since he had helped more than once in the early days when all of this started."
"Yes, I sure did help out in the past. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my own grandson, Ranma, had joined them after he left his old life behind," said Dr. Jones as he walked up to them.
"Wait. You mean that the U.S. has a secret organization the deals with supernatural monsters?" Ryo asked, feeling like he's inside a comic book.
Jones nodded as he led them deeper into the lab. "Yes. There are other organizations like this all over the world, but none of the people in the government will ever admit that they have one. It would look bad for them since some governments use the supernatural for their own needs."
Ryo is feeling a bit lightheaded as he asked, "Why are you guys telling me this then?"
Jones stopped and turned to look at him seriously. "Well, since Neclord has started to increase his attacks on the city we needed to get the local police into this to help us out. I'm sure that you are wired up so I ask that the ones listening in on this to pay attention and keep this under wraps."
"Wait, Neclord?" Ryo asked.
Rico took up the explanation. "Yes. Neclord is a vampire that's over six-hundred years old. The D.H. had tracked him down to Shibuya after his base in Eastern Europe was destroyed. He's hopping to build an underworld kingdom here where most demon hunters aren't used to dealing with his type of night breed."
Ryo breathlessly asked, "Then what about the monsters with him?" If there are more monsters like Jack-O and Afterburn they are in SERIOUS trouble.
"They were made from a mixture of science and magic in other words Neclord use alchemy to create them," Molly said as she walked over to them.
Ryo's eyes widened and he whimpered a bit when he recognized 'the evil one's voice'. "You?" he squeaked out.
Molly nodded seriously. For once she doesn't have any of her usual evil grins or anything. "Come along now. The others are waiting," Molly said as she walked over to a side door on the wall.
"Would you three go with Ryo? I'm going upstairs," Jones said as he went back the way they came.
"Come along," Hinako said as she followed Molly as Fred and Rico followed her. Ryo seeing he's being left behind again took off after them.
He followed them through a door into another room. It's a gray room with a long meeting table in the center with a slide projector set up in front of a portable screen at the far end. Sitting around the table are the rest of the temple household members (minus Yun) including the Gunsmith Cat Girls, two people dressed in ninja outfits and the bat-creature. Sitting at the very head with Tina and Chris on either side of him is Ranma Wild, or should he say Ranma Saotome. Hinako, Fred, Rico and Molly took their own seats as Ryo looked around the table.
For once Ranma is in a business suit with a VERY serious expression. "So, Ryo, you finally got here. We've been waiting." He pointed at an empty seat at the other end of the table, the proverbial hot seat.
Ryo felt shivers go up his spine at the cold, authorities tone in Ranma's voice as he took the seat. "Yes Wild, or should I say Saotome," he said hoping to get some foothold in this conversation. He felt like he's in front of a panel of judges that will decide whether he lives or not.
"So you know about my past," Ranma said with the same voice.
Ryo nodded. "It wasn't that hard to do. No one who lives anywhere near Nerima hasn't heard about you or what happened to the city after you left."
Ranma slightly nodded his head. "Yes, but that life I had there wasn't worth living. Besides, I wouldn't have gotten to meet my new friends if I hadn't," he said with a bit of warmth as his eyes went around the table before focusing on him again with the same cold detachment and the same intense scrutiny.
Even though he's older than the teenage boy he felt like a five year old being scrutinized by an adult. "So would you mind filling me in on some of the missing parts of the story?"
Ranma nodded. "First, let me go around the table. You already know some of these people like Molly, who you know very well," hearing this Molly grinned at Ryo who whimpered a bit seeing the look in her eyes he knows too well. "So let's go to the ones you don't know. Hinako here helps us out and keeps tabs on what's going on in the streets through the schools. Edge here is the handler of the Seven Star Dragon Sword."
"Yes. Even if I could be used by someone else who could use my powers better," the Dragon Sword grumbled a bit. Edge smacked the sword's face at the remark, which just smirked at being able to get on the kid's nerves so easily.
Ryo's eyes widened. "The sword talks?"
Ranma nodded. "Yes. The Seven Star Dragon Sword, or Zodiac Sword, has the power to destroy any creature of the night. He's a magical weapon that chooses who will wield his mighty powers. He has met and fought Neclord before, but he got away each time."
"Only because he's too much of a weasel whenever he has his back to a wall and shows his true colors," the Seven Dragon Star Sword growled.
Ranma cleared his throat. "Anyway, over to your left are Watari and Ayame, two ninjas that have been trained to get in and out of anywhere without anyone knowing they were there. Then to your right is Piccolo and Viki. Both are magic users. Yes, as you should know magic exists. Piccolo specializes in attack magic while Viki specializes in teleporting magic. Ranko here was my girl form until a messed up spell brought the dead spirit of the girl in the pool at Jusenkyo back to life. The last one is Landis. The 'bat-creature' is actually a winger, a race of people who can fly, but keeps to themselves. The others you should know from your reports including Kodachi and Sasuke, and I'm sure you've met Mr. Green Turtle outside," he said with an evil grin.
Ryo did NOT like Ranma's evil grin. It's like staring at a berserker before it rips you apart. In order to make the grin go away he said, "Wait. You mean all this time the only reason you're back in Japan is because you're after a dangerous vampire that came over here?"
Thankfully, VERY thankfully for Ryo, the grin went away and he went back to his serious expression. "Yes, Mr. City Hunter, that's the only reason why."
"And now down to business," Hinako smiled.
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Back at the police station -
Ryo had just gotten back from his meeting with Ranma and the others and entered, more like staggered, into the room where Sakeo, Kaori and Kotobuki are waiting for him.
"So you three heard everything right?" Ryo asked. He's still shaky from everything he has learned and seeing Ranma's serious personality. He could put tough old men with years of business experience to shame. With the quality of those types of people in Japan that's saying a lot.
"Yes. Hard to believe that there's something like the Dark Hunters, but after what I've seen for the past few weeks I'll believe in just about anything," Kotobuki said. He couldn't see Ranma's expression so he and the two women wondered what got to Ryo.
Sakeo is a bit worried on how shaky Ryo is, but brushed it off as she knew that he'll just bounce right back. "I called a few friends in the states, but none of them have ever heard of the Dark Hunters before," Sakeo said.
Kaori rolled her eyes at her. "Of course not. I mean, something like that is bound to be under lots of red tape and you know how the U.S. likes to keep stuff out of the public eye."
Ryo took a few deep breaths to settle his nerves. "Yes. Also Ranma wants to know what other crime lords worked with the late Ms. Uikkan so they know who to look for."
Kotobuki nodded. "Yes. I just got off the phone with Zen and he's sending a file with names to us. He didn't believe what I told him about the reason why Ranma Wild is here, but he did say he's going to help us out. You guys already know that we can't let this leek out."
"Yeah. Besides, who's going to believe us," Kaori said and the others agreed.
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After Ryo left –
Ranma whistled in relief as he lost the tension in his body. Even with all his skills he's still a horrible actor. In order to compensate for it he used the Soul of Ice to project the image of a stern, cold leader of a group of Dark Hunters. It's the easiest image to produce.
Kodachi smiled at him to show she's impressed. "That was a pretty good job Ranma. I almost wet myself when you spoke to him," she said with mirth in her eyes.
Everyone nodded. He can be pretty scary when he wanted to be.
Edge went to a phone at the side of the room and called upstairs. He spoke to Jones on the other side of the phone for a few moments before turning back to the group. "Shiori's here. Better go up," he directed towards Hinako.
"I'm going." She got up from the table and went to a panel. She pressed a few buttons and the floor under her went up like an elevator.
Ranma added before Edge could hang up, "How's Yun?"
Edge spoke again to Jones for a moment before replying. "She's still asleep. All that action yesterday really sapped all her strength. She's okay, just needs food and sleep."
"Alright. Thank grandpa for looking after her. Tell him we'll be finished with Shiori as soon as possible." As Edge went back to the phone with Jones Ranma turned to Fred and Rico. "You two have it?"
Both nodded. "Yup, right here." They patted a piece of wood under the table.
A few minutes later Hinako walked in with Shiori behind her. She had the same awed look as Ryo did before her.
"Hello Shiori. Glad you can make it," Ranma said with warmth in his voice. Unlike Ryo they decided to tell her the truth.
Shiori's eyes widened as she took in everyone at the table, including the bat-creature Landis. Hinako led her to the same seat Ryo had previously sat in.
Ranma smiled, hoping to bring her back to reality. "Hi Shiori. I'm sure you'd like to meet everyone else." He introduced her to everyone else. He and the others then proceeded to tell her everything, from Ranma's past to why the monsters are attacking. They figured she has earned the truth with her actions at the clock tower. At the end it's nearly lunch time and she's has the whole situation down, surprising everyone at how fast the two meetings went. She has promised not to tell anyone anything, especially the police and the media. Fred and Rico then made her stand up and walk to them. Her eyes widened when the two presented her with her dojo's sign.
As Fred handed her the piece of wood he said, "In recognition of your skills and for your actions yesterday in helping to free Yun and her friends, we present you with your dojo sign."
Shiori took it with grace. However, as soon as she put the wood down she launched herself at Fred. She was aiming to give him a kiss on the cheek in thanks, but missed and kissed him on the lips instead. The two are too shocked to separate for a quite a few seconds. In the time between the kiss and the two separating everyone else got over their shock and started laughing at their stunned expressions, everyone that is except Rico. She looked like she's about to blow. Blow she did. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MASTER FRED?"
Everyone had to hold back the enraged girl from ripping apart the girl who hasn't stopped blushing yet. She and Fred are thoroughly embarrassed, but cannot change the tingle they felt when their lips met. They just shook their heads and bowed to each other, hoping to hide their blushing faces while Rico continued to try to get to Shiori to pound her with her hammer.
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In a forested area in Japan -
Dr. Jones couldn't believe that this place is still here. It hasn't changed much since he was last came here decades ago. The building he came to after Shiori had left and they had lunch is a sword smith's shop, one of the few left in Japan. This is the same place he had Hina's sword made by a Masamune's descendant. Now it's time to re-forge the sword that had been broken. He had called earlier and talked to the grandchild of the sword smith that made Hina's sword.
The current sword smith is the granddaughter of the sword smith that made the sword in the first place and she said over the phone she could make a new sword or that she could make a new one out of the piece he has and metal alloys that he would have to provide. When Jones asked Ranma about it he decided to just have a new sword forged out of the broken one so that he could finally rid himself of the last pieces that linked him to his old life. He tried out the Healing Blade on Fred's sword and found that he doesn't need the sword to be broken in order for him to use it as he originally thought.
Jones had Viki teleport him to the sword smith's shop and told her he'll call when he's done. Walking through the open doorway Jones saw that the forge had changed quite a bit since he was here last. New equipment lined the area with old tools of the trade. There by the forge getting the fire in the oven ready is a middle aged dark haired woman. She's well built and quite a lovely sight to behold. She's dress in work clothes and a leather apron to protect her from sparks from the fire.
Jones knocked on the door to get her attention. "Hi. You must be Gon's granddaughter."
Jura walked up to him and bowed, which Jones returned. "You must be Dr. Jones. My name is Jura Masamune (D). Is that it?" She pointed to the sheathed sword on his belt. Jones nodded and handed the whole thing to her. She took the broken sword out and looked it over. "So what kind of sword do you want?"
Jones took out a roll of blue paper he had in his jacket. "I have a drawing of what the sword should look like. Ranma told me since I picked what it should look like in the first place I should do it again. Your grandfather and me worked on this together," he said as he handed her the blueprints of the sword he wanted.
Looking at the drawing Jura saw it's an eastern designed sword with a bit of western mixed into it. The blade would be single edged and curved a bit like a regular katana, but it's the end point that got her. The end point would look like the end is cut in a slanted way, giving the sword an odd look to it. If you held the sword parallel to the ground with the sharp edge pointed towards the ground the end point sticks out at the top. From about halfway up the blade the blade would widen making the top half larger. This way when you slash at your opponents it would inflict more damage as the added girth adds more power to it. The blade itself is also a bit thinner than a regular katana and a tiny bit more curved, but the main design is still a katana with a western feel to it. The thinner blade actually made it more aerodynamic. Overall it emphasized speed and efficiency as its thinner shape would cut through the air faster and the end point would inflict more damage than a regular katana would be able to do. The curve also reduces the tension that goes through the sword and also through the wielder's hand when it strikes your opponent. While the thinner blade would be easier to break she knows ways of making the blade extra strong so it would be even stronger than regular swords. With her new equipment she can make the sword even sharper than regular katanas. While it's an unorthodox considering standard katanas it's still a very good design. (E)
She had watched as Ranma Wild fought off those monsters on TV with her grandfather's broken sword that he made years ago. If her grandfather's sword is that powerful, even if it's been broken in half, then she could make a sword out of this that's even better! It would prove that a woman could be a sword smith. What's weird is that even from the broken part of the sword she could tell that the design on the blueprints and the design of the sword seemed different. It didn't really matter though as she put the drawing down and looked at the old man. "I'll have the sword ready in a week. What do you want the sword to be made out of?"
Opening a bag he brought along with him he set five bars of metal in front of her on a nearby table. "Titanium steel alloy that's been melted down and forged into shape. It's almost impossible to break. This is what the new sword will be made out of. I know it's a bit hard to use, but seeing as you are related to your grandfather I know you can do it."
Jura's is wide-eyed as she looked at the five bars of one of the hardest metals in the world. "Wow! I never worked with such fine metals before! If you're using that I would have to fix the sheath as well so that the inside and outside is lined with titanium. There's enough here to do both the sheath and the sword. I have to change the sheath anyway to make up for the extra curve. This is not the sword's original sheath anyway. So, you want the sword to be melted down with the alloys and then have me make the sword on the blueprints right?" He nodded at her and she made some notes on a piece of paper. She then remembered something. "Wait a minute Dr. Jones. Grandpa told me that if you ever returned here that I should give you something."
Jura rushed into one of the rooms looking for something for a few moments. Then she hurried back with an old wooden chest and set it down in front of him.
Jones is a bit bewildered at this. What would Gon have left behind for him? Opening the box Jones saw a letter on top of some scrolls. Jones' eyes widened when he read who the letter is from, Hina. In the letter she said she knew her parents would destroy anything that showed that she had started her own school of swordsmanship, so she had asked Gon to hold onto the scrolls of her school so that there would be something left if anything happened to her.
Looking down at the scrolls sitting in the box Jones only had one thought in his mind. 'So, Hina, it looks like you also have something to give to our great-grandson.' He had seen the moves she had made and knew they would help their grandson greatly. He smiled a wistful smile as he read the part of the letter meant only for him.
As he looked over the letter Jura looked over the sword again. Her eyes widened as she figured out why the sword seemed so 'wrong'. She turned to the aging adventurer and said, "Did you know that this sword has been tempered with?"
Jones looked up at her with a questioning stare. "What do you mean 'tempered with'?" he asked with measured tones.
She held up the sword and the blueprints, each in one hand. "I meant as in someone had tempered with the sword. It's been re-forged before so that the indications of the sword's weird designs were taken out and then the sword reshaped into a typical katana. Whoever did it did an adequate job, but also made the blade weaker. That's why the sword broke in the first place. He or she had put impurities in it that made the sword weaker than it should have been. It's still good, but more than half of its endurance is gone and its efficient design is gone as well."
Jones growled as the implications of this hit him. It seems that Hina's parents are REALLY messing things up for him and his family. Jura nodded in agreement. To her, making a sword that's been made by her family LESS efficient is the ultimate insult.
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In a dark hallway -
Neclord is walking down the hallway with the six crime lords following him. The death of Grasper had put a real damper on his mood along with the death of Uikkan as well. She was a good plaything and her blood had a sweet taste to it that's hard to find around here. But the death of Grasper was the thing that got to him most. He wasn't that smart to begin with, but when asked to do a job he did it without asking questions. Someone like him would be hard to replace.
"Neclord, where are we going?" Mr. Ronize asked as he and the others are led down the hallway to metal double doors at the end.
"Well, since Ranma Wild is stronger than I first thought I decided to create some more helpers. I wanted to show you what I made," Neclord said as he pushed the doors open. It revealed a huge chamber with a high ceiling lined and monitoring consoles with techs running all over the place looking at the data coming off them. Cables snaked across the floor and are connected to a whole series of standing glass tubes. There are eight of the tubes lined up in the center of the room, each of them big enough to hold a full grown man. They are all empty.
The crime lords are gazing at all of the technical and medical equipment and...and stopped staring, feeling their jaws drop. Against the back wall is a much larger tube, at least eight or nine feet tall, hooked up to its own computer console...and the thing inside filled it top to bottom. It's monstrous.
It's tall, but proportionally correct. At least the broad muscular torso and long legs anyway. Those parts appeared human. One of its arms had been altered into a cluster of massive, dragging claws hanging past its knees, while the other seemed ordinary if overly large. There's a thick, bloody tumor protruding from where its heart would be and they realized as they stared at the bulbous mass that it's the thing's heart. Incasing it is a metal plate to protect it as it's pulsing slowly, expanding and contracting in slow, rhythmic beats.
Mr. Ronize stopped in front of the tube, awed by the abomination. He could see lines of scar tissue snaking across its limbs, surgical scars. It has no sexual organs as they had been cut away. He looked up at its face and saw that parts of the flesh there had also been removed. The lips are gone and it seemed to grin broadly at him through the sliced tissue of its face, all of its teeth exposed.
"It's Tyrant from Resident Evil!" Mr. Ronize exclaimed to Neclord.
Neclord grinned at him. "Yes. That game gave me plenty of ideas when I saw a few of your men playing it, so I created a monster based on the monsters in that game," Neclord said. Ugly as it is the thing is a marvel of surgical, chemical, and genetic engineering. Also with the help of some of his magic he brought the creature to life and under his control. The technology in this world is so advanced that what would have taken him and Zomba years to do is accomplished in little more then a month.
"You aren't going to unleash a zombie virus like in that game, right?" Mr. Ronize said very fearful what Neclord could do in such little time. The other members of the inner crime circle looked at him apprehensively as they waited for his answer.
Neclord is still grinning at him. "Of course not. Unleashing something like that wouldn't do at all. Making people into the undead makes ruling them easy, but I don't want to stand out and bring unwanted attention onto me. Besides, zombie girl's blood tastes horrid and they provide no entertainment since they fall apart before they even do any of their 'duties'," he said with a smirk.
"So what are you going to do with him?" Mr. Ronize asked, very relieved.
"Oh, nothing much. I'll wait till the others have been made, then let them have some fun outside. And I already know the perfect place to let them out," Neclord smiled evilly.
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Nighttime at Shibuya -
Ranma and Chris are finally on their date that she had been waiting for. They are still pretty famous around the area, but risked going out anyway. At lunch time Chris had made him his FAVORITE meal in the whole world, ramen noodles with egg and shrimp tempura and two servings of takuyaki and shomai. He never had such a great meal in his life! The way Chris made it is even better than Kasumi used to make for him! He didn't care that people or reporters might mob them tonight. He just HAD to take her out, at the very least in thanks for cooking him his favorite meal. His main reason, of course, is that he wants to spend time with one of the women he's in love with. Having her cook that meal just made him love her more. It meant THAT much to him that she bothered to find out what he likes to eat. He doesn't know how she found out, but the look on her face as she watched him eat it told him that she had known it's his favorite meal and decided to cook it for him.
After lunch was finished he had asked everyone to do something for him that involved them being away from the temple for a little while. He then went to the kitchen where Chris is doing the dishes. He had grabbed her in a gentle and loving hug from behind and brought their two bodies close. He felt her shiver in pleasure as he made his way up her neck towards her ear all the while kissing her every inch of the way. When he reached her ear he had asked her if she's willing to go out with him tonight, which she replied to with an enthusiastic "YES!" and sealed it with a kiss that left both of them breathless.
The nightclub they just arrived in is the hottest one in the Shibuya area. The room is dark and bright at the same time. Dark as in there's no main light and only lasers and other specialty lights lit up the place. Chris winced as the pulsing lights from the onstage musicians passed her way, blinding her temporarily. An elevated platform held those whom are resting and enjoying a drink while listening to the band playing on stage or when the DJ went on. There are over a hundred people, teenagers mainly, packed into the club. It's perfect for two people trying to blend in. He figured the whole restaurant bid would attract too much attention so he brought her here under the advice of Ms. Hinako. He did feel a few times like he's being followed, but there was no one when he checked so he figured he's being paranoid.
Ranma is dressed in a red sleeveless shirt and blue pants. However, it's not his usual Chinese attire as the shirt is a regular shirt and his blue pants are actually jeans. He's even wearing sneakers instead of his usual slippers. A black bandanna covered his rune as well and the fingerless gloves he's wearing hid the Gale and Chimera Runes, which he never took off. Ranma is getting a few of stares (complete with drooling and a few 'hubba hubba') from the single young women in the club just like Chris is getting quite a lot of attention from the single young men (a few wolf whistles were directed her way that stopped when Ranma punched out one of them that was close by). She's in a low cut golden dress and high-heeled shoes. In fact, the dress flatters her a LOT more than Tina's dress did in the ball and she's wearing an even MORE alluring perfume than during the ball. Her hair is loose down her back, making a contrast of silver and gold with her dress. Like Tina before her she's pressing her body onto Ranma's who is trying to fight down the eechi thoughts out of his head. It's very hard to do as she keeps moving certain parts of her shapely body against him. It's just as bad when Tina did the same thing to him. Chris is just enjoying herself as she molded her body to his while he had an arm around her.
The place is packed with partygoers as they danced the night away. Flashing neon lights and the black lights are changing the colors of anyone that got caught in their gaze. The owners of the club gave the partygoers a great place to party and a great place for Ranma and Chris to have their date at while not being noticed.
Ranma had something to say to Chris that he has been meaning to tell her for quite a while now. It's pretty important, but it could wait till after their dance. He dragged her to the dance floor with only minimal protest from her.
"Oh, come on Ranma! I can't dance to this type of music!" protested Chris. The most dancing she had ever done is dancing around her opponent. She has no knowledge of dancing at all.
Ranma smiled at her as he dragged her more into the crowd. "Don't worry hon. Look, see everyone else? Just copy what they're doing and you'll be okay. No one will think you look funny or anything. They're too busy with their own partners to care."
It's true as she looked around at the people dancing around her and Ranma. They are so preoccupied with their own partners that no one is paying them a second glance. There are a few groups here and there that seem to be having competitions against each other, but overall every couple is by themselves.
Ranma added the final incentive. "Hey, I'm pretty much a beginner like you anyway. It sounds weird coming from someone the Chaos Rune chose to be its owner, but I know the more ordered and formal dances than this type of dancing. Don't worry, just let yourself go for tonight." This is actually the best place for her. Only Kodachi rivals her for her pretty reserved manner. While not as stiff as traditional people both of them are still considered a bit conservative if you don't take into consideration how they dress.
Ranma had started dancing a bit to the music already, prompting her to do the same. He looked a bit awkward since he doesn't really know what to do, but this is where his school of martial arts kicks in. While different from the Anything Goes style it still has adaptation as one of its main points. This is showing as he's combining what he's seeing the other teenagers do and combining it with martial arts, making a pretty decent show.
Chris, encouraged by her boyfriend's actions, starts to copy some of what the other female dancers are doing. The two of them never stray from each other more than a few inches as they enjoyed the closeness and don't want to get separated by the crowd.
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An hour into dancing Chris is really cutting loose with him to the driving techno beats. Gone is her reserved nature and now a new facet of her personality is emerging, the loose and fun woman that's out with her boyfriend at a nightclub having a good time. Her natural grace gained from training and battles also plays a part in her dancing. Ranma has also let himself go seeing Chris having a great time. Thankfully they're not TOO loose in what they do. No, while they are never more than a few centimeters away from each other they are not doing THAT kind of dancing. Inhibitions may be gone from the excitement of being on the dance floor, but they are not as dumb as that couple over there a few feet from them that should get a room instead of being out here, or that one over there that are being thrown out for 'dancing' even worse.
As the umpteenth song faded out to a close the DJ came on. "Ok guys and girls! I just got a request to put on a song from a special friend of mine. It's not the type of song we usually play here, but just go with it for now!"
As the song played Ranma's eyes widened. He was just listening to this song yesterday! This is one of the songs that Ms. Hinako had told him to brush up on. Although he always hated this song when she's grading him on how he's translating it and speaking the words. It's after all a mix of English and Spanish. He gets the English parts easy enough, but languages other than English and Japanese always seems to escape him. Even Chinese seems to not mesh with him. He can say the Spanish parts pretty well with just a bit more accent than when he speaks English, but for the life of him he doesn't know what the hell they mean. Only reason he can even say it is because Ms. Hinako wouldn't let him NOT learn this song. At least after teaching him to do this song she stopped doing songs that aren't in English or Japanese. He didn't think he can take any more.
He always wondered why Ms. Hinako has this type of music, but never asked. She even had the Spanish version of this, one he has seen her listen to every now and then. He always wondered just how many different languages she knows. 'What a coincidence that this song came on just now. I wonder who asked for this song.' (F)
Ranma smirked at his date as he got a devious glint in his eyes. He didn't tell this to Tina that night at the ball, but he also knows the OTHER school of Ballroom Martial Arts Dancing. Gods he hated the process of learning that school! His instructor sure knew what she was doing, but for some reason he got the feeling that she enjoyed torturing him during the process. Torturing him as in she's the relentless type of teacher who demanded perfection. He spent close to five months with that sensei, surprising him that Genma didn't protest. Still, he also mastered that school and integrated it into his own school. He hasn't used it before now as it seemed like something Happosai would do, but he's not really inhibited right now so he didn't care and plus the song seemed appropriate. The theme of the song seemed good for the situation and so he set himself to showing his girl a good time. He decided to use one of the less...err...'suggestive' dances of that school, which he only now realized is suggestive as he never really thought about it and he was only a kid when he learned it. (G)
Chris is both excited and afraid when she saw the glint in Ranma's eyes. He dragged her over to a relatively open spot and started dancing with her. However, this one seemed different. He's holding her a lot closer than before. His hands roamed over her body while somehow not considered groping as he led her through a very seductive dance while still seeming sort of decent since it's structured rather than the dances the couples previously mentioned before did. The bouncers didn't know if they should throw them out or not so they let the two go and watched. His hands also encouraged hers to roam over his body. What she doesn't know is that she's experiencing the modified (some call it perverted) version of the School of Ballroom Dancing for the first time.
Like last time the song is instrumental so he sang the song to her. She didn't know what to do so he led her. His hands, while seeming to roam all over her body, is actually leading her body to move this way and that with gentle pressure while feeling like caresses to her. It helps a lot that her normally stiff posture is gone and she's like clay right now.
(H)
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Cue in the dance scene-
(Esta noche bailamos,)
(Te doy toda mi vida.)
(Quedate conmigo.)
(Tonight we dance.)
(I leave my life in your hands.)
(We take the floor.)
(Nothing is forbidden anymore.)
(Don't let the world dim my sight.)
(Don't let the romance go by.)
(Nothing can stop us tonight.)
(Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, Bailamos!)
(Gonna live this night forever,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, te quiero!)
By now the people around them and the bouncers are watching the two. They are walking the thin line between decent and indecent, but still they are doing a great dance
(Tonight I'm yours.)
(We can make it happen I'm so sure.)
(Now I'm letting go.)
(There is something I think you should know.)
(I won't be leaving your side.)
(We're gonna dance through the night.)
(I'm wanna reach for the stars.)
Now they have the attention of those on the elevated platform and about a quarter of all the people in the club. Still they are dancing at that line so the bouncers didn't do anything. However, instead of walking they are more tip-toeing that line.
(Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, Bailamos!)
(Gonna live this night forever,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, te quiero!)
Half of the club's population is now watching them. For her part Chris is about to burst. She's never felt this exhilarated before in her entire life! Actually, exhilarated isn't the right word to describe how she feels. More appropriate is turned on. She knew her Ranma is special, but holy s! She wasn't expecting this! Ranma's just glad that she looks to be having fun.
(Whoa, oh oh oh. Tonight we dance.)
(Whoa, oh oh oh. Like no tomorrow.)
(Whoa oh oh oh. If you will stay with me.)
(Te quiero, mi amor.)
The whole club is watching them now! They're entranced by what the couple is doing. Some are trying to copy their movements, but paled in comparison to the two. The two parted the sea of people wherever they went.
(Quedate conmigo.)
(Esta noche.)
(Bailamos.)
(Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, Bailamos!)
(Gonna live this night forever,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, te quiero.)
(Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, Bailamos!)
(Gonna live this night forever,)
(Bailamos!)
(Te quiero amor mio, te quiero.)
He made a big finish with her near the end with a kiss that left everyone in the club feeling hot and bothered. They wondered how the two could keep dancing while lip locked.
End dance scene
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At the end of their dance the two is met with thunderous applause. The two didn't even notice that they were being watched, too entranced with each other to care. The two gave the crowd bows, Chris being shaky as she's still recovering from that experience. Ranma turned to her and decided this might be a good time to say what he had to say. He asked her to help find a quiet spot so they could talk. They tried, but they usually got congratulations and stuff where ever they went.
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Back in the Suikoden world-
Leknatt and Chaos are looking with each other with an expression that practically screamed 'what the hell was that?'
"Look in the folder! I want to know how the hell he knew how to do all that!" commanded Chaos.
Leknatt ignored the cat screaming at her and immediately delved into the file for this Ranma. After a few moments of scanning the file using her magic she looked up at the cat and said, "Yup. It's right here. He studied under someone that taught him all of that dancing. Turns out Genma found a good all you can eat restaurant nearby that's cheap and didn't want to leave so he left Ranma with his sensei for close to five months. The lady who taught him liked the potential she saw in Ranma and taught him everything she knew."
Chaos scratched his head then started going through the other files. "This is weird. No other Ranma went through this during their training trip."
After a few moments of pondering over this both looked up at each other and exclaimed, "Oh well. He IS practically chaos solidified anyway." Then both resumed watching the pigtailed one. Chaos thought to himself, 'I'll ask Toltiir later. He knows the timelines more than I do.'
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Back at the club-
Finally they got to a semi-secluded spot where they could finally talk.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Chris asked as she held his body against hers. She hasn't let go of him since they stopped dancing. Her body felt flushed and excited. It's scary that she had never felt like this before, but it feels oh so good anyway.
Ranma took a deep breath to steel his nerves before speaking. "Chris, when we finally get back to your world what I said to you that day still stands."
She didn't understand until she remembered the promise he had made when they were still in the other world. "What?" Chris asked, shocked. That brought her down from her high fast. She couldn't believe what he's saying to her. After all this time his promise to kill her if she didn't make amends for what she had done to the Karaya Village still stands as soon as they are back to her home world.
Ranma looked seriously at her while inside it hurts that he's doing this to her. However, she still hasn't done anything to make amends for what she had done. "You still haven't done anything yet to be forgiven for what you did that day. All this time in my world is nothing more than a break from that promise and the two of us getting together. But when we get back you still have much to do to be forgiven."
He watched her as despair gripped her. She's getting more depressed than Ryoga usually is. "I'm sorry, Chris. I l-l-l-love you, but that doesn't excuse what you did to that village and almost killing Lulu. At least when I killed your knights I did it to stop them from further killing more people AND I was being manipulated by a spell. It sounds like an excuse with the spell, but that's what happened. With Iksay Village I was also able to bring back those I had killed AND the ones that the Grasslanders killed. I have blood on my hands as well, but I am making up for it by going to help stop the war and hopefully restoring people that are killed in the fighting. You have to make amends as well your own way. I will help you as much as I can, but it's really up to you." There, he said it. He even got to admit that he loves her! Now he just has to say it four more times to the other girls. He didn't know what prompted him to say it. It's either the extreme depression he had seen in her eyes or that he just felt it's the right time, so he went with the feeling of telling her how he feels to make her happy again.
She went into a new high when he said the three words she has been waiting to hear for a long time. This high, however, is not the high from before, but rather a romantic haze that she's swimming in. She caressed his cheek and looked at him lovingly. "Ranma, I know that there is much I must do, but I will have your forgiveness no matter what I have to do to get it. I love you too. I'll do anything to be by your side. My mother was right, you are the one for me."
Ranma smiled at her and brought her close to him. He kissed her gently as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck. Like Tina and Viki before her this one kiss sealed it for the two of them. When their lips separated he said, "Chris, if I learned anything from all this is that you must never give up on your goal. I never gave up on my goal to find a new life of my own, and now here I am with you. I know it's a bit complicated with me loving you and the other four girls, but please just give me a little time to figure things."
Chris' eyes widened. Did he just say FOUR? "What do you mean by four? I know you love me, Tina, Viki and Kodachi. Do you also love Ayame?" she asked slowly.
Ranma gave her a small smile in response. "No. Ayame is a friend and that's it. No, there is a secret that I am keeping for now. I will tell everyone when the time is right. For now, just trust me, please. It's just surprising who she is. Just know that there is a fifth woman I'm in love with. You won't hate her when you find out who she is. In fact, you'll probably understand why I love her. I love you as well Chris. I think...no, I KNOW you are meant for me too. But please, don't tell anyone. I'm not ready to reveal who she is yet." 'Wow, it's getting easier to say those three words.'
Chris remained unresponsive for a few minutes. She thought about his request. It shocked her that there's ANOTHER woman he's in love with besides the four of them. She thought of all the women in the temple. Ayame is out so it's either Molly or Ranko or Rico. It couldn't be any one of them, however. Ranma is a bit afraid Molly and she's a kid and Ranko is his sister while Rico is too devoted to Fred to even think about other men, even if she won't admit that she does like him a little bit. That means it's someone from outside. She shook her head before she gave herself a headache thinking about who she is. She looked at him with trust in her eyes, saying that she will keep his secret and that she won't ask whom she is.
Ranma smiled at her in gratitude. He's not ready to reveal that Ranko isn't his sister yet. He'll tell everyone soon though. He's about to kiss her again when something caught his eye across the dance floor.
It seemed like everything froze in its place as he recognized the figures across the room. To him the dancers stopped in mid-step and even water slowed down to a stop as it's poured into a glass. A guy is frozen in mid- air after he tripped on a cable, sending a basket of chips onto a sitting couple. The couple's faces are frozen in shock as they saw the chips slowly falling on them. The spotlights and light-balls slowed down their wild movement to a crawl. Even the flashing lights stopped their flashing. Time didn't actually stop, it's just that the shock of seeing those people across the room made it seem like it did to him.
There, sitting at a table with two girls that are really guys dressed as girls, is Ukyo. With her are Tsubasa and Konatsu. She's talking to Konatsu as Tsubasa is scanning the crowd, obviously looking for him as they probably lost him after his and Chris' big dance. She's probably asking him who Chris is and what she's doing dancing with 'her' fiancée like that! Getting a waiter's attention Ranma asked him to give Ukyo a note and pointed out where she is.
Chris, meanwhile, became concerned when she saw Ranma's face become hard, just like when he faced off against someone he particularly didn't like. Being faced with that face before she knew it pretty well. "Ranma, what's going on?" she asked him worriedly.
Ranma didn't break his cold stare at his once best friend. "An old friend is here and I'm going outside to handle it. Wait by the front of the club. I'm going to the back to meet with her. I won't be long." Chris followed where he's staring and spotted her. She recognized Ukyo from his descriptions of her.
"Be careful," Chris said to him as he nodded and walked off to the back of the club to the parking lot.
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The back of the club -
Ukyo couldn't believe it! Ranma, her Ran-chan, is here and asked her to meet him in the parking lot in the back of the club! She doesn't have to worry about that silver haired girl either since she's just a bodyguard for her Ran-chan. It's what she had been dreaming of ever since that day he left her. Now they could get married and she would finally have her family's honor back at long last! Then the two of them will run a chain of restaurants while raising a family!
When she reached the back she found Ranma standing against a lamp pole waiting for her. "Hello Ukyo. It's been a while."
"Ran-chan! You're here! Now you and I can finally get married!" Ukyo said as she started running to him, but stopped halfway there when she saw his eyes. They aren't the eyes she knew back then. They are eyes that said 'don't come any closer to me'. They are eyes that made her shake from an unknown fear inside of her. The man in front of her isn't the one she knew and loved. "Ran-chan? What happened to you?" she asked a bit fearfully.
"Friends like you happened," Ranma said to her in a tone that she never heard him use on her before. She knew he used that tone only on the worst of his opponents. "Ukyo, I once saw you as a friend. But now you're nothing more than someone I used to call a friend," he said to her coldly.
"But Ran-chan...I love you," Ukyo said, seeing Ranma in a new light. She's seeing a side of him that she had never seen before, but had heard of. When he left almost a year ago she had gotten the story of how...different he was when he left.
Ranma walked over to her so that he's standing just a few inches from arm's length. He stared into her eyes with eyes even colder than liquid nitrogen. "No. You may have loved me before, but your want for your family honor to be returned to you has changed all of that. The whole time we were engaged you always go on and on about you marrying me, but I can tell it's so that you can regain your family's honor back, something I didn't take from you in the first place. You care nothing about ME. I'm just a prize to be won. It's Genma that took your family's honor, not me. Yet, you put all the pressure on me anyway."
"But what about Kodachi? She treated you the same as me and the other girls did! So why are you giving HER another chance?" Tears are falling from her eyes now. She couldn't believe that her Ran-chan is doing this to her. She had heard from Konatsu how Kodachi is now living with Ranma at his new home.
Ranma crossed his arms and his face got harder. Inside though he part loved doing this to her and part hated it. Even though she made his life miserable she was once his best friend. He only had three friends before he came to Nerima and her friendship means a lot to him, especially since one of his other 'friends' wanted to kill him and he hasn't seen his other best friend in a long time. He often wondered if she's ever going to show up. However, Ukyo deserves a wake up call. "Because unlike you and all of the rest of the girls, she never had anything to gain by marrying me. She loved me because she saw that she's just like me. People saw her as a snobbish insane rich girl and treated her harshly. What they should have seen is a girl who's family fell apart and was driven to insanity because of it and the chemicals she used. After the Doc cured her she became a totally different person. She admitted to me that she loved me for no other reason than she just does. She has no motive like you do. Also unlike you and the others she's giving up everything just to be with me. She's willing to give up all her money and even her 'family' to be with me. If I hadn't stopped her she would have just left her fortune. I saw her Ukyo. I was there when she signed the document that said she's willing to give all her fortune away to no one in particular. She was about to hand it in at the bank without any hesitation when I stopped her. Now her fortune is combined with my money in a joint account so that we can use it to take care of our family and friends here. Her entire fortune belongs to my new family, which includes her. Tell me, would you give up everything you have just to be with me?" Ranma asked her seriously.
Ukyo choked when he asked her that. She couldn't think how life would be like for her if she gave up everything just to be with him. She didn't know if she had the courage to give up her restaurant and her family's honor just to be given a second chance. She couldn't say anything to him because she couldn't think of anything to say.
Ranma answered for her anyway. "Don't bother. I can already see what you're going to say. I'm no longer a Saotome so you no longer have anything to gain by marrying me. Besides, I'm not even pure Japanese. My great- grandfather is an American from my mother's side. Didn't you ever wonder why I have blue eyes? Your father will just destroy the engagement since he's the traditional type."
Ukyo is choking on her tears now while sobbing her heart out. Just like that and Ranma is telling her that everything they had together is over with. He's just telling her that he isn't even a pure blooded Japanese and that their engagement is over with because of that. But she didn't care about that because she still wanted him. One of the things she loves about him is his blue eyes. She looked up at him, but he has his back to her.
He turned his back to her since doing this is making him feel both satisfied and depressed at the same time, especially when she started sobbing her heart out. However, she had brought this onto herself. However painful it is he said his next, and final, statement to her. "Goodbye, Ukyo. You are no longer my friend." With that he walked away from her, leaving her behind forever.
Then it dawned on Ukyo as she fell on her knees the reason why she had lost all became clear to her. All of this time she had always have treating Ranma as a prize to be won from the other girls that are after him. Even now her first sentence to him after almost a whole year of not seeing him sounded like something that Shampoo would say. She had lost the race for his heart a long time ago, but it had only dawned on her just now as he leaving her behind. "Ranma, I lost you before I even had the chance to win you over. All because I'm no better than the others," Ukyo said as she finally let herself go and cried harder than she ever cried before. Heartbreaking sobs filled the parking lot as Ukyo cried her heartache out. When Tsubasa and Konatsu got to the back lot they found a crying girl who has lost the person she most cared about, all because of her pride.
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Next time – Someone from Ranma's pass has come to seek his help. Here's a hint she's a hot babe from a fighting game! And the others from Ranma's past are closing in on him. And Neclord newest pets have come out to play. Also for Chapter 18 after the next one you get to pick which of these three choices I do!
A) Ranma faces off with his parents and the Tendo's!
B) Ranma storms Neclords base and has a mega-super fight to the finish!
C) Ranma and the others go to a private beach side resort where the girls put on hot sexy swim-suits. And the Amazons attack for a massive cat-fight with plenty of eye-candy for all to see!
Send in your reviews to vote in for you choice for chapter 18! (And I'm not doing this just to have more reviews!)
Author's Notes
1 - I based the fight from Spider-Man 2.
2 – Yes, I got it from Hellboy.
glazedlookineyes101/ilikesecret/ Now Co-Writer's Notes
(A) Guess what's going on with her. CoughfuturesightCough
(B) On I found out Viki has been looking around for her hometown for a long time now. Also in Suikoden 4 Viki is there when the game took place 150 years before the first Suikoden according to , so I figured she's at least a hundred years old if you go by the time passed.
(C) Not sleep together THAT way! Sleep as in shut down, go to bed, rest, not the eechi version!
(D) I know there's an actual person that is Masamune's descendant alive right now that makes swords from a documentary I watched about swords, but the author didn't know about him and made up a person. I didn't bother researching what his name is either (I forgot) as it's not really needed anyway.
(E) The sword looks a lot like Yorn's sword from Eden's Bowy without that gap and two spikes at the bottom of the blade and that weird looking hilt. Look it up if you want a visual. While not exactly like it the sword's design is based on Yorn's sword.
(F) I'll give you a hint. His name starts with an F and his grandfather was the head of the Maximillian Knights. Ranma was right in feeling that he was being followed. Guess which teacher and future seeing girl got him to follow the two to the nightclub with a CD and a gold coin to bribe the DJ with in hand.
(G) Ranma's teacher was formerly a student of the Ballroom Dancing School of Martial Arts. However, she got bored with how reserved and BORING the dances were so she left and created her own school. She's also a bit of a perv when it came to her husband who helped her create her school. She never gave it a name, but she had quite a few students. Mostly couples that had been married for years and want to put a spark in their romance, but also quite a few teenagers. She had heard about Ranma's performance in her old school and invited him to learn hers. Ranma as always is interested in anything having to do with martial arts, even weird ones. She had been expecting to teach a man, but got a kid instead. Oh, well. She taught him her school anyway. She didn't let him leave until he's considered a grandmaster of her school. She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt that Ranma had to learn her school. It might be that he reminded her a lot of her husband, even if Ranma does have very bad manners and can be insulting to the point that you want to throttle him (he's still with Genma remember). Instead of teaching him the generic version of her school she taught him the version that only her and her husband knew. She didn't molest him if that's what you're thinking. On the higher forms she instead gave him the scrolls for it.
(H) For the purposes of keeping this fic hopefully PG-13 I will not list any of their actions. For the older readers, just use your imaginations.
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