Forcibly United

oOo

A Weekend With Eda

Chapter 4

oOo

Eda had time to flinch as a blue streak shot past her nose, causing her to spill her chili and roll for her gun as she thanked God that the bullet hadn't been aimed at her.

Her reaction was based on her knowledge of, and the natural limitations granted by physics, something her group's attacker or her two bodyguards apparently didn't feel constrained by: Ranma was forced to backflip and redirect himself high into the foliage as the bullet changed direction to follow him. The night sky was filled with an impressive substitute for fireworks as the bullet attempted to follow his acrobatic dodges.

Ryouga, meanwhile, had taken one look at the source of the shot and grinned nastily. Sickly green energy surrounded him as he glared at the origin of the attack.

"Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ryouga's yell was eclipsed by the surge of energy which rose high into the night sky, temporarily eclipsing the moon as it hung. The moment was broken as the collection of energy began to fall on the source of the attack, prompting a young woman to dive from her cover and land in front of them in a crouch.

She was a scrawny-looking woman, barely out of her teens to Eda's eyes. She had long, blue-black hair that spilled down her back, but the thing which caught the blond American's eyes was the outfit the other girl wore: Though it had no identifying marks or colors which affiliated her with any nation, the tight shirt and pants combination was too uncomfortable to be anything but a uniform.

Dodging Ryouga's attack had apparently cost her her ability to control the deadly projectile chasing Ranma, as he gracefully twisted once more out of it's way before it lost its hue as it shot into the night. The pigtailed boy grasped a tree branch with one hand and lightly flipped himself up to come to rest on all fours on the branch.

The girl had time to start packing the gun with gunpowder and was reaching for another large shell when Ryouga lashed out with a kick, sending the antique rifle far into the foliage with a snort.

Ranma quirked a confused eyebrow in Eda's direction from where he perched on the branch.

The American teenager shrugged in return, looking at the awkward-limbed teenage girl in front of her. Most of her instincts told her to shoot the dark-haired woman, especially given her uniform, but glaring at the trio through overly-large spectacles made her look... pathetic.

The girl's demeanor dared anyone to say anything. It reminded Eda of her little sister, the way she'd always get indignant whenever life hadn't gone her way. It made the woman seem more childish than anything.

"So... You're with the jerks we encountered earlier, right?" Ranma asked, taking the dare with the same indifference he'd always taken challenges and crouching near to the girl to meet her gaze in what he probably felt was a sympathetic gaze. It more resembled a glare than anything to both of the other members of the trio.

"You might laugh now, but when the Council hears of you, you'll be sorry," the blue-tinged brunette muttered darkly. "You're supposed to tell them when there's going to be conflicts of interest like this so that we don't have to fight one another. And with you two being so powerful, it's just not fair to me! How could you expect me to compete with two as old and powerful as you!"

"Old?" Ranma cackled, slapping a knee as he stood. Then he paused, before crouching back down and eyeing the girl directly. "Wait, what's this Council thing?"

"You dare deny it? You've got speed unmatched by any human, and your friend could probably give a powerful mage a run for their money. Don't treat me like an ignorant child!" The girl commanded, glaring at the two.

"What are you talking about?" Ranma wondered, shrugging as he stood. "I'm not that quick."

"You deny it, you bastard? How the hell else do you think you can move that fast!" The uniform-clad girl looked on the verge of apoplexy at that point.

"I'm awesome?" The pigtailed boy offered, shrugging. He then glanced to Ryouga. "So... Man, you've heard of these Council guys, right? We gonna have to kick their asses at some point, I think."

"Kick their asses! That's blasphemy!" The girl sputtered, eyes wide.

"We should probably concentrate on the whole Council thing," Eda interrupted, glancing between the two boys and the trio's opponent. "Just who are they?"

"The Council, damn it! And if you think happening to hire a couple of morons who don't know their standing is going to protect you from their wrath, you're sorely mistaken, human!" Her spectacles gleamed as she glared at the blond.

"Human, huh. Uh, boys?" Eda demanded, garnering their attention. "Discussion time. Tie up our guest so we can chat in private."

oOo

Rip tried to stifle a chuckle as the trio simply walked across the clearing to discuss their strategy. The two boys were clearly humouring their human patron at this point, so the young vampire made no move to break free of her bonds. She was only half surprised when they didn't give her a wink.

Until the conversation got going.

"That crazy bitch thinks she's a vampire," The blond girl, apparently the leader, noted, her eyes rolling to the bound vampire.

Rip knew that nobody would mess with the council. Not for some mere human.

"Maybe she is?" The pigtailed vampire offered, shrugging. "That bullet trick was messed up. If I wasn't a little faster, she actually might have hit me!"

"That would have been a shame," the bandana-clad vampire's comment was entirely insincere to Rip's ears, but the grin he directed at the other male was challenging. "Like something like that could have killed you, anyway!"

"Hey, it might've stung me a bit!" the pigtailed vampire protested, not subtle in the least. He couldn't hide grin on his face.

These two were obviously rogue vampires, two who were blessed with a startlingly powerful bloodline for their relative age. It was the only explanation the fifty-year-old girl had for their attitude and ignorance towards their heritage.

She knew that humans couldn't even hope to be this powerful. She listened on, eagerly.

oOo

Eda was still recovering from her brush with death when one of the two boys she'd hired to protect her spoke.

"So, this chick is crazy, right?" Ranma offered, shrugging as he glanced in the dark-haired woman's direction.

"She can make a bullet dance to her tune, so let's keep that gun of hers out of her hands," the blond nun noted absently, her gaze finding the other girl's for a moment before turning aside. "This is just a small complication in the job. Hell, it's why I hired you boys. You took care of her, so now it's my turn."

With that, the blond drew her gun.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Ryouga protested, his partner getting up right alongside him as the duo stood in the way between Eda and her target.

"Let's think this one through," Ranma said, grinning nervously. "Let's not make any mistakes here."

"I don't intend to make a mistake," Eda admitted, grinning at Ranma. "The bitch is going to die so that we're not leaving any loose ends behind."

Both of Eda's defenders exchanged sharp looks at this, Ryouga stepping forward.

"I don't really think that's necessary," Ryouga noted, placing a hand on the semi-automatic handgun in the blond's hands. He was surprised when she stood back, aiming the gun at his heart.

"She just tried to kill us! She'd be pissing bunnies and sunshine if the three of us were dead! Why the hell are you getting in my way!" Eda demanded, her eyes narrowing as she reconsidered the two samurai in front of her.

That damned code she'd praised at one point was looking like a liability.

"She can't defend herself. No way we're just gonna let you shoot her," Ranma confirmed, crossing his arms and standing between Eda and the dark-haired "vampire". The pigtailed man cocked an eyebrow, glancing towards the bound woman. "Besides, you think she's gonna escape?"

"Fine," Eda ground out, her teeth gritted as she glared at the duo she was stupid enough to hire for the duration of her search. She was beginning to regret her decision to allow the two young men on her team.

"Then we've got a problem," Eda concluded, narrowing her eyes as she glared at her two hirelings. "I don't feel like dragging around a prisoner who could potentially feed information back to her employers."

"We'll just keep an eye on her," Ranma protested, crossing his arms. "What's the worst that could happen!"

Eda's palm rose to meet her face while Ryouga simply shrugged, already resigned to his partner's lapse of judgement.

oOo

Author's Notes:

I meant it when I said this would be a rather light-hearted arc. If it means, in the end, that I have to depower Rip Van Winkle a little, so be it. Though to be fair, I don't think I am. Honestly speaking, Rip Van Winkle's magic bullet tearing apart a fighter jet on a horribly predictable course isn't very impressive in Ranmaverse terms.

Nor is the way she completely breaks down once things go badly for her. Rip is a wuss. Anyway, I know this is a little short, but...

A) It's what I got

and

B) It's a pretty good place to stop.

-Gaming Ikari