Ranma ½ Divine Blood
- Thread starter Thrythlind
- Start date
"Would you care to explain this?" Mao asked holding up the sheet of paper with a brief tactical assessment of the situation on the plane as she faced Ranma outside the apartment they'd been running the watch on Kaname from.
Ranma was dressed in a dark-colored clothing that seemed comfortable and easy to move in, while fitting to the appearance of just someone out and about around town.
"Later," Ranma said. "I'm assuming you got the word out?"
"We'll talk about it on the way," she said, grabbing her basic gear and moving out the door. "We'll need to pick someone up, and then straight to work. Some people are going to want to talk to you."
Ranma nodded and moved aside to let her lead the way.
They were driving down the Tokyo streets within minutes, Ranma grimacing as she realized she could move much faster through traffic on her own.
"We found the plane's transceiver, they're in North Korean air space now, flying west," Mao said.
"How's soldier boy going to act on this one?" Ranma asked.
****
As Ranma and Mao talked events were going on in the plane.
"While they're in air?" Mao's voice asked as two teens started circulating in the aisles. "Sousuke is probably trying to identify the terrorists and looking for any devices."
Sousuke's face was serious as he walked up and down the aisles eyes scanning the people and items around him.
"Can he be subtle?" Ranma's voice asked.
A man in a dark suit noted Sousuke moving about and frowned before sitting back in his seat complaining about kids wandering about the plane.
"In this situation?" Mao asked. "He should be good. What about your kids."
"Deimosu should be looking for somewhere quiet and out of the way," Ranma said. "If he can get to the luggage hold that would be perfect."
The scene focused on Deimosu walking back toward the restroom and the elevator Sousuke had told him about. There wasn't much else he could do, his magic knowledge was limited and he couldn't start a fight while they were in mid-air.
"Eija will be looking for the terrorists too," Ranma said. "She'll stop supressing senses and start looking. And she can get places no one would expect."
Eija passed without attention, sunglasses off her face and the red of her irises filling out into her sclera as she opened her senses. She looked reflexively down at her hands and noted uncomfortably the red that splattered her own hands and then looked away at the people around her.
"You have a third kid, don't you?" Mao asked as the scene drifted toward the green-haired Satomi.
"Naiki's probably useless," Ranma's voice said reluctantly. "Will be until she gets off the plane."
Naiki had her eyes closed and had thoroughly destroyed the arms of her seat, much to the discomfort of the kids sitting next to her.
"Hopefully, she'll stay unaware until the plane lands," Ranma thought to herself, not speaking aloud. "If she decides she has to fight in that state, she might destroy the plane."
****
"Care to explain the butterfly now?" Mao asked, the scene switching back to her car.
"A spirit charm," Ranma said. "It carries a message to a specific person."
"Spirit charm?" Mao said. "Is that like a spell?"
"A small one," Ranma admitted.
"So how did your daughter know what was going on?" Mao asked. "This sit-rep says the passengers are unaware."
"They killed someone," Ranma said. "Eija can feel that."
Mao looked at Ranma carefully.
"What are you people?" Melissa asked as she pulled the car to a stop besides the third member of her team.
Whether Ranma would have answered or not was left unknown as Kurz pulled himself into the car.
"What's up Sergeant Major?" he asked. "Was I just getting set for some R&R. Hey wait, isn't that...are you looking for a threesome then?"
Both women turned to look in the back seat, a dark look on their faces.
"It was just a joke," Kurz said nervously.
****
Tessa looked at the situation report and slumped in her quarters, she really should have known this was coming.
Actually, she had known.
She'd felt the situation was dangerous and she'd done to take countermeasures. Now they had a plane of hostages over North Korea to handle.
All the relevant past reports were sitting in front of her.
She'd pegged Ranma Satomi as a possible Sensitive. Given Sergeant Sagara's other reports she should have done so for her children. And that certainly increased the chances that someone would try something.
"This is my fault," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have relaxed."
A knock pulled her eyes to the door and she gathered herself together.
"We've recovered Urzu-2, Urzu-6 and the freelancer," Commander Kalinin said. "They're in the briefing room."
"All right, Commander," Tessa said. "I guess I should go meet her."
She pulled herself together and walked out to the corridors heading toward the briefing room. As she walked in, the red-head was standing near the modium with her arms crossed.
"Miss Satomi," she said in a polite manner. "I wish we could be meeting under different circumstances."
The woman looked up at her as she approached and then squinted.
"Don't worry about it," the woman said. "I meet most people this way. You're the same as the tomboy?"
"Tom...you mean Miss Chidori?" Tessa said. "Yes, we're both Whispered. I understand you get headaches around us?"
"Anytime I meet something I haven't seen before," Ranma said. "Enough exposure it goes away. What's up with things? Melissa over there said you're tracking the plane."
"We think they'll be landing soon," the Captain said. "Near the West Korean Bay. We'll be in position soon."
"Hope you don't mind if I insist on taking part," Ranma said.
"I understand your feelings," Tessa said. "But I don't think its necessary."
****
Kaname couldn't help but watch nervously as Sousuke walked about the plane, worried he'd cause an incident at any moment. Then she noticed him moving to the back of the plane, towards the restroom. That in itself wasn't much, but the way Eija Satomi moved to quietly in the same direction raised certain questions in her mind.
"Excuse me, Kyoko," Kaname said. "I think I have to go interrupt a club initiation."
"Huh?" Kyoko said. "What club?"
"The mile high club," Kaname muttered as she started stomping off toward the back of the plane.
She was walking out of the passenger area when someone grabbed her from behind and shoved her against the bulkhead.
"What are you doing out of your seat?" the tall man in front of her said darkly as he reached into his jacket for a gun.
A second man behind the first growled at his friend.
"What are you doing, we haven't landed yet," the second man demanded.
"Looks like the target's trying to hide to me," the first said.
"Target..." Kaname said nervously.
"Idiot," the second snapped. "Close your mouth."
"Just call it in to the psycho up front," the first said, not looking over his shoulder to note his partner silently knocked senseless from behind. "This means we don't need the dog and pony show later."
Kaname blinked as she saw that her rescuer was Eija, and then blinked again as Sousuke appeared and shortly had her first attacker out of action.
"Chidori, are you okay?" Sousuke asked.
"I'm going down," Eija said quietly, turning to face the two.
Kaname flinched as she saw the red that flooded Eija's eyes.
"Affirmitive," Sousuke said as he shoved the unconscious terrorists into the elevator after tying them up. "Take Chidori with you, your brother and I will handle the rest of things up here."
"One moment," Eija said, taking out a vile of red liquid and handing it to Sousuke. "I only have one dose, so you'll have to split it. It'll only last about two minutes, so wait until I start."
"Just do your thing," Deimosus said, coming from further back in the plane nodded in agreement and moved aside to let the girls past.
Kaname was quiet as she was led to a service elevator down into the cargo compartment. Then she exploded.
"What the hell is going on?!" she demanded. "These guys called me a target!"
"Someone's highjacking the plane," Eija said quietly. "They killed one of the pilot's about half an hour ago when we had that jolt."
"Why would someone highjack a plane just to get at me?" Kaname asked.
"I don't know," Eija said, taking a deep breath and as the red retreated from her sclera back into her iris. "But we're trying to stop it."
As she spoke the Satomi girl opened her purse and moved into a wide open space with a large, ornate circle drawn on it in chalk. She stepped around and over the chalk carefully, examining the features cautiously.
"How are a bunch of high school students going to stop this?" Kaname demanded.
Eija sat down and took a deep breath as she started focusing her thoughts.
"One moment, I have to do something," Eija said.
And then, briefly the world turned to negative colors again as the girl started chanting.
"Angel of Night, hear my prayer," she intoned...
Above, darkness crept through the plane as windows mysteriously clouded and light shut off until it seemed as if the plane was flying through darkest night.
"What the hell is going on?" Kyoko demanded.
Naiki twitched as she looked about, resisting the urge to blast outward with her power. She wasn't far enough gone yet to not realize that she'd blow the plane out of the sky that way.
Her nose told her blood had been spilled, and that was hardly comforting, but it wasn't a crash yet. At the same time, she was listening under the cover of complaining students to the grunts and thuds of someone systematically taking people out throught out the cabin.
Sousuke himself marveled as he walked through the aisles, perfectly able to see. What's more, the enemies he'd marked out and some others mentioned by the Satomi girl where easily marked out by red marks.
Strangely, the same red marks were on himself and the Satomis.
He wondered what was in that vial, it had tasted somewhat like blood.
The terrorists were aware that something was going on but in the dark, they were too slow to react and at too much of a disadvantage.
The darkness started to recede behind them as they reached the front cabin and moved in.
"What's going on?" a voice was demanding.
Sousuke froze as he took in the man standing there impossibly before him in the darkness. And yet there he was, almost scarlet under the effect of whatever sort of drug the girl had given him. Even the man's breath seemed to come and go in red mists.
"I don't know," the pilot said. "I've never had a malfunction like this before. It's like we've flown into a patch of night."
And then Deimosu moved. Gauron sensed the motion in the dark and dodged aside, swinging his gun around, only to have it disarmed by another unseen assailant. He was trying to counter another move before when he was knocked to the ground and he heard the click of a gun, most likely his own.
Finally the darkness receded completely, taking away with it the red visions Sousuke had been seeing on the terrorists and others.
Gauron smiled as he saw before him two teenaged boys, his eyes fixating on one of them.
"Well, Kashim," he said. "How about that."
"You know this man?" Deimosu asked.
Sousuke remained silent.
"Congratulations, kids," he said, smiling. "You've retaken the plane. You only have one problem."
"And that is?" Sousuke asked.
"I believe this plane was only fueled for Okinawa and back," Gauron said. "Isn't that right, co-pilot?"
"We're running on fumes now," the co-pilot commented. "I'm going to have to land at the nearest airport anyway."
"And guess where our destination is, eh, Kashim?" Gauron asked.
Sousuke grimaced as he watched the military airstrip below them come closer into view.
Ranma was dressed in a dark-colored clothing that seemed comfortable and easy to move in, while fitting to the appearance of just someone out and about around town.
"Later," Ranma said. "I'm assuming you got the word out?"
"We'll talk about it on the way," she said, grabbing her basic gear and moving out the door. "We'll need to pick someone up, and then straight to work. Some people are going to want to talk to you."
Ranma nodded and moved aside to let her lead the way.
They were driving down the Tokyo streets within minutes, Ranma grimacing as she realized she could move much faster through traffic on her own.
"We found the plane's transceiver, they're in North Korean air space now, flying west," Mao said.
"How's soldier boy going to act on this one?" Ranma asked.
****
As Ranma and Mao talked events were going on in the plane.
"While they're in air?" Mao's voice asked as two teens started circulating in the aisles. "Sousuke is probably trying to identify the terrorists and looking for any devices."
Sousuke's face was serious as he walked up and down the aisles eyes scanning the people and items around him.
"Can he be subtle?" Ranma's voice asked.
A man in a dark suit noted Sousuke moving about and frowned before sitting back in his seat complaining about kids wandering about the plane.
"In this situation?" Mao asked. "He should be good. What about your kids."
"Deimosu should be looking for somewhere quiet and out of the way," Ranma said. "If he can get to the luggage hold that would be perfect."
The scene focused on Deimosu walking back toward the restroom and the elevator Sousuke had told him about. There wasn't much else he could do, his magic knowledge was limited and he couldn't start a fight while they were in mid-air.
"Eija will be looking for the terrorists too," Ranma said. "She'll stop supressing senses and start looking. And she can get places no one would expect."
Eija passed without attention, sunglasses off her face and the red of her irises filling out into her sclera as she opened her senses. She looked reflexively down at her hands and noted uncomfortably the red that splattered her own hands and then looked away at the people around her.
"You have a third kid, don't you?" Mao asked as the scene drifted toward the green-haired Satomi.
"Naiki's probably useless," Ranma's voice said reluctantly. "Will be until she gets off the plane."
Naiki had her eyes closed and had thoroughly destroyed the arms of her seat, much to the discomfort of the kids sitting next to her.
"Hopefully, she'll stay unaware until the plane lands," Ranma thought to herself, not speaking aloud. "If she decides she has to fight in that state, she might destroy the plane."
****
"Care to explain the butterfly now?" Mao asked, the scene switching back to her car.
"A spirit charm," Ranma said. "It carries a message to a specific person."
"Spirit charm?" Mao said. "Is that like a spell?"
"A small one," Ranma admitted.
"So how did your daughter know what was going on?" Mao asked. "This sit-rep says the passengers are unaware."
"They killed someone," Ranma said. "Eija can feel that."
Mao looked at Ranma carefully.
"What are you people?" Melissa asked as she pulled the car to a stop besides the third member of her team.
Whether Ranma would have answered or not was left unknown as Kurz pulled himself into the car.
"What's up Sergeant Major?" he asked. "Was I just getting set for some R&R. Hey wait, isn't that...are you looking for a threesome then?"
Both women turned to look in the back seat, a dark look on their faces.
"It was just a joke," Kurz said nervously.
****
Tessa looked at the situation report and slumped in her quarters, she really should have known this was coming.
Actually, she had known.
She'd felt the situation was dangerous and she'd done to take countermeasures. Now they had a plane of hostages over North Korea to handle.
All the relevant past reports were sitting in front of her.
She'd pegged Ranma Satomi as a possible Sensitive. Given Sergeant Sagara's other reports she should have done so for her children. And that certainly increased the chances that someone would try something.
"This is my fault," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have relaxed."
A knock pulled her eyes to the door and she gathered herself together.
"We've recovered Urzu-2, Urzu-6 and the freelancer," Commander Kalinin said. "They're in the briefing room."
"All right, Commander," Tessa said. "I guess I should go meet her."
She pulled herself together and walked out to the corridors heading toward the briefing room. As she walked in, the red-head was standing near the modium with her arms crossed.
"Miss Satomi," she said in a polite manner. "I wish we could be meeting under different circumstances."
The woman looked up at her as she approached and then squinted.
"Don't worry about it," the woman said. "I meet most people this way. You're the same as the tomboy?"
"Tom...you mean Miss Chidori?" Tessa said. "Yes, we're both Whispered. I understand you get headaches around us?"
"Anytime I meet something I haven't seen before," Ranma said. "Enough exposure it goes away. What's up with things? Melissa over there said you're tracking the plane."
"We think they'll be landing soon," the Captain said. "Near the West Korean Bay. We'll be in position soon."
"Hope you don't mind if I insist on taking part," Ranma said.
"I understand your feelings," Tessa said. "But I don't think its necessary."
****
Kaname couldn't help but watch nervously as Sousuke walked about the plane, worried he'd cause an incident at any moment. Then she noticed him moving to the back of the plane, towards the restroom. That in itself wasn't much, but the way Eija Satomi moved to quietly in the same direction raised certain questions in her mind.
"Excuse me, Kyoko," Kaname said. "I think I have to go interrupt a club initiation."
"Huh?" Kyoko said. "What club?"
"The mile high club," Kaname muttered as she started stomping off toward the back of the plane.
She was walking out of the passenger area when someone grabbed her from behind and shoved her against the bulkhead.
"What are you doing out of your seat?" the tall man in front of her said darkly as he reached into his jacket for a gun.
A second man behind the first growled at his friend.
"What are you doing, we haven't landed yet," the second man demanded.
"Looks like the target's trying to hide to me," the first said.
"Target..." Kaname said nervously.
"Idiot," the second snapped. "Close your mouth."
"Just call it in to the psycho up front," the first said, not looking over his shoulder to note his partner silently knocked senseless from behind. "This means we don't need the dog and pony show later."
Kaname blinked as she saw that her rescuer was Eija, and then blinked again as Sousuke appeared and shortly had her first attacker out of action.
"Chidori, are you okay?" Sousuke asked.
"I'm going down," Eija said quietly, turning to face the two.
Kaname flinched as she saw the red that flooded Eija's eyes.
"Affirmitive," Sousuke said as he shoved the unconscious terrorists into the elevator after tying them up. "Take Chidori with you, your brother and I will handle the rest of things up here."
"One moment," Eija said, taking out a vile of red liquid and handing it to Sousuke. "I only have one dose, so you'll have to split it. It'll only last about two minutes, so wait until I start."
"Just do your thing," Deimosus said, coming from further back in the plane nodded in agreement and moved aside to let the girls past.
Kaname was quiet as she was led to a service elevator down into the cargo compartment. Then she exploded.
"What the hell is going on?!" she demanded. "These guys called me a target!"
"Someone's highjacking the plane," Eija said quietly. "They killed one of the pilot's about half an hour ago when we had that jolt."
"Why would someone highjack a plane just to get at me?" Kaname asked.
"I don't know," Eija said, taking a deep breath and as the red retreated from her sclera back into her iris. "But we're trying to stop it."
As she spoke the Satomi girl opened her purse and moved into a wide open space with a large, ornate circle drawn on it in chalk. She stepped around and over the chalk carefully, examining the features cautiously.
"How are a bunch of high school students going to stop this?" Kaname demanded.
Eija sat down and took a deep breath as she started focusing her thoughts.
"One moment, I have to do something," Eija said.
And then, briefly the world turned to negative colors again as the girl started chanting.
"Angel of Night, hear my prayer," she intoned...
Above, darkness crept through the plane as windows mysteriously clouded and light shut off until it seemed as if the plane was flying through darkest night.
"What the hell is going on?" Kyoko demanded.
Naiki twitched as she looked about, resisting the urge to blast outward with her power. She wasn't far enough gone yet to not realize that she'd blow the plane out of the sky that way.
Her nose told her blood had been spilled, and that was hardly comforting, but it wasn't a crash yet. At the same time, she was listening under the cover of complaining students to the grunts and thuds of someone systematically taking people out throught out the cabin.
Sousuke himself marveled as he walked through the aisles, perfectly able to see. What's more, the enemies he'd marked out and some others mentioned by the Satomi girl where easily marked out by red marks.
Strangely, the same red marks were on himself and the Satomis.
He wondered what was in that vial, it had tasted somewhat like blood.
The terrorists were aware that something was going on but in the dark, they were too slow to react and at too much of a disadvantage.
The darkness started to recede behind them as they reached the front cabin and moved in.
"What's going on?" a voice was demanding.
Sousuke froze as he took in the man standing there impossibly before him in the darkness. And yet there he was, almost scarlet under the effect of whatever sort of drug the girl had given him. Even the man's breath seemed to come and go in red mists.
"I don't know," the pilot said. "I've never had a malfunction like this before. It's like we've flown into a patch of night."
And then Deimosu moved. Gauron sensed the motion in the dark and dodged aside, swinging his gun around, only to have it disarmed by another unseen assailant. He was trying to counter another move before when he was knocked to the ground and he heard the click of a gun, most likely his own.
Finally the darkness receded completely, taking away with it the red visions Sousuke had been seeing on the terrorists and others.
Gauron smiled as he saw before him two teenaged boys, his eyes fixating on one of them.
"Well, Kashim," he said. "How about that."
"You know this man?" Deimosu asked.
Sousuke remained silent.
"Congratulations, kids," he said, smiling. "You've retaken the plane. You only have one problem."
"And that is?" Sousuke asked.
"I believe this plane was only fueled for Okinawa and back," Gauron said. "Isn't that right, co-pilot?"
"We're running on fumes now," the co-pilot commented. "I'm going to have to land at the nearest airport anyway."
"And guess where our destination is, eh, Kashim?" Gauron asked.
Sousuke grimaced as he watched the military airstrip below them come closer into view.
Several people finally noticed the unconscious men scattered about the deck and looking outside as the plane came to a landing, surrounded by tanks, AS units and fighting vehicles.
"No way!! Is that a soviet made RK-92?" someone shouted, looking outside. "MiG-21's, I can even see a T-34. Classic main-battle tank! We're not even in Japan."
Naiki swallowed nervously listening to the discussion, restraining herself and waiting for a particular thing to happen.
For the plane to stop.
****
"You in the air-plane, come to a complete stop and open your outer hatches. Prepare to be boarded and interrogated for violating our national air-space," a man outside was ordering through a megaphone as Sousuke took in the surroundings outside. "This is the Kanka region military, you have nowhere to go."
"I'd do what the man says," Gauron noted. "Those tanks and AS units don't look like they'd hesitate to reduce this airplane to scrap metal if they don't get what they want."
"I...I have to stop anyway," the co-pilot said nervously, pulling on the breaks. "We don't have any more fuel."
The sensation of movement came to a complete stop and slowly, under Sousuke's line of fire and close to Deimosu, Gauron stood up.
"The second round's to you, Kashim," Gauron said. "And these...interesting siblings. But I think the third rounds not starting to look too..."
The airplane shuddered as the sound of gunfire erupted outside.
"And that would be Naiki," Deimosu muttered.
****
"Something's gone wrong," Eija said, catching her breath. "We've landed."
"What did you just do back there?" Kaname asked. "Everything turned sort of backwards."
"I just asked for some darkness to cover them and let Sousuke and Deimosu see what I see," Eija said, a bit confused. "What do you mean backwards?"
"Like the negative of a photograph," Kaname said.
"It shouldn't have done anything like that," the pale, red-eyed girl said. "Unless there's something about you."
"There is nothing strange about me," Kaname protested.
"I...didn't mean to imp..."
The feel of the plane shaking and the sudden sound of gunfire interrupted the conversation.
****
Naiki tore through the men standing around outside the plane and dodged aside as the fighting vehicles turned the heavy machine guns toward her.
Several of the heavier bullets gouged deep lines long her arms and legs, and the occasional heavy bruise along her back. Baksai tenketsu training handled the smaller arms easily enough, but those heavier weapons stung painfully.
She reacted instinctively, she leaped up and landed on top of one of vehicles pelting her, landing in front of the soldier and ripping the machine gun out of his hand and away from the fighting vehicle.
The soldier dropped down into the vehicle as another APC started pelting her again. She dropped down on the other side of the fighting vehicle and tipped it over on its side before rushing out again.
A jeep pulled up in front of her, another tripod mounted machine gun pointing toward her, but it came in to close and she had it up and into the air slamming down on to another armored vehicle some distance away.
Ducking out of the immediate line of fire, she let herself fall into her power and focused downward. All about her the ground started to shake, large cracks appearing outward from her.
Then the ground exploded around her as the tank shells landed nearby, and Naiki landed yards away, battered, cut and bruised as she fell unconscious.
****
Gauron watched as Sousuke's eyes moved down into the plane, where the screams were rising from, and the other boy to look outside, probably looking for his sister.
In that moment he reached into his jacket and grabbed a small grenade. Leaving it behind he dodged past Sousuke out of the cabin and to the side of the doorway as the stun grenade exploded behind him.
Stepping back inside he picked the gun up from where Sousuke had dropped it and smiled at the glaring young man before leaping out the destroyed windows. Deimosu shook his head out from the concussive blast and growled as he watched the tall, dangerous man land below them and wave back up.
Behind them, armed men in dark clothing started filtering into the airplane through the hole Naiki had punched out.
The blonde Satomi grimaced and jumped out of the plane, following the madman out the window. At the very least, he was going to snuff that guy's smile out before they finished him.
Neither he, nor anybody else noted Sousuke slip down the plane's stairs to the decks that hadn't yet been breached by either Naiki or the terrorists. Down there, he was just one more confused civilian running around, at least until he found the service elevator again.
Gauron turned around and blinked as the young man landed behind him and then charged forward. He turned and fired his gun several times, watching the young man dodge aside of the bullets skillfully.
One bullet sparked off Deimosu's forehead, slowing him down, but not stopping him. Gauron smiled broadly as the attacks came in fiercely and he had to work ferociously to dodge them.
Whoever trained this boy was good, very good. The boy was better than him, at least as raw hand to hand attacks were concerned. He backed away quickly, finding enough space to let a heavy machine gun force Deimosu out of his pursuit.
And then Gauron stopped and shouted something in Korean.
"I suppose you're capable of causing a similar ruckus to her," the man said, pointing toward were some soldiers were carrying Naiki's unconscious form and dumping it as several machine gunners took aim. "Shall we postpone this, or shall these men open up on your immobile sister right now?"
Deimosu grimaced and shook his head with a grimace and raised his hands.
****
In the cargo bay of the jumbo jet, Eija quickly finished erasing the magic circle as the sound of the doors opening came to her and Kaname.
Both girls scattered to different corners of the plane's cargo.
"Okay, look for it, it's a yellow package," a man's voice said.
"Found it!" someone shouted.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Kaname started to inch forward to see what the men were doing. Which was how she knocked over the suitcase in front of her and soon found herself surrounded.
"Well, look who we have here," one of the men said. "I think there are some people waiting to see you."
"Let go of me, you freak!" Kaname shouted. "You can't do this sort of thing to people!"
"Get the little bitch out of here," some complained just as Kaname kicked out.
"Who're you calling a bitch?" the tomboy demanded.
The first gun she saw pointing at her in earnest made her quiet down quickly.
"Listen, bitch," the man said. "You're important to someone, but they said you just had to be alive. He didn't say we couldn't put a few unimportant holes in you."
"We have new orders on the device," another terrorist said. "They're going to refit a transport plane for the hostages since this one's no longer air-worthy. We'll just have to rig this bomb on that plane."
Biting her lip, Eija watched unseen as they took Kaname away.
"Damn it," she muttered as she took out her scroll to start another message. "This should have worked."
She heard the sound of the elevator and melted into the shadows to wait to see who came down, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw Sousuke.
"What happened?" she asked, stepping out of hiding.
"There wasn't enough fuel to keep flying," Sousuke said. "Where's Chidori?"
"Some men came in and found her," Eija said. "I...decided to stay unseen. Sorry."
"No need," Sousuke said. "Your brother and sister are also captured. And I also elected to fall back to be of more use later. Unfortunately, they'll be looking for me actively, and perhaps you."
"Me?" she asked. "I thought they're after Kaname."
"They appear to be interested in all three of you," Sousuke noted.
He noted the scroll in her hand as he found his bag.
"I'd advise saving the paper for now," he said. "Let's move to a safer location and we can contact my superiors."
"All right," she said.
****
"Well, Basil?" the slender Musk asked. "What do we do?"
"We wait until the base calms down," the prince said. "And then we go in for our prizes."
"Hey, I only saw two of the girls you mentioned," the other said. "The Green-hair and the blue-hair. Where's the dark-haired one?"
"I'd like to know too," Basil noted.
*************************************
AN: Naiki was sort of operating mostly on a panic-attack instinct and not using the Loud Thief style like she could have been. At the end she tried to start an earthquake, which would have been just as bad for the hostages as anybody else, but that made her stand still too long.
Again, a NWC martial artist is capable of severe damage, but not quite up to taking out a military unit supported by heavy weaponry.
"No way!! Is that a soviet made RK-92?" someone shouted, looking outside. "MiG-21's, I can even see a T-34. Classic main-battle tank! We're not even in Japan."
Naiki swallowed nervously listening to the discussion, restraining herself and waiting for a particular thing to happen.
For the plane to stop.
****
"You in the air-plane, come to a complete stop and open your outer hatches. Prepare to be boarded and interrogated for violating our national air-space," a man outside was ordering through a megaphone as Sousuke took in the surroundings outside. "This is the Kanka region military, you have nowhere to go."
"I'd do what the man says," Gauron noted. "Those tanks and AS units don't look like they'd hesitate to reduce this airplane to scrap metal if they don't get what they want."
"I...I have to stop anyway," the co-pilot said nervously, pulling on the breaks. "We don't have any more fuel."
The sensation of movement came to a complete stop and slowly, under Sousuke's line of fire and close to Deimosu, Gauron stood up.
"The second round's to you, Kashim," Gauron said. "And these...interesting siblings. But I think the third rounds not starting to look too..."
The airplane shuddered as the sound of gunfire erupted outside.
"And that would be Naiki," Deimosu muttered.
****
"Something's gone wrong," Eija said, catching her breath. "We've landed."
"What did you just do back there?" Kaname asked. "Everything turned sort of backwards."
"I just asked for some darkness to cover them and let Sousuke and Deimosu see what I see," Eija said, a bit confused. "What do you mean backwards?"
"Like the negative of a photograph," Kaname said.
"It shouldn't have done anything like that," the pale, red-eyed girl said. "Unless there's something about you."
"There is nothing strange about me," Kaname protested.
"I...didn't mean to imp..."
The feel of the plane shaking and the sudden sound of gunfire interrupted the conversation.
****
Naiki tore through the men standing around outside the plane and dodged aside as the fighting vehicles turned the heavy machine guns toward her.
Several of the heavier bullets gouged deep lines long her arms and legs, and the occasional heavy bruise along her back. Baksai tenketsu training handled the smaller arms easily enough, but those heavier weapons stung painfully.
She reacted instinctively, she leaped up and landed on top of one of vehicles pelting her, landing in front of the soldier and ripping the machine gun out of his hand and away from the fighting vehicle.
The soldier dropped down into the vehicle as another APC started pelting her again. She dropped down on the other side of the fighting vehicle and tipped it over on its side before rushing out again.
A jeep pulled up in front of her, another tripod mounted machine gun pointing toward her, but it came in to close and she had it up and into the air slamming down on to another armored vehicle some distance away.
Ducking out of the immediate line of fire, she let herself fall into her power and focused downward. All about her the ground started to shake, large cracks appearing outward from her.
Then the ground exploded around her as the tank shells landed nearby, and Naiki landed yards away, battered, cut and bruised as she fell unconscious.
****
Gauron watched as Sousuke's eyes moved down into the plane, where the screams were rising from, and the other boy to look outside, probably looking for his sister.
In that moment he reached into his jacket and grabbed a small grenade. Leaving it behind he dodged past Sousuke out of the cabin and to the side of the doorway as the stun grenade exploded behind him.
Stepping back inside he picked the gun up from where Sousuke had dropped it and smiled at the glaring young man before leaping out the destroyed windows. Deimosu shook his head out from the concussive blast and growled as he watched the tall, dangerous man land below them and wave back up.
Behind them, armed men in dark clothing started filtering into the airplane through the hole Naiki had punched out.
The blonde Satomi grimaced and jumped out of the plane, following the madman out the window. At the very least, he was going to snuff that guy's smile out before they finished him.
Neither he, nor anybody else noted Sousuke slip down the plane's stairs to the decks that hadn't yet been breached by either Naiki or the terrorists. Down there, he was just one more confused civilian running around, at least until he found the service elevator again.
Gauron turned around and blinked as the young man landed behind him and then charged forward. He turned and fired his gun several times, watching the young man dodge aside of the bullets skillfully.
One bullet sparked off Deimosu's forehead, slowing him down, but not stopping him. Gauron smiled broadly as the attacks came in fiercely and he had to work ferociously to dodge them.
Whoever trained this boy was good, very good. The boy was better than him, at least as raw hand to hand attacks were concerned. He backed away quickly, finding enough space to let a heavy machine gun force Deimosu out of his pursuit.
And then Gauron stopped and shouted something in Korean.
"I suppose you're capable of causing a similar ruckus to her," the man said, pointing toward were some soldiers were carrying Naiki's unconscious form and dumping it as several machine gunners took aim. "Shall we postpone this, or shall these men open up on your immobile sister right now?"
Deimosu grimaced and shook his head with a grimace and raised his hands.
****
In the cargo bay of the jumbo jet, Eija quickly finished erasing the magic circle as the sound of the doors opening came to her and Kaname.
Both girls scattered to different corners of the plane's cargo.
"Okay, look for it, it's a yellow package," a man's voice said.
"Found it!" someone shouted.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Kaname started to inch forward to see what the men were doing. Which was how she knocked over the suitcase in front of her and soon found herself surrounded.
"Well, look who we have here," one of the men said. "I think there are some people waiting to see you."
"Let go of me, you freak!" Kaname shouted. "You can't do this sort of thing to people!"
"Get the little bitch out of here," some complained just as Kaname kicked out.
"Who're you calling a bitch?" the tomboy demanded.
The first gun she saw pointing at her in earnest made her quiet down quickly.
"Listen, bitch," the man said. "You're important to someone, but they said you just had to be alive. He didn't say we couldn't put a few unimportant holes in you."
"We have new orders on the device," another terrorist said. "They're going to refit a transport plane for the hostages since this one's no longer air-worthy. We'll just have to rig this bomb on that plane."
Biting her lip, Eija watched unseen as they took Kaname away.
"Damn it," she muttered as she took out her scroll to start another message. "This should have worked."
She heard the sound of the elevator and melted into the shadows to wait to see who came down, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw Sousuke.
"What happened?" she asked, stepping out of hiding.
"There wasn't enough fuel to keep flying," Sousuke said. "Where's Chidori?"
"Some men came in and found her," Eija said. "I...decided to stay unseen. Sorry."
"No need," Sousuke said. "Your brother and sister are also captured. And I also elected to fall back to be of more use later. Unfortunately, they'll be looking for me actively, and perhaps you."
"Me?" she asked. "I thought they're after Kaname."
"They appear to be interested in all three of you," Sousuke noted.
He noted the scroll in her hand as he found his bag.
"I'd advise saving the paper for now," he said. "Let's move to a safer location and we can contact my superiors."
"All right," she said.
****
"Well, Basil?" the slender Musk asked. "What do we do?"
"We wait until the base calms down," the prince said. "And then we go in for our prizes."
"Hey, I only saw two of the girls you mentioned," the other said. "The Green-hair and the blue-hair. Where's the dark-haired one?"
"I'd like to know too," Basil noted.
*************************************
AN: Naiki was sort of operating mostly on a panic-attack instinct and not using the Loud Thief style like she could have been. At the end she tried to start an earthquake, which would have been just as bad for the hostages as anybody else, but that made her stand still too long.
Again, a NWC martial artist is capable of severe damage, but not quite up to taking out a military unit supported by heavy weaponry.
Saffron, would incinerate pretty much anyone who doesn't have resistance to heat. Ranma beat him the first time because he had the staff, and Akane's dried up husk to help him. Putting Ranma as able to beat Saffron by himself is drastically overestimating his abilities without magical assistance.
And Saffron was at full power, he lacked control over it. It's highly possible that Ranma didn't really beat him, and that he simply burned himself out.
And Saffron was at full power, he lacked control over it. It's highly possible that Ranma didn't really beat him, and that he simply burned himself out.
We already KNOW Ranma's been messing around with magic. I mean, look at her profession! It's not like her high-level martial arts (Hiryu Shoten Ha, Moko Takabisha) were all that far off from what I understand of chi sorcery, anyway. Given her children's abilities, I'd have expected her to get good understandings of as many traditional "spells" as possible, and it's not like there's a dearth of charms to either set things on fire or to keep them cold.
The Phoenix Pill allows Ranma to have a normal, possibly slightly above normal tolerance for hot water, by overpowering the effect of the cat's tongue pressure point. Similar to the Tokyo Grandpa pressure point, though with a permanent effect.
It was never mentioned or hinted at to do more than that.
It was never mentioned or hinted at to do more than that.
Besides, "heat tolerance" is not the same as "inflammable." ^_^ If I read canon right, that first one was what Phoenix Pill gave- the ability to ignore a certain amount of heat. The second one is the ability to not catch on fire. I've always been of the opinion that beating Saffron was more luck and magic than anything else. Saffron was throwing around fire like water, and didn't seem to have a lot of skill to go with- plus, he'd just gotten a new body and hadn't had a chance to adjust to it.
EDIT: toraneko: You're right. I was looking for something along the lines of noncombustible/does not catch on fire. Thanks for pointing it out.
EDIT: toraneko: You're right. I was looking for something along the lines of noncombustible/does not catch on fire. Thanks for pointing it out.
I can remember Ranma having fire immunity from the pheonix pill in a few stories...
I haven't read cannon in ages, and I'm not sure if I ever actually read the part where Cologne describes the pill, but I thought she said something along the lines of:
"past users have been known to [...] swim in a pool of lava"
Maybe it was just in some fanfic she said that.
I haven't read cannon in ages, and I'm not sure if I ever actually read the part where Cologne describes the pill, but I thought she said something along the lines of:
"past users have been known to [...] swim in a pool of lava"
Maybe it was just in some fanfic she said that.