Author's Notes û
I guess it's time for more disclaimers.
I do not own the rights to Ranma ¢, Love Hina, Negima, Bio Booster Armor Guyver, Witchblade, Kurohime, Outlanders, Please Teacher, Chrono Cross, or anything else for that matter. This is simply a work of Fanfiction made for the primary intent of my enjoyment and the secondary intent of pleasing those who enjoy a good, creative story that happens to combine elements of the previously mentioned titles and properties.
X X X X X
Looking down at his hands, Ranma smiled. He could feel the power that coursed through every fiber of his being. Though he'd only been trapped in the other body for just over a week, he'd dearly missed it.
Feeling the strength of his trusty body as he moved his bodyà his body, he smiled. Yes, it was well worth everything that he'd endured to get this body back.
Only the sudden splash of cold water broke him from his reverie.
"What the hell did you do that for?" he shouted, noting the change in his voice. "Aw shit!"
"I guess you do have your old body back," Keitaro shrugged. "Curse and all."
"Um," Ryoko interjected, "what just happened?"
"I thought she knew about your curse?" the woman with two toned hair cut in.
"She knew about the curse," the tall man with the staff replied, "but she didn't know about him getting trapped in another body."
The slender kendoka beside the redhead simply blinked. Opening her mouth, she found that she couldn't find the right words to use. Closing her mouth, she simply stood there, unsure of what to do.
"I think we should go," the brunette girl suggested.
The sound of a gun being fired drove the point home as the scarred soldier shot the wall of the cavern, creating a giant stone golem. "Yes, I think now would be an appropriate time for us to withdraw."
X X X X X
"Sir," the short old woman said, announcing her presence to her superior.
"Hinata," the seated man replied. "I want you to mobilize your best stealth squad."
"You want us to follow Leonard's boys once they turn tail," the woman finished.
"Yes."
"He has superior numbers, but not firepower," Hinata noted as she glanced at the monitor. "You're certain that he won't be successful?"
"If he deploys more of his forces and appears to be capable of taking the ship than I want your forces to take that ship from both him and its owners." Glancing at his subordinate he nodded, "But if his forces flee, I want you to follow them back to his base. If possible I want you to pick up on the frequency that he's using and triangulate the position of his base.
The wise veteran nodded, "As you command."
# # # # #
The darkness of the country night always comforted him. Leo Biederman was glad he lived in the countryside, not only was the country sky clearer as a result of less light pollution, it also kept all those annoying idiots, well, not all, but most. It didn't help that he was a scrawny teenager and that he loved astronomy, but the fact that there had been a fictional character that shared his name made things all the worse for him. True, he did enjoy looking up at the stars with his telescope, but it wasn't because he loved space, it was because he positively knew that humans were not the only sentient creatures in the universe.
Every night the scrawny youth would hike two miles in the dark away from his family's house just so that he could comb the night sky without any interference. Tonight had started no differently.
"Soon," he said to himself as he gazed at his prize.
Smiling to himself, he put his eye to the lens.
"HOLYS*%^!"
Finding himself on the ground, young Leo gazed up at the sky. "I.. I didn't see thatà"
Trembling, the young man stood up, approaching his telescope. "Buck mush have taped something onto the other lens," he said aloud, rationalizing what he just saw. Shaking his head, he checks the lens, wiping it clean before putting his eye to the other lens again.
"Oh Godà HolyS*%^! Holy M*#$&ing S*%^!"
# # # # #
"You're sure about this?" the raven haired mage asked as he eyed the alien woman.
Nodding soberly, Hatsuho sighed.
"We were all there when her captain announced it," Hinata stated. "This is bad news indeed."
"How long will it take their fleet to get here?" the scruffy blond mage asked.
"Just over one week," the magenta haired alien answered. "Probably less if they're rushing to mobilize their fleet."
"And when should Ranma and the others be able to jump back?" Tsuruko asked as she turned towards the normally energetic blond.
"Um," Su replied, her mouth full of banana, "30 hours at least."
"Enshin! Takahata!" a new voice shouted.
Everyone turned to the new voice. A young girl, no more than 10 years old appeared at the doorway.
"Setsuna," the two Shinmeiryu exclaimed.
"Mistress, Master, Takahata-sensei," the young swordswoman bowed. "The Dean wishes you return immediately to Mahora."
X X X X X
A cool, humid breeze filled the dark chamber. Blinking, the figure forced his consciousness to the surface.
"So, you're awake," a squeaky voice greeted. "Don't speak yet, your body is still adapting. Let me get your grandfather."
The young man could do little but blink as he tried to locate the speaker. Straining his ears, he realized that he was actually submerged in some sort of liquid as it amplified the sound of the retreating man's steps.
A multitude of thoughts ran through his mind, but one image seemed to be etched into his mind û a raven haired boy wearing a red silk Chinese style shirt and black pants.
X X X X X
"Sir," a uniformed man said as he presented a report to the robed man.
Accepting the report, the wizened figure eyed the report, dismissing the helmeted man.
"I believe I have perfected the body for our next Zoalord," the bearded man stated.
"Finally, we'll have twelve," the other man stated.
"Archanfel," the first exclaimed, "I did not realize you had awoken."
"And yet you were reporting the discovery of a possible candidate for Zoalord," the fair haired man stated. "But you are aware that I have been keeping track of things even though I had been slumbering for the past decade."
The taller man nodded.
"There are distant rumblings," the pointy eared man stated. "I have not felt anything like it since the Creators left. An ominous and ancient power awakens to the east."
"The Relic?"
"No Barcas, this is something different altogether," Archanfel replied. "It is something dangerous."
X X X X X
A loud, thunderous boom echoed through the tunnel, announcing what Sousuke Sagara could not voice.
"Man, how long are they going to keep chasing us?" Ranma grumbled as he glanced back at the party's rear guard as the scruffy youth reloaded his magic gun. Though he enjoyed the power of his original body, being stuck in his female form while wearing armor tailored to the other body was just annoying - it didn't help that his female form was significantly shorter than his boy form as well as being bustier than Sophia's body. 'Man, this suit's rubbing me the wrong way now.'
"Probably until we're out of the sector," Ukyo stated. "They just want us away from any settlements. Though they could be after us to avenge the three Agents that Sousuke gunned down."
"That would explain why they tend to just engage him," Seta added.
"It's probably the scouts that were assigned to the Agents you killed," the brunette suggested. "If their agent is dead then they simply follow the last orders that their Agent."
"They are breed to be loyal," the resident alien supplied.
"Who is she?" Ryoko finally asked as she eyed the woman with two toned hair.
"An alien," Keitaro and Kanako replied.
The two kendoka simply eyed the Urashima heir.
"Seriously?" Motoko asked.
Ranma nodded.
"This just gets crazier by the second," the busty kendoka shrugged.
Behind them, Sousuke unloaded another deafening shot, this time at the ceiling, causing the tunnel to collapse, effectively blocking off their pursuers.
X X X X X
Ranma felt robbed. Having heard of how great a martial artist this world's Genma Saotome was and having seen and faced off against the muscled man, the cursed martial artist had been greatly disappointed in their fight. Sure, he'd gotten the girls back as well as received the Frozen Flame that Genma had possessed, but had he really won? After a half hour of trading punches, kicks, feints, parries, throws, and counters the fight had ended after Ranma had used a simple cord-cutting technique.
Looking back on it, the truth was that he hadn't won û he'd simply exchanged the girls and the Frozen Flame for Hina, Hannya and Kien. But at least he had his body back, even if he was currently in his cursed form.
"Ranma!" Keitaro exclaimed, breaking the sex changing boy from his thoughts.
"Yeah?" the younger martial artist replied.
"There are signs that there's someone up ahead," the Urashima heir stated. "They're heading in a different direction from where we came from, but it's pretty close to where we're headed. That tunnel leads to openings in the mountain behind the Hinata Sou."
With their pursuers still digging out the tunnel kilometers behind them, the party came to a stop, allowing Keitaro and Ukyo to check the passageway for any traps or other surprises that the other group may have left for them.
With her naturally light sensitive eyes, Birdy eyed the tracks on the ground. Curious, she pulled out her scanner, even as some of the others eyed her.
"She's really an alien?" Ryoko asked Kanako.
The lithe fighter nodded. "So she says."
"She looks human enough," the busty kendoka stated.
"And Ranma looks like a girl, but I wouldn't call him one," Seta countered.
Suddenly the scanner in the alien detective's hand started clicking.
"What's going on?" Sousuke asked as he noted the determined look in the alien's eyes.
"These tracks, they're Oculons'," the alien explained. "Oculons are a race of mechanoids, or artifical beings. Though they can take various forms or shapes, they use Oculium as their primary fuel source. The man I fought last week was an Oculon. Unfortunately he self-destructed rather than allow me to capture his CPU to download his memories."
Ranma quickly did the math, "So you think that the guys who made these tracks might be behind the princess' abduction?"
Motoko glanced at Kanako.
"Long story," the gothic girl answered.
Ryoko turned to face the lithe girl.
"I promised Birdy that I'd help her find the people who are responsible for the abduction of her people's princess," Ranma explained.
"Seta, you take the others back to the Hinata Sou. Birdy and I will investigate the guys ahead."
"But"
"No buts," Ranma said as he eyed the other passage. "Keitaro, lead them home, I'll let you know through Claire if I find anything."
"No," Seta said firmly. "We're in this together. Fate has brought us together to help you on whatever adventures you have."
Keitaro nodded.
"Keitaro, take the girls home," Ranma repeated. "They need some decent clothes and rest. We'll lead Sousuke's fans away from the Hinata Sou and check out the guys ahead of us."
"Two birds with one stone," Kanako nodded.
Ranma nodded. "Take Claire. If anything happens we'll let you know."
X X X X X
Leonard was not happy. He'd expected losses, but nothing like what he watched on the monitor. The small force that he'd left in Japan should have been enough to lay siege to Tokyo, yet they were being torn apart by the smaller defending forces that inhabited the desolate mountain forest. Yet it wasn't the fact that his forces were losing û it was the fact that they had superior firepower and technology that irked the young Whispered. Having developed and designed the mass produced miniature Arm Slaves and the weapons that they used, he had thought that they had enough firepower to level Tokyo. Yet the defenders, out numbered 10 to 1, were not intimidated by his cutting edge technology.
Watching several thousand kilometers away from Japan, the silver-grey haired youth could only scowl as another Arm Slave was cut down by what could only be described as a concussive blast of energy. The golden beam of energy ripped through the fortified titanium skin of the AS then knocked over a tree and blasted apart a three-ton boulder before hitting the ground and showering the area with debris.
Though his remaining forces in Japan had been reduced by nearly a half in a half hour, he was sure that they could still prevail. Despite their losses, they had managed to cut down nearly two thirds. Two hundred miniature Arm Slaves and their support units against thirty of the steel androids û those numbers had favored him, yet here he was with only sixty Arm Slaves remaining and perhaps all of their support units against only ten androids. Yes, the numbers still favored him by 10 to 1, but the losses were great.
Still, it was just a minor inconvenience. After all, now that he had the mysterious technology that the androids had been using as well as the ship that they were guarding he'd more than make up for the loss of an entire battalion of Arm Slaves.
X X X X X
The cool air with hints of pine told him that they weren't far from the surface. Unlike the tunnels that they had used to descend from the Hinata Tea House, these tunnels had been created in a giant spiraling stairwell. Each landing was at least three meters apart and one meter wide. Fortunately the gathered martial artists were able to traverse the passage easily, though the fact that those they pursued were doing so just as nimbly as they were did seem to discourage them slightly. Even Sousuke wasn't having problems with the passageway, though that was mostly due to the fact that he'd shot himself with a magic bullet that endowed him with wings.
Straining his ears, Ranma could make out seven distinct footsteps. "Seven," he signaled the others as he gently landed on another plateau. "I think they know we're following them."
Seta nodded.
It wasn't a surprise though, they had been following the other group for nearly an hour. The sound of Sousuke shooting the Witchgun probably had been a dead giveaway. Still, they were catching up.
A stiff breeze greeted them as they leapt to the next landing.
'Smoke?' the pigtailed boy thought as he landed.
"Gunsmoke," the scarred soldier stated. "That's from an armor piercing round û probably an ASP.7."
The others glanced at him as he flew above them.
"It's one of the rifles that I equipped my Bonta-kun Arm Slaves with," he replied, completely unrepentant in the fact that he was so intimate with guns. "But there's something else."
"Burning pine," Seta supplied.
Sagara shook his head, "Something else û I can't put my finger on it."
"Santovaskian napalm," Birdy grunted as she leapt to the next landing, "they love using it against mechanoids as it doesn't affect any organic metals."
"Organic metals?" Kanako gasped as she chased after the other woman.
"Their ships are organic creatures," the alien explained. "Pretty hard to crack open too."
Ranma nodded as he and Sousuke led the group on.
The sound of heavy fighting and gunfire greeted them, growing louder and louder with each landing that they reached.
X X X X X
Hinata eyed the battle below with great interest. Though Leonard had appeared to be on the cusp of victory, the arrival of the six additional androids had changed things. The new androids were clearly better than the others that had initially appeared to defend the alien ship. The first defenders were stiff and mechanical while the new arrivals used unpredictable attack patterns and tactics.
Eyeing the red and black haired woman through her binoculars, it was clear to the grizzled veteran that that woman was in charge. Had Leonard attacked when she was onboard, Hinata was sure that the battle would never have been in doubt. No, even with her own forces primed for battle, Hinata knew that they would not prevail against the aliens. The mechanoids and remaining battle robots outclassed even Leonard's Arm Slaves. Perhaps if he had sent his Belial type Arm Slaves he would have won, but relying on the simple AI of the miniature Alastor types had been the deciding factor as the inhabitants of the ship had managed to scramble the unprotected unmanned Arm Slaves. Unable to think for themselves beyond their simple reactionary programming and not having the weapons necessary to deal with the durable defenders proved to be his undoing. Then again, it was hard to hide that many miniature Alastors, much less full sized Alastors or Belials, perhaps he wasn't in Japan after all.
"I've got the frequency," Haruka stated as she reported to her adopted mother. "It appears that he's not in Japan at all."
"I thought as much," Hinata replied. "We'll see if he tries to deploy any more units, though I doubt that he was able to hide any of his prized Belial types in the forest. Still, even with the current chaos, I doubt that the government or Mithril will take too much longer to get here."
"So they're really aliens?" the younger woman asked.
"They're our patrons," the shorter woman replied. "How do you think we've been able to create such cutting edge technology for so many years? It wasn't the Whispered and their Black Technology, though some of the advances are because they gave us a greater understanding of the alien tech we had been rewarded with. No, we've reverse engineered the technology our patrons gave us. The weapons that our Arm Slaves are equipped with are all alien, the only things really capable of damaging that ship and its defenders."
The brunette nodded. Though it boggled the mind, it really did make a lot of sense. "And they oppose the aliens that are manipulating Mithril," she stated rather than asked.
Hinata nodded. "There are many different alien races û most of them view us as being young and impressionable. And we are."
"So the stories of alien abductions?"
"Some are true," the older woman answered honestly, "but those were mostly done by rogue scientists of other non-humanoid species. Once our patrons and others like them realized that we were a sentient race they outlawed those experiments."
Haruka nodded, slowly accepting that she was much smaller and less significant that she had originally thought. Stillà "Why?"
"Because if we don't help them, than their enemies are going to destroy us," the experienced veteran answered. "Their enemies used to be our neighbors, back when there were eleven planets in our solar system."
"Eleven?"
"Well, if you count Pluto as a planet."
Again Haruka nodded.
"That is a story for another time," Hinata said, concluding that discussion.
"Well, well, well," the old woman smirked. "It looks like my grand children are making an appearance. I wonder how this is going to end."
X X X X X
Ranma practically beamed with joy despite the carnage before him. Though the aliens they had pursued weren't technically enemies (not until Birdy confirmed that they were at least) he was sure that the miniature Alastor type Arm Slaves were definitely part of Leonard Testarossa's rogue faction of Amalgam. Though he did not carry the cursed weapons, their influence lingered, prompting him to rush into the heated battle.
"You!" Birdy shouted as she spotted the red and black haired alien woman. "You're Christella Revi! You must be behind the princess' abduction!"
The rogue Omega Cygni sighed. "She's not my princess," she replied as she pulled out a gun, "so why would I care about her?"
"But you were responsible for her abduction," the pigtailed boy shouted as he eyed the mechanoid that rushed at him.
"What if I am?" Christella asked as she took aim at the quicker Ranma.
His quick eyes spotted the deft motions of her feet as she swiftly drew a magic circle before firing the weapon. A loud, thundering boom filled the afternoon sky.
Ranma's instincts prompted him to leap back as the shot fell well short of him. But it wasn't the shot that concerned him, it was the giant stone hands that emerged.
"A Witchgun!" Birdy exclaimed. "But only the Santovasku can use those!"
Ranma eyed the woman in a new light. "That's not red hair," he stated as he noted the odd flow of her hair, "those are horns!"
"Hahaha," the hybrid alien laughed, "I'm the product of an illicit and illegal marriage between an Omega Cygni and a Santovasku. And I can use a Witchgun."
Leaping out of the way of the giant stone fist that descended on him, Ranma smirked. "I'm so going to enjoy kicking your ass!"
Rushing past the giant golem, he heard another powerful boom, this one from Sousuke. "I'll take care of the Arm Slaves!" he stated in his usual, even tone.
Birdy nodded as she dashed past the slow golem.
"We'll take care of the small fry," Seta declared as he extended his staff, smashing the head of the golem as he did so.
Kanako nodded as she used her ring to put out the fires and freeze the various mechanoids and Arm Slaves. "Find the Princess!"
Even Keitaro got into it as he cut down a mechanoid that had approached his adopted twin. "Go ahead!"
"Retreat!" Christella ordered as she loaded her Witchgun. Running cautiously it was clear to Ranma that she lacked the physical endurance of even Hatsuho.
"She's only capable of one shot at a time," Ranma noted as he evaded the punch from an Oculan, his counter kick to what he supposed was equivalent to the back of the knee broke the limb, folding it in half even as the mechanoid fell over.
Birdy simply smashed through one of the few unmanned Alastor Arm Slaves that had managed to make it this close to the alien ship. Ripping off the arm of the mecha, she used it to bat away one of the combat robots that had been deployed to protect the ship.
While Birdy favored brute force, Ranma was an elusive snake, slithering around and past his opponents and launching strikes that propelled him towards his ultimate target.
"Hey Leonard Nemoy!" he taunted as he looked directly into one of the Alastor type Arm Slave's camera. "I'm gonna be coming for you. Now that I got my real body back, there ain't a thing in this world that's gonna stop me from getting you and Sophia, ya bishonerd!"
A quick kick beheaded the steel titan, cutting off the visual feed that it sent to its creator.
Springing over the listless automaton, Ranma deftly dodged the angry golden beam that shot his way as the concussive force of the weapon knocked down the beheaded automaton. A sudden explosion rocked the side of the mountain as one of the rogue Amalgam soldiers shot a rocket propelled grenade at either Ranma or the Oculan that was shooting the strange energy gun.
"Gather all the guns you want," Ranma declared as he watched some of the surviving soldiers robbing the fallen aliens of their weapons, "just tell Leonard that I'm gonna come kick his ass too!"
None of the soldiers dared to get in his way as he rushed after the fleeing aliens. Parrying a punch from an unarmed Oculan, he pulled his other arm back for a quick counter. An iron fingered strike ripped through alien bio-metal as Ranma speared an Oculan with his hand. Using the unfortunate alien as a shield he threw the still struggling mechanoid on top of a grenade. Stepping on him, he hoped that the creature's tough skin would hold up even as the grenade exploded.
As he had hoped the explosion propelled him all the closer to his intended target even as it launched him into the air. Kicking off of the still alive alien, he sailed over the half Santovasku/half Omega Cygni. Twisting in the air he avoided several shots even as he threw a golden ball of ki at several attackers without bothering to announce his attack. This wasn't a duel or fight against another martial artist, and he had long ago mastered the technique to the point that he no longer needed to shout the name of the attack to help focus his ki.
Yes, he was enjoying the feel of his ki, his muscles, working within him as he planted his feet on the head of another Oculan, crushing the metal spine and head of the artificial creature as he did so. Spinning around as he landed, he wrapped his hand around the slender neck of the alien hybrid while the other gripped her hand, directing the barrel of her smaller Witchgun towards the sky.
"Going somewhere?" he asked, a hint of malice in his usually even voice.
He didn't know why, but he found himself slowly crushing her throat.
The alien woman's dark blue eyes filled with fear and panic as he brought his face closer to hers. Unable to get any air in or out of her lungs, all she could do was stare into his frenzied eyes.
'Kill her,' Hina's voice echoed through his mind.
'Add her power to yours,' Kien suggested.
"Order your men to stop fighting!" he growled, loosening his hold on her throat.
No longer held up by the powerful martial artist, the rogue alien scientist fell to the ground, grasping at her throat with her free hand. "Stand down," she muttered, "stand down."
X X X X X
"Impressive," Mr. Gold smirked as he watched the end of the fighting.
"Orders?" Hinata asked, her voice coming through crystal clear despite the fact that she was not in the commander's office.
"You have your orders," he stated. "Find Leonard, but keep an eye on the boy as well."
Hinata nodded. "Yes, sir."
X X X X X
"So the knave knows the Tendos, does he," the young man growled.
A well dressed man in a dark navy business suit nodded, "Remember, your grandfather wants him alive."
The youth grinned, "I'll bring him in alive û though he might be missing some limbs."
The other man simply pushed his sun glasses up, "That's fine."
X X X X X
A/N
I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.
Please Read and Review.
Dreamingfox
