Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Blended Dimensions ❯ Reunion ( Chapter 19 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Blended Demensions
by Bud

Chapter 19: Reunion

"Long time no see.... Fei Fong Wong." said Buddy, crossing his arms with an angered look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ranma asked, confused.

Buddy frowned, his speech pattern was different. His eyes looked different also.

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

Buddy stood up and got in Ranma face. The martial artist stepped back in defense and put up his dukes.

"Back off man!"

"WAKE UP ASSHOLE!!!"

Bud's hand lashed out and slapped him hard on the face. The force was strong enough to turn the pigtailed man's cheek and make him stumble for a moment. When he turned back to look at his attacker, he only blinked and rubbed his cheek. Bud noticed that his eyes came into focus.

"Huh...?" He looked around for a moment. "Buddy..? Why did'ja hit... me...?" His voice slowed as if realizing something.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Bud immediately helped Ranma to a chair and sat him down.

"You okay, Ran-man?" Buddy asked, using his nickname for the pigtailed man. Ranmas shook his head.

"Not really..." he said, one arm holding his ribs and the other's hand rubbing his forehead. "..I feel like I've been living someone else's life though."

"I know. So where is Ran----"

The door to burst open and four shady looking characters enter the room. Buddy recodnizes them immediately.

"Asshole, Bitch, Cocksucker and... What's up Suzarn!" He waves to the only female.

"Hey stud!" She replied in a british accent. She waves back and blows a kiss to the scarred asian man. "We're not here fo' you this time. We' jus' want that bloke right next to ya."

"Not the 'Baptismal Ceremony'! He just woke up god damnit!" Buddy stood up and prepared to defend Ranma. "I ain't lettin' you take him. If you wanna get him you gotta come thru me first. You too babe!"

"Come off it!! Just a sec!" yelled Vargas, aka Asshole. "That guy's been thrown in 'ere as a crim, ain't e? You should be thanking us for 'aving the kind and compassionate 'eart to let 'im rest up a few days!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Heinrich, aka Bitch, added in. "As long as he's come here as a crim, he's gotta follow the rules!"

"... That's the way it is! You know that better than anyone. So without further ado, we'll borrow him for a little while. Don't worry, we will return him to you straight away! Once we're through with him, that is!" Leonardo, aka Cocksucker, laughed loudly.

Suzarn kept quiet.

Buddy shook his head. "You asshole's just don't get it! I'm not protecting him! I'm protecting you're dumbasses from getting the beating of a life-time. I beat all of youse except Rico Fagdera's, and he'll do better than me!" In his mind, Buddy smiled. Ranma didn't look like he wants to fight, but this should bring Ranma to his former, chauvanistic, egotistical self.

"Ha!" Laughed Vargas. "This lil' twerp! I could beat his punnie little ass easily. He's nothin' but a crip'le."

Ranma's ears perked up and his eyes narrowed.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked, coldly.

"Challange? It's a promise!"

"Outta the way..." Ranma stepped around Bud and moved to stand directly in front of the three men and one girl. "When and where?"

"Oh, what a sensible lad! That saves us a bit of trouble. Anyway, come along now, the 'Champ' is waiting! And don't worry! We'll let you return here soon." The three men line up behind her followed by Ranma. "Hurry up then.....Fo-rwa-rd ma-rch!"

Buddy watches them leave for a moment before following. This he had to see.

The make-shift squad of shady people, Ranma and Buddy, were lead into a bar down the ways from the place Ranma and Buddy were staying at. Inside the bar, they went upstairs and were greeted by a well decorated room, rather luxurious looking. A large green creature with orange hair, dressed like an American punk, is looking toward the back wall's sofa. The Battlers and Ranma walk in and line up on the opposite side of the table across from the creature. Buddy remained by the stairs sitting on the last step.

"Champ, we've brought him to you." said Suzarn.

"Thanks Suzarn. Hmm, so you're the new inmate... We don't know or care what you did to get put in here, but welcome to D Block... So what name do you go by?"

"I'm Ranma Saotome. And what's your name?" He immediately put his foot in his mouth. "I don't think it ain't really 'Champ'? I at least have the right to know that much... Let me guess, it's Chump, right?"

Suzarn turns to Ranma.

"Why you..!? How insolent!!" She prepares to strike him but see's Buddy shaking his head from the side. She calms down immediately.

"Calm down Suzarn." said the Champ. He glared at Ranma. "I don't mind... The name is Rico. Listen Kid, it's good to have guts... if it's the real thing... We know it's a bit sudden, but we need to see how strong you really are..."

"Bring it on." Ranma glared back.

"Heinrich! Vargas! Leonardo! Suzarn!" He raises his fist. "Let's begin the 'Baptism'! Take him outside!"

Outside, Ranma was escorted down an alley to a dead end. There were high walls, but he knew he could jump the distance to clear them. The four battlers stood at the only ground level exit, blocking any chance of escape.

He happened to notice Buddy sitting down near by on a lawn chair eating some food. Ranma began to drool. He was hungry.

Rico also noticed Buddy and looked upset. "What are YOU doing here?!"

"I'm gonna watch, ya got a problem with that, dipshit?" Bud took a bite of his sandwich and ignored the glares he got from everyone except Suzarn. "You may be the chump but you can't tell me what to do."

Rico finally ignored him and turned to Ranma.

"Kid, you're up front." Ranma walks deeper into the all, his back towards the dead end. "Now, I think you've got the idea, but I'll tell you anyway... All the criminals sent here are each given a rank. Deciding what rank you are is easy... You get rank by fighting these four Battlers."

At the mention of criminal, Ranma pointed to himself and glanced at Bud. He only recieved a nod. It just wasn't his day.

"Relax, the fights are one on one. By now you should've realized.. Results are everything! If you can defeat these four Battlers, you'll be promised a certain amount of freedom..."

"What about you?"

Rico looked at him curiously before laughing out. "Ha! Good one kid." He turned to the four battlers. "Let the fights begin..."

He pauses.

"That's what I'd like to say, but even we have some compassion. We'll give you some time. Even thought it's one on one, you still have to fight all four. You should get prepared for the battle. And one more thing..." He motioned his hand to the only entrance. "Don't even think about trying to get away from here.. After all, that's an impossibility."

"Boooooring!" Shouted Buddy. He suddenly found himself raised up by the shirt. He followed the large green arm down to Rico's face and promptly spat in his eyes.

Rico roared and threw the large asian man. He flied the short distance and slammed into a building with an audible splat. Even though he got up, sluggishly, his stomach turned and he vommited his lunch.

"... Champ. He's ready.. for his 'Baptismal Ceremony'."

Rico turned his back to Bud's pained glare.

"Hmph, then let it begin..." He motioned to Leonardo. "Your first opponent will be Leonardo."

Ranma looked over to Buddy. His friend was in obvious pain and he couldn't do anything about it. Thinking for a moment, he realized that Bud knew these people and for a good while. Meaning, he's been here for a long time, possibly months while he's been living it up by himself. Ranma cursed himself. He should of been there to help his friend out instead of being selfish. But he'll get payback for him. He'll do what Buddy couldn't do and beat these bastards to the ground.

Ranma rubbed his ribs with his left hand up and put up his right. Leonardo was a battler, strong looking, but still looked like a bum in a jumpsuit.

"Come on." Ranma taunted, flipping him off with his middle finger.

Leonardo lunged at him, but Ranma's fist immediately met his nose, sending him back the other way in a spray of blood.

"Next." came his cold voice.

Rico blinked. That was... fast.

"Hmph. Who's the next one?"

Heinrich jumped forward and pounded his chest. "I'm next! You won't beat me' dat easily, punk!"

Ranma gave him the once-over. Heinrich was like Leonardo. A muscle-bound bum in a jump suit. The only different was that Heinrich looked smarter.

He charged at Ranma and kept low, preparing a powerful uppercut. But the pigtailed-man read the telegraphed move like a book. He brought his leg back before kicking Heinrich square in the jaw. The momentum brought both fighters into the air. Ranma turned mid-air easily and send a powerful back-kick to his opponent's chest. Heinrich flew back a few feet before slamming into a concrete wall.

Ranma landed and began coughing. He hugged his ribs and grimaced. That move really hurt himself, but not as much as what that asshole was feeling. He spat the tasted from his mouth before looking at Rico.

"Next."

Rico blinked twice. That was... fast, again.

This kid is good, he thought. He glanced back at Buddy, who was sitting on his chair with a visible smirk.

"Hmph, entertaining. How's the next one?"

Vargas faced off against Ranma, holding a small knife.

"Come on kid! I won't go easy on ya like my pals." He hopped close to Ranma and slashed at him with his knife.

Ranma blocked the first attack and the following attacks by slapping them away. When Vargas lunged at him with the blade, Ranma turned to the side and pulled the guy closer with his own momentum. There was an audible crack as the pigtailed man's forehead came in contact with the battler's nose. Vargas immediately fell to the ground in pain, and defeated.

"I'll get you for this someday!" he yelled as he crawled away.

"Next--" Ranma only saw Suzarn standing there holding a really wicked looking scythe.

Oh boy, he thought dryly.

"Not bad. No one's beated Vargas since Suzarn..." Someone coughed and Rico glared at Buddy. "Now for the last one! You think you can win?"

Suzarn stepped up to the plate and squared herself. She was slightly shorter than Ranma's 5'7 ft height. Unlike her partners, she wore a burgundy color scheme - knee length school-girl styled skirt; a skin tight sweater and upper body armor which consisted of wrist bracers, shoulder armor and chest armor; leather boots that reached up to her knees; and a wide-brim hat that was long a pointed at the top. It reminded Ranma of a witches hat from a couple American movies.

Ranma had a problem at this point. By the look of Suzarn's face, the shape of the legs, rear end and the swell of the person's chest, she was definately female. Ranma, even liberated as he is, didn't like to hit women.

"What?! A girl?" Ranma looked at Rico. "I can't fight a girl." The beast-man ignored him.

"Stop being a pussy, Ranma!" Buddy shouted from the side.

"Chauvanistic pig!" Suzarn caught Ranma by surprise, jabbing the bottom end of her scythe's pole into Ranma's ribs, making him cry out in pain. She did this repeatedly until Ranma finally fell to the ground. "Get up!" she repeated, he britsh accent making her sound angrier than she already is.

Ranma groaned as he slowly got to his feet. He looked at the girl and gasped. She twirled her scythe in one hand before grabbing with her other like it was a golf club. She reared back and swung at Ranma with the tip of the blade heading right for him! He jumped back, narrowly missing the blade but not by much. The buttons of his shirt fell off and his chest and stomach were exposed. A long red-line formed from his stomach to his right pectoral and began to ooze a little blood. It was just a couple millimeters deeper than a paper cut.

Ranma growled and ripped off his shirt. He had many more anyway, if he could get his pack back.

The two fighters started to circle each other like a couple of fighting dogs. It was Ranma who attacked first, thrusting his finger out towards Suzarn's chest. But he then diverted it down to poke at the ground.

Nothing happened.

"Huh?" He was then kicked in the chin by the female pole-arm user. He rolled back and got back to his feet before assessing the situation.

In an attempt to use the breaking point, it failed after he hit the point directly in front of the girl. But that was the problem. Why did it fail. A ki technique like the breaking point should of--

That's it! He thought, eyeing the girl with a respect. She was somehow preventing him of using his ki. He felt the wound on his chest throb slightly. She was definately good.

"See's like ya finally figure it out, eh wanker?" she smirked and swung her scythe at his head.

Ranma ducked and tucked into a foward roll. He then rolled to the side, dodging the blade again as she tried a diagnal slash. His foot swung out and he tripped the girl up. She landed on her back and quickly rolled causing Ranma to slam his fist into the hard concrete ground.

Suzarn swung her blade at the pigtailed man's legs, but he jumped up and surprisingly, landing on her polearm. His weight prevented her from lifting her weapon. He gave her a knowing smirk.

She returned it in kind, this time pushing her scythe up and tipping Ranma back. Like a pole-vaulter, she used the momentum and timing of her attack to kick Ranma on the throat with her booted foot as he fell back.

The martial artist coughed loudly and tried to suck in some air. He held his throat and ribs painfully, glaring at the girl. She just gave him an evil smirk.

"Ya.. tried to kill me!" he shouted. She just shrugged her shoulders as if it was a daily occurance. "That's it!!"

"Gonna' f'ight me for real now, eh? Be a good chap and do that, won't ya." Suzarn jumped into the air and prepared to strike down at Ranma with her scythe.

She made a big mistake.

Ranma jumped up and immediately used his superior mid-air skill to quickly disarm Suzarn with a powerful kick. In a matter of seconds, Ranma circled around the girl, raining down powerful punches and kicks that made the girl yelled out in pain. A final and strong rabbit punch to the chest brought he back down from four seconds of hell.

As Ranma landed, even he had to grimace. His ribs were taking a beating he'll never forget. Even with his ki slowly returning, it'll take a while for his ribs to heal.

"Not... over..."

Ranma gasped. That was directly behind him! He whirled around with a fierce back fist. But it missed by a hair. Suzarn rose up and slammed her small fist into his ribs repeatedly. Several breaths of air and cries of pain shot out of his mouth before the girl finally collapsed from pain and exhaustion.

Ranma fell to one knee and glared at Rico.

"Next."

Rico glare back just as intenly. "You've defeated all four... Hah! This is an unexpected outcome."

"Not really." Buddy said from his chair. But no one heard him.

Rico continued. "Let me give you the special treatment. I, myself, will be your final opponent."

"Bring it!"

Ranma stands, ignoring the pain in his ribs and takes up a defensive stance. Even with his ki returning, he still felt heavily drained from the last fight. But, he was a Saotome.

They never give up!

Ranma lunges at Rico and draws his arm back. He gasped, feeling pain from his ribs and that allowed Rico to grab him by the neck and lift him in the air.

"Argh! Is that the best you can do!?" shouted Rico angrily. He brought Ranma to his face and snarled. "Well!?!!"

"....ten.....urik...en.."

"Hm? What's that? I can't hear you!"

Ranma's face turned to a smile and he said, "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken."

Rico's body turned into a world of hurt as Ranma's fist slammed into his stomach over a hundred times in a couple seconds. They both fell apart, Ranma crying out as he landed on his injured ribs and Rico clutching his stomach.

"...."

Rico grunted a couple times before standing up. He looked like he wasn't even hurt, but the bruise on his abs showed otherwise.

"Hah hah hah. That's more like it...!" He shouted, half growled. "You're quite good. You're the first one to ever injure me!" He heard someone snort in disbelief and shot Buddy a dark look. He turned back to Ranma. "Now I don't have to hold back. I'm looking forward to this!!"

Again a red-flamed aura sprouted around Rico followed by a golden symbol that floated over his head. After second, the symbol vanished into particals the fell over the beast-man.

Ranma took this chance to strike. His fist slammed into the green monster's chest. He regreted it immediately. He hopped back and waved his hand, forcing himself not to cry out in pain. Ranma definately knew he wasn't that hard skinned the last time punched him.

Must be whatever he did, Ranma thought as he looked at Rico. It was just in time for him to see the beast man use another aura but with a different symbol.

Ranma found himself on the defensive, dodging the green man.His ribs hurted immensely and he felt them getting worser. Rico was puting out a hot aura and Ranma decided that he had to use it. As he began the spiral, he immediately broke it after another jarring throb from his ribs. He was in too much pain to maintain the soul of ice. He was hungry, and he needed a nice warm bath.

He grimaced, knowing the move he had to use.

"SAOTOME ANYTHING-GOES SCHOOL OF MARTIAL ARTS FINAL ATTACK!!"

"Oh man..." Buddy rubbed his temples.

Rico stopped his assault and immediately went defensive. He wasn't sure what this final attack was, but he won't get caught by it!

"Ready!"

Rico cautiously stepped closer.

"Set!" Ranma ran towards Rico

The Champ braced himself.

"RUN AWAY!!" And Ranma jumped over him.

Rico ignored the need to face-fault and grabbed the martial artist by the leg. He slammed Ranma into the ground like a hammer, the impact making him bounce up and recieve a powerful punch and a lariat that laid him out, unconcious.

Rico looked down at Ranma with a frown. "... A bit tough. Well, a win is a win. Your rank is A."

"..."

"Didn't you hear? Take him back to his quarters." Rico turned away from Ranma and started to walk back to his own quarter, but found Buddy was in his way.

"What the hell do you want?"

Buddy stood only a couple feet in front of him, hands stuffed into his jungle camo BDU pockets. He looked at the Champ indifferently, glanced at Ranma, then met his eyes.

"What do you want kid?! Get outta the way!"

"...."

Without moving the rest of his body, or taking his hands from his pockets, Buddy kicked the green beast-man in the crotch, felling the Champ. Without a care, he stepped on and over the groaning battler. He then picked up his unconcious friend and threw him over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. Finally, he made his way back to the dorm where he stayed, stepping on Rico's crotch again when he rolled over along the way.

"Pay backs a bitch, eh Banderas?" he said non-chalantly.


Ranma's eyes opened slowly, after remembering the last time he did this. Instead of being greated by a room full of bunk-beds, it seems he was in a medical room of some kind. And as run-down as the place looked, it wasn't the Yggdrasil.

"You're in the room next to the sleeping quarters."

He looked to his right and saw Buddy, shirtless and still heavily scarred. The large asian man had a bandage wrapped around his stomach area and one around his forehead. Glancing down, Ranma also had his own bandage, made tight to support his aching ribs. They still throbbed even though he knew his ki was automatically aiding the healing process.

"Start talking," Ranma demanded as he sat up, moving slowly as not to hurt himself. He looked Buddy directly in the eyes as did the other man. "Now."

Buddy contested Ranma in this staring competition. A couple minutes past before he sighed and sat down, getting comfortable for a long informative talk.

"You're in the Kislev capital of Nortune, D Block section. Basically, you're in the ghetto. The Kislev empire uses D block to house and contain their criminals. Containment is used via the collar around your neck. It contains a class 3 plastique explosive and a combination sensor and trigger detonator. You cannot leave past four kilometers of D block or you'll be blow up. Attempting to remove the collar will bring similiar effects."

Ranma looked at a mirror and frowned at the thick, yet light weight collar. He turned to Buddy again.

"How long have you been here?"

"After seperating from Montel, I headed north from our last location on the south east pennisula of Ignas. I landed and hid Alpha-One in a forest section north west of Nortune and camouflaged it and activated it's active stealth. From there, I accidentally infiltrated one of Kislev's top secret military production plants in the mountains to the east. I was captured, tried, and sentenced to a year in D block. I've been here for over six months."

"Why do ya lie so much?"

Buddy sighed and looked away.

"Like your dad, Ranma, sometimes you have to do things you don't like to survive. Me and Montel don't have the martial skill like you have to defend ourselves. Sometimes we have to say things to keep people off our backs, and I know that frustrates you alot since you don't know what to believe. But... trust me, I would never lie to you directly and if I did, I would explain why later on."

Ranma nodded at that. That cleared things up.

"How much do you know of this place? About this world? About me?"

"Everything."

"Tell me."

"It's a very long story."

Ranma hopped off the medical exam table and pulled a chair up to Bud, sitting just a foot away from him. He sat back and crossed his arms.

"I have time."

And so Buddy began the tale of a young man named Fei Fong Wong, telling about his adventures, his sacrifices and his destiny as the Slayer of God, Deus Ex Machina.

"And that's how it end."

"..."

Ranma sat there with a wide-eyed expression of disbelief. From the point of when he left Lahan up until now, Buddy spoke of everything that he had done with perfectly clarity - or of what would happened to his dead friend Fei. What made him even more disbelieving is how Buddy got all this information.

"A game?"

Bud nodded firmly. "Xenogears, a game created and published by Squaresoft Inc."

"So if everything after now happened to Fei.. then...Oh god..."

Buddy nodded again, seeing Ranma expression. "Now time to answer my questions... Where is she? Id?"

In a blink of an eye, Ranma's form shifted from a taller than average japanese martial artist, to a short and petite, yet top-heavy red-headed girl.

"Buddy." She nodded to him, an evil glare focusing on the asian man.

"Id..."

They looked at each other for a few more moments, until her visage started to change. Tears started to well up in her eyes and she tried to hold back. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stop it from comming.

"They... all died..." she whispered, tearing running down her cheeks. "..They died again... and I couldn't do anything about it..."

"Ranko...?"

"Maitreya.. Vind.. Jack.. Helix.. Farrant.. Falkon..." she sniffed. "Lahan .. Timothy... TIMOTHY!!!"

She lunged at Buddy and cried into his chest. The scarred man couldn't do anything else but comfort the girl, placing her arms around her and hugging her supportively. He couldn't comprehend what she is going through right now, nor did he have anything to compare this to. It wasn't everyday that you are able to witness the deaths of your closest comrades and best friends again. And see your past incarnation die.

Buddy stroked the red-head's mane, soothing her mental pain. "Shhh.. it's okay, Id. I'm here for you.. Let it all out.. don't hold back.." What was an adventure and path of self-learning for Ranma, was a nightmare for her.

"P-please don't die.." She clutched onto his shirt tightly and pressed herself into his chest. "I don't w-w-want you or Montel to die... everyone I love always dies..."

He embraced her even closer to him, almost smothering her. "I'll always be there for ya, Id.."

I'll be there for ya too, said a voice in her mind. She felt a warmth envelope her soul and smiled, feeling Ranma mentally embrace her while Bud did it physically.

For the first time in a long time, she felt whole.


The following morning, Buddy woke up and felt incredibly stiff. Not stiff, as refering to a typical morning conditions many male's would face during the waking hours. But stiff meaning he felt uncomfortable throughout his whole body. He was on his bottom bed bunk, leaning back instead of laying down. This wasn't the reason for the discomfort though. It was actually the large breasted, short and curvy red-head that was only wearing a tank-top using him as a pillow while she laid against him under his blanket. Bud found nothing wrong with that so he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep.

Wait a minute, he thought. He looked back down and silently cursed. He had no shirt on so there definately was skin on skin contact with Id. Steeling himself, he grabbed the corner of the warm blanket and held his breath before flinging it away.

Luckily for him, he still had on his pants and underwear. There was no sticky feeling between his legs either so there definately wasn't anything perverted happening last night. He breathed a sigh of relief. Now to take care of the stiffness of his muscles.

He first chose the subtile approach.

"Hey asshole..." he whispered, nudging the girl lightly. "Hey asshole, wake up...!"

Seeing no results, he went for the polite approach.

"Hey asshole. Could you please get up?" He asked, shaking her lightly. "Hey bitch, wake up please."

He rubbed his chin in thought. Time to bring out the big guns, he smirked to himself. Time for the forcefull approach!

"HEY ASSHOLE!!! WAKE UP!! EARTHQUAKE!!" He started banging his fist and jerking around to simulate said seismic movements! "EARTHQUAKE GET UP!! GET UP RANKO!! ASSHOLE GET UP!!! TIME TO GO TO SCHOOL!!! GET UP ASSHOLE!!!" She didn't stir one bit. "Awww.. you fucking bum...!"

This was becoming serious now! That worked on him as a kid but no effect on this lovely creature. Time for the all mighty direct approach.

He simply sat up and moved to get off the bed. In doing so, she followed also and dropped unceramoniously to the ground as he stood up. She yelped and glared at him, cursing the ground he walked on while he put on his shirt.

"You fucking dip-shit!" She yelled. "Is this how to treat me after I pour my black heart out to you last night!? If I didn't care for you at all I would throw you down the mouth of Mount Fuji with a napalm bomb shoved down your throat!!"

Buddy nodded and sarcasically replied in Japanese, "That's nice. And you'll be calling me the Whirl-Wind Bandit also."

"Feh."

Bud turned around and nearly creamed his pants. She was sitting on the floor with her legs and arms akimbo, eyes closed and head turned in a way that made her look like she was upset or annoyed. What really caught his eyes was way her arms unintentionally lifted her breasts and the way her hairless crotch had that type of slit that didn't open even if her legs were parted. It ment that her pussy was very tight or untouched.

He shook his head and slapped himself a couple times.

"If you do that somemore, you might knock some sense into yourself." she grumbled.

"Here." he tosses her a pair of elastic jockey briefs and a pair of his own BDU's. "Is he asleep?" She knew what he ment and nodded. "He'll need those when we go to the bar later."

"Why?"

"We need to get in touch with Hammer."

Her eyes turned dark with rage. "That traitor... I'll kill him now instead of later!"

"Later, babe. We'll need him to get parts for us for the Gear tournament." Buddy stated. She looked at him curiously, remembering the tournament from her past life as Fei, but Buddy had a different reason. "I haven't been idle around here, ya know..."

"I've been researching about Gears and their fuel systems. When we blow this bird, the problem with Weltall would be having fuel on hand to refuel it. So I've been digging up on knowledge of fuel systems, generators and engines. I discovered that we could design and construct a type of alternater based off of a fuel charger design. This way it's fuel supply would always be full or never deplete."

She blinked.

"Why didn't you make it then?"

He knocked her on the head. "That's because I thought of it a week ago!! Plus, I don't have the parts or even the tools handy to do such a thing. And since Weltall's design is sort of unique to other Gears, I would have to work on it directly to figure things out."

She nodded. "I see," she then kicked him in the shin. "That's for hitting me, you jerk-wad!"

"Luv you too." he knelt and rubbed his bruised leg. He saw he eyes glaze over a bit. "You okay?"

"He just woke up," she stated, putting the jockey shorts on. The fitted loose on her. "I'll listen in on you guys and tell Ranma what I wanna say from time to time."

Buddy watched the instant transformation for a moment before turning his head. As intriguing as the Nyannichuan curse is to many, seeing a half-naked girl become a half-naked guy was not on his list for a good time.

"Uhh.." Ranma scratched his head for a moment, looking around. "So.. what's up man?"

"I wanna show you around this place. We're gonna be here for a while."

Ranma held up the black and white urban camo pants curiously. "Aren't these yours?"

"Yeah, but all your clothes are dirty."

"Whatever.." Ranma's stomach chose to growl at that point. "When can we eat?"

"Now."

"Okay..."

Minutes later, the two of them climbed the stairs from the lower level and entered a cafateria of some sort. Ranma looked around, worried at seeing many 'punk'-looking characters. The main problem was that they were mostly female. He had too many bad experiences with large groups of women.

"Jail sure does suck." Ranma grumbled.

Buddy shook his head. "It's not really a jail. We have freedom of movement around the town, it's just we can't leave the area unless you have a special reason." He waved his hands around him, gesturing to the occupants.

"These girl and guys all can leave D-Block anytime they want, but they are limited to only the sewers or to the Battle Arena. The sewers are filled with monsters, and it's usually the inmates jobs to destroy them if they want to make a living. It's the main job of everyone, unless their a battler."

"What's a battler?" asked Ranma.

"Gear Pilots. Anyone that's good enough to participate in Gear on Gear battles are battlers. That is were the money is at. The thing is, you'd have to be targeted by the Battle Arena Committee to be able to get in, that's if your lucky."

Ranma just shrugged. He followed Buddy outside but they were stopped by a voice.

"Sucreebluuee.. Mr. Bud. Why you now like su eat at meah rezturraunt?" said a heavy-set cook with a french accent.

"That's because your food sucks, fucking frog!!" Buddy caught the thrown frying pan and chucked it back at the fat chef. "Asshole!"

"I ain't even gonna ask.." Ranma dead-panned. He suddenly felt something strange. It was comming from behind him. He turned to Buddy and glared. "If that's your hand, I think somethin' wrong with ya."

"Look to your left, dude."

Ranma did. Suzarn smiled sheepishly back at the pigtailed man. She continued to fondle his rear, much to his annoyance.

"Umm..."

"Yes?" asked Rico's female lackey. She slithered her other hand up his chest and continued farther south to cup his--

"Would ya quit that!" Ranma jumped back and away from her. "Ya crazy chick! What's wrong with ya?!"

She just shrugged and winked at him.

"I think she like you, Ranma."

"Well the feelin' ain't mutual. She tried to kill me the other day!!"

"It's not like I did anythin' permanent." said the girl in her british accent. "Ya' need ta chill out man fo' ya give yerself a heart attack. Ya' lucky that I didn't just kill ya when I had the chance! Only two men eva' beat me and that's Rico and that stud ova' there." She jerked her thumb towards Buddy.

Ranma looked at him incredulously. That girl, Suzarn, was a tough opponent to beat when he was injured. He didn't know Bud's condition when he came here months ago, but he knew that it would of taken skill to beat the girl.

"What?" Buddy asked Ranma when he stared at him. "I may not be as good a fighter as you but I know how to fight!"

"Whatever..."

The three of them continued on as if nothing happened. They arrived at a bar and grill that was located around the corner from the dorm they stayed at. Ranma's ears were immediately assaulted by a jazzy bar theme he had heard before in a sci-fi movie by Lucas Arts. He restrained himself from slapping his face since Buddy did that to himself already.

"Can't these fuckers listen to something else for once..." he grumbled. "Hey Latina!"

A cute hispanic-looking female turned towards the voice and frowned immediately.

"Oh, it's you."

Buddy sat down on the bar stood, Suzarn to his left and Ranma right next to her. He shrugged at Ranma's curious look.

"You still upset that I had a fight in here last week?" Buddy asked. "It ain't my fault that dick-head guard got drunk and started being an ass and talkin' shit to me."

"But you didn't have to trash the whole left wing!!" she pointed off to the demolished part of the bar sealed off by security tape. It looked like someone caved in the roof.

"Oh.. that's a minor set-back." He ignored her enraged look. "Besides, he pulled a gun on me. Ya expect me to just let him shoot me?"

"No... But your dumb ass didn't have to take his GRENADE and blow up my roof and 1/4 of my bar!!"

"Oh come off of it. I fucked you for all last week to pay you back."

Everyone that just happened to listen started hootin' and hollering, congradulating Buddy. Some even came up and shook his hand and patted his back.

"See? Even they think that was good enough payment." he jerked his thumb back at the other patrons.

"Aww.. Shut the fuck up! What do ya want anyway?"

While Buddy and Suzarn were ordering their food, Ranma was talking to some beast man that approached him.

"Hey bro, you look new around here in D-block, bro."

Ranma looked him up and down. He had fur all over and looked like a shaggy camel man. "Yeah, sorta."

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself... They call me, 'Hammer - the Supplier'. It's been a long time since such a powerful criminal has been sent to D-Block! Heh-heh, so that makes you pretty famous in this town. In other words, you're the center of attention, bro!

"That's all good and nice, but my name ain't 'Bro'! It's Ranma."

"... What's wrong with it? It's not like i'm putting you down. What, would you prefer me to call you 'sir' or something?"

"Whatever."

"Okay bro! I'm gonna call ya bro from now on, bro!" said Hammer. "By the way, bro, I hear you're really strong. Not many get rank A, you know! I'm pretty impressed! And what's more, bro, you seem different from the other prisoners."

"Uhh.." Ranma didn't know what the hell he was selling anyone. Reminded him about crack-heads Buddy told him about. "Got nothin' I want."

"...Different, huh? You don't know how close you are.."

"Huh? Oh, it's not meant to be an insult... Just a feeling I have. No deep meaning! Oh, and if you have any problems, talk to me! Since I'm a supplier, I've got all the connections!"

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Hammer!"

The beastoid man looked a couple stools over and saw Buddy. "Hey dude! I got your parts at the dock and their in that shipping container like you asked." He passed a list to Buddy.

Bud looked over the list a couple times and see if all he order was there. Passing it back over to Hammer, he also threw in a sack of money.

"If it's not all there when I check on it, I know where you live."

"R-right, sir! Don't worry! I ain't gonna mess up like last time."

Ranma watched the weird guy leave and shrugged. Out of sight, out of mind.

"What's up with you and him?" he asked Buddy. But Suzarn spoke up for him.

"That's Hammer. He's one of the Champ's pals. The Champ lets 'im go about and do what'ever we wants as long as he hooks Rico up with the good shit fo' his Gear. Hammer's Rico's mechanic, by the way. Oh, and like you jus' seen, he's also the best supplier here in D-block. He can git ya' anythin' even militri'e stuff."

"Hey handsome," Ranma turned around and blushed, seeing the the lady named Latina leaning over the bar, showing massive amounts of cleavage. "Want anythin? Food, drink? Me?"

He twiddled his fingers and looked around shyly. "Uhh.. heheh-heh...Y-yeah.. I'll have what he has." He pointed to Buddy's plate. He then looked at Suzarn's plate. "And what she has too. Triple portions!"

"Triple portions?!"

"My poor wallet..!" cried Buddy.

Later, Buddy and Ranma were walking around the town with Suzarn between them, hanging off each of their arms. Ranma seemed to have got off his rocking horse and just accepted the scythe wielding amazon. To him, since Buddy got along with her then he might as well also since she would be around him too. Plus, she looked pretty hot.

As they passed a guard, he stopped them but spoke to Ranma.

"Hmm, so you're the new guy? The Imperial Committee is looking for you... They heard something about you and the Champ's men... They should still be somewhere in D Block. They decided to visit you... This is a good chance for a prisoner like yourself!"

They watched the guard walk off, then looked at each other.

"It's time." said Bud. Ranma nodded.

"What do ya mean, it's time?" Suzarn asked curiously.

"You'll see."

They headed back to the bar, just in time to see a two guards and a woman comming down out of Rico's chamber. They stopped in front of Ranma, blocking the woman.

"... I finally get to meet you. You're Ranma, right?" She said from behind the guards. ".. And, uh, outta the way!!"

"!? Uh, forguve us, Ms. Cohen!!" The guards parted revealing a nerdy-looking woman in a business suit. She approached Ranma after giving the guards a crossed look.

"You men are hopeless! This is why I didn't want to come with you two." She cleared her throat. "Huhmm, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Rue Cohen from the 'Imperial Battling Committee' in B-Block of this, the Imperial Capital."

"I'm in!"

Rue looked at him curiously. "Don't you want to know why I'm here in the first place?"

"Yer here to ask me to sign up for the Battling tournament, right? So I'mma just cut to the chase and sign up."

"I already informed him about the committee and that you might contact him, Rue."

Rue Cohen glared at Buddy. "Ah, well if it isn't the big loser of the last tournament. It's a wonder your still alive after your Gear exploded."

Buddy pounded his chest a couple times. "Takes more than that to kill me!"

"That's nice to hear. Too bad your loss also lost me alot of money." Rue growled. She smiled when she turned back to Ranma. "Now as for your Gear, the committee will provide a Gear for you to pilot during the tournament and parts will be limited to what you can purchase. I would advise you to search for a mechanic as none will be provided for you."

"What 'bout my information?"

"The committee already has it on file and is already being processed. Trust me, Ranma, no criminal has ever turned down the chance to be a battler." With that, the two guards and the lady left.

"Touche..." Bud turned to Ranma and smirked. "Step-one complete. Now all we gotta do is show up tomorrow at the battle arena and check on your Gear."

"So what are we gonna do until then?" Ranma asked curiously. He shivered at feeling Suzarn's hand trail from his upper back down to his rear. He smiled sheepishly at her.

Buddy placed his arm around the shorter Amazon, smirking at Ranma. "Time to get laid."

He looked down and away, shuffling his feet. "Well, I guess I'll find something to do then.." He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back to Bud.

"When I said get laid, I meant..." He pointed at himself with one hand and at Ranma with the other, then gestured to Suzarn. The girl just smiled and winked at Ranma.

"Both of us?"

She licked her lips and nodded again.

"At the same time?"

"I think ye' catchin' on, luv."

He scratched his head, giving the girl a shy look.

"I uhh.. guess I could always try."

"Ye' not a vir'gin, are ya?" she asked while placing her small hand on his crotch, feeling it slightly stir.

"Heck no! An' I'll prove it too!" He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, glancing at Buddy. "Where too?"

"Follow me." He saw a bunch of people watching them. "Nothing to watch here folks, just a couple of perverts. Move along, nothing to see here."


Sometime the following morning...

"Bud?" Ranma called, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah?" replied said person.

"Your not really Japanese, aren't ya?"

"How did you guess?"

Ranma paused for a moment then began, "Well for one thing, I ain't gay or nothin' but I more than happen to notice that yer dick is around 25 to 30 centimeters long. And it is a known fact that the average japanese male is only 10 to 15 centimeters."

Said person chuckled to himself, also looking up at the ceiling. Both were laying on a large comfortable looking bed under the covers with a large space for someone else to fit between them.

"Thanks, and I guess I can't use my Japanese joke for you too."

"What do you mean by 'Japanese' joke?"

He held up his hand, only his pinky finger sticking out. "Japanese!!!"

The pigtailed man laughed softly before letting out a long sigh. "Yeah, I guess I'm blessed or somethin'. Maybe it's 'cause I'm such a manly man."

"Yeah yeah yeah. So, are you up to heading to the arena?"

"Sure, why not."

Buddy paused. "One for the road?"

"Hell yeah!"

They both threw off the bed covers and exposed Suzarn. She was busy bobbing her head up and down Ranma's six inch shaft while she stroked Buddy's large, thick member. She sat up and smiled at the two men before crawling up Buddy and impaling her own snatch with his fat cock while Ranma manuevered behind her to fill her back door.

"So, how many times have we busted already?" Bud asked in wonder.

"I lost count after ten," Ranma said, starting to pound into the girls rear in tune to Bud's upward thrust.

"I guess you're in for a ride, babe." He grinned, watching Suzarn's face contort into a look of pure extasy.


Kislev Battling Arena, B-Block

"... So this is the Battling Arena."

Ranma and Buddy stood at the bottom of the steps near the entrance that was designated for battlers. The pigtailed man looked around, seeing an array of other battlers waiting for their turn or finishing with last minute paperwork. Many were just louging around waiting for their bout.

"Reception desk, actually." Buddy stated. The two of them walk in a little ways before they were stopped by a business woman. It was Rue Cohen.

"Welcome to the Battling Arena.. Ranma, sir." She glanced at Buddy. "You're late as usual."

"I didn't sign up for battling this time, dip-shit. I sold my Gear to some lame-brain so I wouldn't have to deal with you anymore, fucking nerd."

"Well I've never!" She turned a cheek to him. "Anyway, Mr. Saotome. Is there any special reason why you wanted to become a battler so badly? I am curious. Sure the money is always a plus, but...?"

"Oh." He pointed at his neck. "I wanna get this off."

"Hahahmmm.. You're amusing! Are you intending to aim for victory despite it being your first try at battling?"

"Damn right I am! I'm Ranma Saotome, and I never lose!!"

"Quite the man, aren't you, Mr. Saotome. Please excuse me," She turned towards a group of other battlers but paused for a moment. "You seem to have quite some confidence in fighting with gears.. I'm looking forward to seeing your bouts. Mr. Bud will show you your Gear. Paddock 23B." And she left.

"Paddocks..?"

Bud nodded. "Yeah. It's like a docking system that brings your Gear to this reception area. It's very advanced also. This room is always stays in place, but the paddocks are moveable. Crazy thing is, you could stand in the paddocks while their moving and you don't feel a thing. No swaying no nothing."

"Cool! Let's go."

The two of them walk up to a receptionist. The girl's eyes brighten at seeing Buddy, but she also gives Ranma a warm smile that makes him smiling back.

"Welcome back Buddy, not competing this time? The Kislev Invitational tournament is the biggest event this time of year. Even the Kaiser attends all the bouts. The winner, if he's a criminal, gains a pardon and possible induction into the military. Why didn't you join?"

"Nah, Gear's aren't my style, you know. The sky's are my calling. So I'm just sticking to mechanic for now. But," He patted Ranma on the back. "My friend here, Ranma Saotome, is gonna be the new champ. So place your bets on him."

"Hah!" Laughed the girl. "We'll see. Rico's been winning the big one for the past couple of years, even the regular tournaments. I'm not trying to insult you, kid, but if you do make it to Rico, I wouldn't be on you."

Ranma shrugged. "Wouldn't blame ya at all."

She thought of something for a moment. "You're first match is in twenty minutes. But since you're in the first bracket and we're still on the first, I'll switch you to the lower fourth so you might have a chance to fight Banderas in the finals. But your match is still in after this upcomming match."

"Hey, thanks! I owe him anyway."

"I wouldn't blame you at all, kid. Buddy here has been trying to get back at Rico since he too became class-A in D-block. It just that Rico is too strong for him."

"Yeah yeah, rub it in why don't ya." Buddy growled playfully, flicking her off.

"Anyways, your paddock is locked, so get going."

"Thanks babe!"

The two men walks a little ways down the room to another door attended by another female in a guard uniform. Showing some ID, they were allowed through. Ranma eyes went wide as he came into contact with Weltall. Buddy said that he would get it, but at first he didn't believe him on bit. Now, he knew that what Buddy was telling him was the truth.

"We only got a few minutes," Buddy stated. "I think it if we just check on major systems and do the rest after the match. Today's matches are single elimination qualifying matches."

"Right."

They crossed the catwalks to the locking pad where the Gear stood. Ranma immediately stepped into the cockpit. He felt a sense of relief when his ass touched the seat. Normal, he's a guy that likes to stand, but when he was in Weltall, he sit for hours and enjoy it. Surprisingly, when his form shifted to that of Ranko, the gear didn't transform along with her. This surprised Buddy and he gave her a questioning look.

"It's only activated when I wish it to happen."

"You mean hyper-mode, correct?" he asked.

"Yes. If this game of yours that is based off of my life was accurate, Hyper-mode is activated depending on the pilots mental link with his Gear. This is only possibly in military Gears."

Buddy shrugged. "It's not really explained in the game, but I'll just go off of what you say." He thought about something. "Hey, I just thought of this. If you and Ranma are here... Then what of the Yggdrasil? Did you attack it or what?"

There was a long pause and her eyes seemed to glaze over for a bit. She then refocused on Buddy and shook her head.

"Yes, the Yggdrasil was attacked like in the past by Weltall, but, it wasn't I that did it nor was it Ranma."

Buddy was confused. "What?"

"Inside our mind, there resides a dormant personality that neither Ranma or I could control. Unlike myself, he doesn't have the freedom to express himself though a seperate mind or body. He is most part of Ranma's psyche since he was there before Ranma first emersed in Nyannichuan."

"Before jusenkyo..." Budd mumbled. He rubbed his chin for a moment. "You mean.. his cat persona?"

"Yes. I believe that.. the incident with the Dora and Grahf at the border, along with the death's of Maitreya's units triggered the release of that feral beast. But, what mainly caused this problem was the death of one of Maitreya's soldiers. Falkon."

"Oh?"

"Just like in my time during my 4th incarnation, Falkon was a lovely female soldier and very dedicated. You might recodnized her as one of the females of Ranma and my reincarnation. Kasumi."

He nodded and closed his eyes, giving a silent prayer to the dead and anyone that face Ranma's cat persona. Despite him not knowing them, they deserved some credit for trying to stop the cat.

"What happened to you?"

"Like always, I watched everything thru Ranma's eyes, except this time, I couldn't control his male body. When the cat has control, I cannot do nothing but watch."

"How did he snap out of it?"

Id smirked. "The Cat cannot control Ranma forever. As long as it's in control it has a time limit before Ranma gains control again. Unfortunately, if Ranma regains control but is still unconscious, then I would have to wait until he awakes."

Bud started to say something but the arena intercom system tuned in and announced that the next two opponents should prepare for battle. That ment Ranma and his opponent.

"So, I guess it's time, huh?"

Ranko shifted to Ranma, the pigtailed man grinning at Buddy.

"I guess so. I'll see ya afterwards."

"Good luck!"

A door behind Weltall slowly opened revealing a type of elevator. Weltall disengaged from the paddock and stepped into the lift. It's arm rose and gave Buddy a thumbs-up.

"Gonna be a good match," Buddy said to himself.

Then a thought suddenly hit him as Weltall rose to the arena.

"Oh shit! I forgot! Those bastards planted a bomb in Weltall!! DAMN IT!!"


Weltall looked up and a light enveloped the Gear. The elevator stopped and her found himself inside a huge arena with areas of various elements, ranging from grass, to mountain areas, deserts and even a large lake. Kislev didn't waste their time making this state-of-the-art battling Arena for nothing.

In front of Weltall, roughly 20 meters away, stood stocky-looking Gear holding a shield and a mace-like weapon. It had wear and tear on it's armor signifying that the Gear has been participating in battling for a good while. Ranma steeled himself and prepared for a fight.

[DUE TO A CHANGE IN SCHEDULE, THIS IS ROUND ONE OF THE FOURTH BRACKET QUALIFICATIONS!!] Announced a loud-speaker. [THE NEW COMMER "Weltall" VERSES THE VETERAN "Ganador"!!]

Ganador charged the black Gear after the sound of a gun. Ranma quickly grabbed the control sphere's and linked with the Gear. Just as Ganador neared Weltall with it's mace preparing to strike, Weltall's left fist snaked inside the space between Ganador's shield and head, cracking the veteran Gear directly on the jaw and knocking it back but not down. Ranma took this time to hop the short distance and connect a powerful side-kick that smashed into his opponents shield, leaving a good-sized dent.

A charge of ether energy shot from Ganador's mace, hitting against Weltall's chest making the Gear step back a few paces. It's arms started moving quickly to block the hammer-like blows Ganador was dishing out. Seeing an opening, Ranma cycled his own weapons and fired an ether charge bullet from a weapon in Weltall's right arm.

Ganador was knocked back several feet from the close ranged blast. It was at that point that Ranma recieved a comm-link from his opponent.

"Hm! Not bad." Ranma recodnized the voice as Leonardo, one of Rico's lackey's. "Have it your way then... Playtime is over! Let's get serious..."

"Huh?" Ranma head swivelled around as gauges and alarms in Weltall started going crazy. Smoke and steam started jetting out through the Gear's joints and air-pathways. Fire's began to break out all over the Gear.

"What the...!? My Gear....!?"

The back section of Weltall exploded and the Gear fell over on it's side. An ambulance and fire-crew rushed from an open tunnel, Buddy riding along with them.

"RANMA!!"


A day later...

For the second time this week, Ranma slowly opened his eyes only to forcibly shut the again as a blinding light assaulted him. Also, his body felt like total shit, as if he was used as a punching bag by several of his rivals. Fortunately, the last thing he remembered was being pried out of Weltall before falling into unconsciousness.

He tried opening his eyes slowly, allowing them to focus his vision. Luckily, an arm came into view and pushed the light out of the way and a familiar face replaced it. A face he didn't really expect.

"Doc...?"

Citan nodded. "It's me, Ranma. I'm glad you awoken. It has been almost 48 hours since you have been in a coma. Luckily, you're new friend had medical units respond quickly to get you out of Weltall or you would have suffered even more injuries."

".. You mean Bud?" Citan nodded. "I've.. known him just as long as Montel.. he's one of my best friends.."

"Yes, he has explained that to me thoroughly, along with many other things that I was surprised that he knew about. Hold still." Ranma did so and Citan used a small light to check the martial artist's eyes before nodded to himself. "Try sitting up."

Ranma's abs clenched and he forced himseld to sit up. A spike of pain registered in his lower ribs, forcing a wince on his visage. He ignored it though. Pain was a good sign that he was still alive and capable of doing something. But, he never had an injury from a fight that lasted as long as these blasted ribs of his.

"I'm glad that you're alright, Ranma." Citan said with sincerity. "I'm glad I found you here."

"Speaking of which, Doc. How did you get here? You don't have collar so I don't think yer a criminal like me."

Citan shook his head.

"The Yggdrasil was attacked by an unknown Gear and sunk to the bottom of the sea of sand. I managed to get into an escape pod and landed somewhere close to where the border-fleet was destroyed. I was picked up by a Kislev airship as a refugee from the attacks and assigned here to D-Block as the local doctor."

Ranma shook his head. He knew Citan was hidding something from him. "You don't have ta lie to me, Doc. I know it was me and Weltall that attacked the Yggdrasil..."

"What are you talking about, Ranma?"

"Cut the crap, Hyuga!"

Citan's eyes widened. That wasn't Ranma's voice and that definately wasn't the Ignian language. It was female and laced with venom. Before his very eyes, Ranma's form shifted into a small, buxom red-headed female that he recodnized from the destruction of Lahan. The female continued in his native language of Solarian.

"You know DAMN well who I am. And I know who you are." He hair unfurled from it's pigtail and cascaded behind her back in waves, reaching he mid back. She spoke with confidence that held of years of knowledge and experience. Even her posture was firm and sted-fast. Citan could see the mix of aura's surrounding her, swirling around like a vortex. She had an a power that was unmatched. But what made her deadly, was she had the knowledge to contain and control that power to the point it was barely noticable to a seasoned warrior like himself. "Your name is Hyuga Ricdeau, born a 3rd class citizen in the Empire of Solaris. At once you were aligned with a man named Kahran Ramsus, current commander of the Gebler Special Forces. Currently, you were assigned by Cain, the Emperor of Solaris to watch, observe and report any changes in a young boy by the name of Fei Fong Wong. But, since his death in the town of Lahan, your assignment was change to another young man. Ranma Saotome."

Citan took several steps back. "H-how?!" His face was a mask of confusion and surprise.

The girl smiled, not an evil smile, but a playful one.

"Do not worry, Citan Uzuki. Though I may come to most as a being of power and evil, I do have a heart for those I care about." She looked behind the Doc and smiled at something behind him before looking back at him. "And from my centuries of memories, you are a close friend and comrade."

Citan took another step back, wyrie of the girl despite her lack of hostility.

"W, who are you? What are you?"

She smiled and crossed her arms under her bosom. "I am human, if you are wondering, and I go by many names, Doctor Uzuki. Many you should know of." She eyed him for a moment. "I WAS known by the names Kim, Elly, Lacan, Sofia, Grahf, Elhaym..."

"... Fei Fong Wong ..."

Citan's eyes widened! A chair was suddenly shoved under him and he was forced to sit down. He heard the door to the medical room close and lock, along with the sound of a buzzer that an operation was being held. But yet he paid no mind, eyes locked in fear and amazement by the short red-headed girl.

".. But I go by my current name.." She leaned in close, whispering in his ear.

"... Id, the Slayer of God."

Citan felt another presence and had to force himself to turn away from the piercing eyes of the woman to check. The heavily scarred man, Buddy, sat on the operating table with his arms cross, a smirk on his face.

"If you have the time Doc, I would like to have a LONG explaination of everything that has happened to this point. That is, if you can spare the time."

Citan could only nod and stay silent.

"I was not born here, on this planent or as a matter of fact, this demension. A few years ago, I was transporting this device and---"

And so Buddy relayed a tale of demensional travel to the Doc, and everything that he assumed Ranma had experienced up to this point.

"I see..." said Citan, rubbing his chin in deep thought.

What the good doctor was just told went totally beyond reason, or even what his imagination could think up. The possibility of interdemensional travel was theorized by many scientist in Solaris, but the technology to do so was either lost or did not exist. Now, sitting before him, were two of three prime examples of travelers from another demension. The other was either dead or trapped inside the Yggdrasil in the desert somewhere.

"I know that it is alot, Citan, but it's the truth." said Bud.

"How can I not believe what you have just told me?" he asked. "My mission, Solaris, the destruction of Lahan and everything else leading up to the point of where Kislev's aerial battleship 'rescued' me personage from the wreckage of the Aveh border fleet. I cannot deny that what you indeed tell me is fact."

Citan looked over at Ranma.

"I apologize if you feel betrayed by me, Ranma. My original mission was to watch over Fei, but when your Id surfaced and the activation of Weltall's full-combat operation, the Emperor asked me to watch over you also and report information."

Ranma shook his head and smiled at the doc. Ranko explained everything to him about the Doc and his intentions. Citan was a kind man, yet a warrior at heart. The main reason Citan monitored Ranma and helped him out was to gain information on Gebler, Ramsus, and some other guy that works in Solaris.

"Story of my life, Doc." Ranma waved him off. "So how long do you think it'll be before I can get back to battling?"

"Battling?" Citan heard of these games. Kislev is widely know for their competetive spirit in Gear verse Gear matches. "Why do you wish to participate in those games?"

"Well, I wanna get this stupid collar off and get the hell outta here." Ranma pointed at his neck.

"Class 3 plastique explosive. Trigger and sensor detonator. Pretty nasty stuff." said Buddy.

Citan raised his eyebrow. "Very." Then shook his head. "You healed up as quickly as usual, Ranma. But the committee has postponed the Tournament until tomorrow. You should rest up until then."

Ranma nodded and looked over to Buddy.

"I'll be workin' on Weltall for the time being. Still trying to figure out them black boxes, but no matter. You with me on this, Ranko?"

"That's Id! You jerk!" said the red-head as she shifted into control. Citan made a bug-eyed expression, still not use to this.. occurance. "And yes. I know Weltall inside and out. We still need to figure out how to get that design of yours working."

Buddy nodded. Citan coughed to get their attention.

"If I may ask, how would Ranma rest if you are incontrol of the body?" Ranko shrugged.

"Well, Hyuga..." She stared at him for a moment then shrugged. "I dunno. Unexplainable."

For some reason, Citan felt like striking the woman but held himself back. Not a time for a bout of rage fueled by irritation. But she continued.

"All I can guess at, is that it's... magic."

She smiled seeing the frown on his face. Citan was a man of fact and did not believe in the type of magic she was referring to. Ether spells and skills are not considered magic in this world, so Citan does not believe in other such nonsense. She knew he would be pounding at his brain trying to figure everything about.

"Well, I'm off to the paddocks. See ya later, doc." Ranko followed behind Buddy.

"Wait for me, jerk!"

Hours later, the two stood in front of a small hatch the accessed Weltall's internal systems. So far, they were able to replace the outer frame with a much stronger alloy than it was original configured with. They also replaced burned wires, overhauled some of the limbs that took major damage and even added some desperately needed parts.

"Eh, so this is it." Ranko said as he pulled off a device that was connected to Weltall's generator. "Little bastards deserve what they get though."

Buddy shrugged. "Well, it really doesn't matter to me. I don't really care for them either. Plus, they did the same thing to me months back. But you do know that Rico is gonna show up in a few days accusing us of murder."

"I know that," she said softly. "I wish to follow him and help find that beast in the sewers, but Ranma wishes not to help him."

"Still consider that green jerk your friend?"

She nodded.

"Though were from different times and a different demension, he is still the same person that I remember from long ago."

"I guess I'll talk to Ranma about it later. But anyway," He lifted open another armored access door, larger than any other on the Gear, exposing the huge engine compartment. "Alot space in here with no accessory parts."

"Yes, some of the parts are as large as the engine itself."

Buddy paused. "You think we can find a GNRS50 somewhere?" he suggested.

"How did you--? Nevermind, already know." She shook her head. "None exist on the surface. We would have to either visit the business district underground or the Zeboim research and military base."

"But those two places won't be avaliable until Deus---"

SLAP!!!

Buddy rubbed his cheek and looked at Ranko with a confused expression.

"Don't you even mention that terrible monster ever again." she stated coldly, eyes piercing his own.

"...." He rubbed his cheek a little more before replying. "Whatever."

"...."

They worked in silence from the on. The only spoken words were those asking for tools or assistance with installing parts. It wasn't until the were finished hours later that Id spoke up.

"For as long as we've known each other, you have always seem to be calm in all situations. Except during battle. How can you be so calm all the time, knowing that you're in a foreign time and world, despite the places being somewhat similiar to your own home?"

He shrugged his shoulders and slumped down onto the cat-walk, leaning back against Weltall's arm.

"I'm ain't really calm at all. Some one has to keep cool and try to get through all this with a level head. Might as well be me, ya know."

"I see.."

"Do you want to go home?" She looked at him curiously.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if you wanna go home? Back to Nerima. Back to your world."

Another round of silence. Id looked as if she was thinking this through. She spoke up after five minutes.

"No. Definately no.

Bud smiled. "Good! Ranma said the samething. He didn't wanna deal with all that crap again either. Plus, his welcoming committee wouldn't be all that great. I still kinda wanna visit though. I miss Ukyou and 'Biki-chan."

"But that leaves me with nowhere to go..." Bud put his arm around her.

"No way! Yer my friend and I won't leave ya out in the rain. When we get back to my world, you can stay with me! No problem there. My folks will be cool with it. Plus, my other friends would trip out seeing Ranma and you. Especially you. You're one of our favorite fuck fantasies!" He chuckled. "It'll be good to have ya. We've only got six more numbers to try out before we can find home."

Id smiled and cuddled up to his larger frame. Ranma and herself made the correct choice in tagging along with Bud and Montel. Not only were they learning more, Ranma was gaining something that he really wished for.

True friendship.

It was also a huge ego boost to be named someone's fuck fantasy also. And in six more numbers they would---

Wait a minute...

"What the fuck do you mean 'we only got six numbers to try'?" she asked in a sarcastic mocking of his voice.

He sighed.

"I remember the calculations needed to fold to my home demension. But," he paused for another sigh. "I can't remember the last digit used. I know for a fact that it's a number and not any other variables like 'A' to 'Z' or zero. One was your world. Two was the Gundam world. Three is here. Four thru nine are comming up. One of them is the lucky number."


Four days later...

The time pasted by quickly for Ranma. The following day after he woke up in the medical room he immediately got into action at the arena. With Ranko's help, he tore through the competition in a matter of seconds. The following days were just as similiar with only minor difficulties with one or two opponents. He does admit, that without Ranko being by his side and giving him pointers, he would probably of taken longer to win the matches.

Not that he needed help anyway, he is a 'pro' after all.

Buddy stayed on the side-lines and repaired Weltall after each match. He mostly stayed idle during the time, mostly relaxing and waiting patiently. He knew what was comming and didn't want to get all excited for that night to come.

And that night was now.

"Ya did good today, dawg!" Bud said, patting Ranma on the back. "All you got are these last two semi-final rounds and then you got your shot at Rico. You can finally get that collar off too!"

Ranma nodded, laying back in his bunk.

"I got use to it. Well, sorta. But you know what----" His eyes bugged out.

Buddy set down his collar on a small stand and stretched out. He looked at Ranma curiously.

"What, I got something on my face?" He asked. "Don't tell me you ... swing that way? Aww man! C'mon! Don't be lookin' at me like that!"

"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT OFF?!!?!" Ranma screamed in his face, pointing down at the collar.

"Oh, you mean that?"

Bud took a small screw driver and stabbed it at Ranma's neck. It penetrated the collar very easily. There was an audible click and the contraption split into two.

"Like that!" He smiled.

Ranma glared at him.

"You mean to tell me all this time that you could of took it off?" Buddy nodded. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!??"

Bud backed away and warded Ranma off with his hands. "Hey man! You didn't ask me so I just didn't tell ya. I thought you wanted to go through this battling shit." His eyes shifted to the stairs. "Someone is comming."

Citan, after poking his head out of the medical room, follows their gazes to the door. His eye twitches when seeing a large, green-skinned monster-man step through the door way and face Ranma and Bud.

"... Long tie no see, huh, kid!" Rico addresses Ranma. He passively acknowledges Buddy's presence with the middle finger gaining a growl from said person.

"What'cha want, Banderas? We're about to go to sleep." Bud said. "Wanna take out the competition before it even gets to ya?!"

Rico growled at him. "Calm down jerk-off, I didn't come to fight with you..."

"Then what purpose do ya have here?" asks Ranma. "What other reason could you have?"

Citan decided to intervene.

"What is going on out here? This is a place for rest! Can you be a bit quieter..." Now Citan recodnizes the green-skinned person. "Oh, the Battling Champion? What would the likes of you have to do comming to a prison barracks? There must be some special reason for you to grace us with you presence?"

Rico nods slowly.

"Yes, there is." he began. "I came in regards to the incident of the explosion during the first rounds of the Battling contest."

"You mean what happened a couple days ago, right?" Bud asked in confirmation.

"The explosion accident that Ranma was enveloped in during that bout? What has that got to do with you?"

"... I'm sorry, That 'accident' was set up by my subordinates! After the results of your 'Baptismal Ceremony', it seems my men didn't come to like you very much... except Suzarn."

"Someone call meah name?"

The british-accented amazon stepped in, waving to her boss who grumbled in annoyance. She playfully patted him on the head, earning more annoyed grumbles, before taking a seat next to Buddy on his class-A bunk.

"The same thing happened to me six months ago. They made it look like an accent, but it was really ment to kill Ranma...." Bud looked at him curiously. "But why tell us now? Did the come clean and confess the crimes they committed?"

"... They're no longer with us!"

Ranma looked at Suzarn's long face. "So their dead?" he asked. She nodded. "Good."

Rico was outraged.

"What do you mean good, you sack of shit?!! Those are my men you're talking about?!! You did it! Didn't you!" he screamed. Rico reared his fist back planning on caving in the glare on Ranma's face in. But he stopped feeling a cold blade against his throat. "Suzarn?!" he sounded confused.

"I've been with these two all the time, boss." she said, glaring at him. "One thing these bloak's ain't are murders. Besides, they've been too busy battlin' and fuckin' meah to go out an' kill people." She winked at Buddy and Ranma.

Rico blushed. That was definately something he did NOT want to hear. He shook his head.

"As much as I want to believe that, I won't." He looked at Citan. "You're the doctor, don't you know what's been happening? What's going on here in the Imperial Capital's D-block?"

"You mean the series of mysterious murders that happened in the sewers!?"

Rico nodded.

"... Yes. A line of skilled Battlers have been murdered one after the other! All of the victims that have been killed were my subordinates.."

"Kid.. I mean, Ranma...! They were the very people who has set that trap to kill you."

Ranma shook his head.

"So what you trying to say I still killed them? That their deaths are connected to me somehow!?"

"Let us see... The murdered Battlers had set a trap to try and kill Ranma. When Ranma comes to know of this he has good reason to kill them... Out of hatred of his would-be killers, he plots revenge on the Battlers. And turns to 'murder'!"

"Sounds like a porno plot where the battlers are actually women and he kills them with sex." Buddy dead-panned. "I say it was probably a sewer monster."

"I think so two!" She paused. "But that porno plot does sounds bloody interestin'. Hey Ranma.. wanna.." She couldn't help but giggle.

Rico whapped her upside the head.

"Ow! Shit boss! That fukin' hurt!"

The green-monster shook his head. "For the sake of my men, I'm about to check out the sewers. I've said what I wanted to say..."

Ranma looked at Buddy. The larger man nodded to him.

"Wait up! Let me.. Let me go with you!" said Ranma. "I want to prove to you that I am innocent myself!"

"You have alibi's from two people. You don't need to prove yourself."

Ranma shook his head.

"That doesn't mean you actually believe that."

Rico glare at him.

"You want to tag along, huh? I don't care. But you've got to look after you're own neck!"

Suzarn hops up and stands next to Ranma.

"I'm commin' too!"

Citan made a motion that he would join, but Buddy shook his head at the Doc. Citan nodded.

"I might as well join ya guys also." said Buddy as he stood up and stretched. Ranma shooks his head.

"We both know you can't fight that good." Ranma watched him get dressed in a pair of black BDU pants and shirt. "I mean, it was probably luck for you to beat Suzarn. Those other assholes I would understand completely." He watched Bud pull his bunk away from the wall and get behind it. "But come on. Can you really keep up with me? Those monsters in the sewers are no joke and they come in swarms. Sometimes with reinforments."

Ranma immediately shut up when he saw Bud set down a familiar-looking rifle that he seen in a movie down on his bunk. Buddy ducked back down behind his bed.

"Where the fuck did'ja get that!? How did ya get it?!"

Buddy raised up his removed collar.

"Oh."

The scarred man stood up, hauling a large pack and setting it on the bunk next to the rifle. He oppened it up the back and immediately began named all his inventory.

"M16A4 .223 with attached M203 40mm grenade launcher. Fifteen 30 round clips for the rifle and ten 40mm grenades." He began pulling out equipment. "Nightvision goggles, PASGT helmet system, communications---"

"Okay okay!" Ranma gave in. "You can come along, sheesh."

Buddy grinned, pulling back the top-cocking charging handle.

"That's what I thought."


Around an hour later the three men and one woman stood at the entrance for the sewer system. A guard stood by and spoke to them.

"This is the entrance to the Kislev sewers. There's a ton of monsters down there so don't go unless you're good. Those stupid Battlers and bounty hunters are also coming and going."

Rico raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, what... the? Y... You're the Ch, Champ!!"

"Thanks for watching the sewers." he said sarcastically. "I'm going down there now... Don't let anyone besides these guys in."

"Yes sir, Champ!" saluted the guard. He happened to look at Buddy and wondered why the military was getting involved.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Ranma, pinching his nose. "Smells like shit down here!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" grumbled Buddy, placing a bacalava (see notes) over his head before placing his PASGT helmet back on. He could still smell the horrid stench of the sewers but at least it was somewhat filtered. "This IS a fuckin' sewer."

A rustle his heard.

Ranma and Bud quickly turn their heads to their left. They gaze down a corridor that Bud lit up with a gun-mounted tactical light.

"Shhh..." Buddy motions to everyone with a finger in in front of his covered mouth. He placed a scope-like device on a holder in front of his eyes.

"What's wrong..?" whispered Rico.

Bud took a more detailed look with his nightvision goggles. Besides the water flowing out of arteries from the walls, he couldn't see anything else.

"It's nothing..."

"What the bloody hell...!?"

The three men rushed down the walk-way and came up to where Suzarn was. Ranma looked down and saw the caked blood and slime that layered the ground. There was also chalk or tape that was used to outline a human body.

"Well, this is the murder spot." said Rico. Buddy steps forward and looks it over. He then points his gun to the wall, flashing the light at something he found.

"Red... monster..." he reads. The letters were written out in blood.

Ranma shakes his head. "Must of been the jerk's dying message."

"A red monster?" Suzarn asked curiously.

"Check this out."

Bud's light flashed over a nearby storm drain artery. There was a large quantity of some substance similiar to the slime around the murder site.

"Hey! What's this slime? What a mess..." commented Rico.

"I gotta bad feeling about this..." said Ranma, worriedly. He was mostly worried about Buddy. Id informed him that the noise they heard earlier was the enemy, but didn't say anything else.

"We should split up." recommended Buddy. "I'm assuming you don't know the location of the other murder sites, Rico. If we split up we could find them more quickly and hopefully the killer also."

"That sounds like an idea." said Rico. "You're comming with me, Ranma."

"Whatever." grumbled the pigtailed man.

Suzarn stepped towards Buddy, but he shook his head. "Well, why not ya goof?"

He glared at her, pulling a 40mm shell from a pocket and loading his grenade launcher. "I'm gonna go hunting. You'll only slow me down."

Suzarn was gonna comment but felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Ranma as he shook his head.

"Let him be. You'll just slow him down, as he said."

She took a look at Buddy's departing back. After a few steps his black clothing and equipment disappeared in the dark sewer ways. She made a silent prayer that he would be fine.

Buddy was pissed!

The reason for it was his aquatransexual, pigtailed friend he left behind. So what if he wasn't all that skilled as he was in hand-to-hand combat. He has proven himself time and time again that he could take care of himself when the situation demanded of him. He damned Ranma for thinking that he couldn't take care of himself. He's survived torture by UN Spacy prison interrogators, psychotic fourteen year old 'perfect soldier' hunting him down, and even thermo-nuclear weaponry being thrown at him. It just made him mad that after all that some people would think of him as weak.

But, he shoved that all to the side for another time. He had a job to do, whether he liked it or not.

Buddy moved along the sewer walk-way in tactical silence. The difference between moving tactically and just walking was that he was ready to shoot at all times. As he moved, he constantly turned and aimed his weapon at every place that he looked, occassionally flashing a 250 lumen flashlight mounted on a weaver rail along the side of his weapon. When he found nothing, he decended a ladder that fell parallel along the side of an underground waterfall that connected to the lower section of the sewers.

It was darker down here, Buddy thought to himself while attaching a pair of night vision goggles to a mounting on his PASGT military issue helmet. There was just enough light to give him clear vision throughout the sewer, thought it was in the greenish hue as he expected.

He starting moving deeper into the sewer system. Occassionally he would have to duck or leap over exit ports from storm drains and other sewage lines. He didn't feel like having someones bodily excriment on him at the moment. The smell was horrid, but he tuned it out. He's smelt worse, anyway.

His searching mostly found himself facing the creatures that battlers and amazons have to contend with to make their living. At times, a well placed shot to the head or a burst of three rounds would kill them or scare them off. On two occassions he had to waste a pair of high-explosive grenades to rid himself of some festering blob of a monster that tried to grab onto his personage. He didn't take that very lightly.

As he made his way deeper, he felt a shiver up his spine that made him pause his movement. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

A sound caught his attention. He turned and flashed his light at the source and found that it was only a rat. He sighed in relief but paused before turning around.

He knew this situation. It was totally cliche.

Buddy carefully turned around and stared at... nothing. He guessed it wasn't going to happen to him.

But he couldn't shake that feeling of being watched.

"I wonder how Bud is doin'" Suzarn thought out loud. Ranma turned to her and shrugged.

"Wouldn't know." He fell back into place behind Rico while he checked a sewer sweeper. "He's VERY good when handling guns. I bet'cha he's alright."

"He has been boasting quite a bloody bit about how he's 'L337' or somethin' like that..." she murmured. "If he's as good as he says.. Then I bet NOTHING could happen to him."

So Murphy's Law takes effect...

Buddy whirled around quickly and fired his rifle. The .223 caliber penetrator darted through the stale air and pierced the skull of sewer shark. It flew backwards in the air to splash down in the combination of bacteria filled water and sewage. He let out a breath, shaking his head in relief before adjusting his nightvision.

So far, he hasn't any luck finding the murderer. By his assumption, he went the exact opposite direction Fei took in the game. But he still went through the door into the very lower part of the sewage system where the water treatment ducts were located. It was the only place to go that he hasn't checked.

He paused in his steps.

Was that what he think he heard? No, it couldn't be. He didn't have that much bad luck. Or did someone up THERE hate him that much?

He paused to listen harder.

Nothing.

He shrugged and took a few steps forward before stopping immediately.

There it was again! That jingling sound of a bell. It was close.

VERY. close.

"Awwww man...." he whined, turning around slowly. His eyes widened at seeing the monster he was hunting, standing approximately twenty feet from him.

As scary was the monster, Redrum, was on TV, it was nothing compared to seeing it in the flesh. A hideous being composed of muscles with a carpace exoskeleton piled over it. A head that looked like the skull of a deformed human with razor sharp teeth made for tearing into the flesh of it's victims. A red fire blazed in it's eyes occassionally, forcing Bud to take tentative steps back. Layers of tattered robes and cloth littered it's body, possibly the former clothes of it's victims.

Buddy wasn't scared of him. No, not at all. What he was scared of was the, from what he estimated, three foot long fused fingers of it's right hand that formed it's main weapon. Though they didn't look sharp, the end was cut and jagged forming the perfect slashing and stabbing weapon. From what he assumed, Redrum's calcified hand must be as hard as steel.

"Heh heh...Nice doggy.." He couldn't help but laugh to himself. Redrum followed his steps keeping the twenty foot distance, looking even more menacing with each passing moment. While this occured, Buddy slid open the breach for his grenade launcher and locked in a high explosive phospherous round. When his back touched a wall, he heard another sound.

It came from Redrum.

Hah hah hah.... kill kill kill kill....

He sweated and took aim, just as Redrum started it's attack.

"Oh fuck me...!"

With a loud thump, the shell flew forward just as Buddy took off running. He didn't even look back when the shell exploded and turned a ten foot radius from the impact point into a blazing inferno. He did hear a loud roar of anger followed by the sounds of footsteps following him. They were getting closer.

Fuck! He silently cursed to himself. The shock of actually encountering Redrum froze his memory. That monster was immune to fire! If anything, he just gave it a power boost.

Rrrrooooooooaaaaarrrrr----!!

"FUCK. THIS. SHIIITT!!!"

Now, Buddy is no coward. Actions in the past proved people otherwise. He would stand up and take whatever was dished out to him and ask for seconds. Some would say that there isn't a hint of coward in him at all. That he didn't have a bone of chicken in his body. That he had no fear. People should realize that despite his stronger than 'normal' strength and his ability to shoot a weapon with dead on accuracy at a whims notice. He was just like everyone else.

He was still human.

And just like all humans, there comes a time when they seem to just defy the laws of science and perform the impossible. Dedicated martial artists, like Ranma, do it all the time. But Buddy? Scientist would think, "No way!" What they don't realize is that there is not a single controlled experiement that could prove this theory. Nothing could duplicate the feeling of a true life or death situation. Nothing could truly copy the feeling of utter fear of facing a murderer that was stronger and faster than yourself. That would kill you without provication and feast upon your innards just for the joy of it.

It was those feelings of fear that pushed Buddy's body to it's limits and beyond. Despite carrying over fifty pounds of gear and a rifle in his hand, his speed increased dramatically. He was moving fast enough to make today's olympic runners green with envy. When a gap appeared in his path, he paid no mind to it. All he did was run from the monster chasing him. And he continued running forward through the air, literally travelling over the ten foot deep, thirty foot long gap over the sewage water.

Behind him, Redrum leaped over the gap and continued following in hot pursuit.

A ringing bell sounded throughout the sewer, nearly making him pause in his run. He looked back and saw Redrum still following him. The bell was suppose to draw him to Ranma, he thought.

Again he heard it. It was close.

"AHHHHHH!!!!"

He sped forward, defying physics again by running in the air and making a turn as a professional race car would. He ran along the sewer wall for a few moments before his straightened out on the ground. He ducked under and through a huge fan, the blades missing him by half a second.

Behind him, the monster smashed through the obsticle and gained even more ground.

Roooooaaaarrr---!!!

"FUCK YOU TOO ASSHOLE!!!"

And so Ranma continued ringing the bell.

"Is something suppose to happen now?" deadpanned Suzarn. She idly twirled her scythe and looked really bored.

Rico growled. "Where is the murderer, Saotome?" he grumbled loudly. "You said that it would show up if you ring that bell we found by a slimy water duct with no murder site around."

Ranma paused in his ringing.

"That wierd old man said this was the one!" he shot back. "I don't see no murder site around here. Do you?"

"No, but--"

"FUCK YOU TOO ASSHOLE!!!"

The group turned their heads quickly to look down the long, dark corridor. When a loud animal like sound followed the voice, Ranma quickly put two and two together and luckily got four.

"That sounded like Buddy..." he murmured. He saw two figures rapidly approaching from around the far corner.

"An' tha' moron is bein' chased by sum ugly lookin' bloke," she added in. "Ay, he's movin' pretty fast for someone 'is size."

"Who? The monster?" Rico asked. They were gettin' closer.

"I think she means Bud. I've never seen him move that fast." Ranma pointed out.

"Don't just stand there you assholes! Help me out!! ARRAAAH!!"

Buddy leaped over a small channel easily clearing the thirty foot distance. In mid-air he turned around only to land on his back and slide backwards due to the velocity he was travelling. He quickly brought his rifle up and started firing wildly at Redrum. The murderer roared loudly! Unlike the high-explosive grenade, the armor penetrating ammo had the opposite effect of the grenades, hurting the monster instead of healing or powering it up. Chips of broken bone, blood and pieces of flesh fell around the monster as it moved, although a bit slower than originally.

Buddy finally stopped sliding along the ground, stopping at Ranma's feet. The pigtailed martial artist stared, completely surprised, as Buddy got back up and continued his assault upon the monster. Ranma noted that his back was smoking from the friction caused by sliding along the dry concrete floor.

The scarred man emptied a full thirty rounds into the monster, ejected the spent magazine before locking on another before firing again. With each shot, the monster roared loudly, it's body rocking from the force of the attack. As Buddy got closer, the monster was falling to it's knees. With a quick movement of his wrist, the stock of his rifle slammed into Redrum's deformed, bone-encased face knocking the monster on his back. Again Buddy emptied another full magazine into the monster's chest before finally stopping.

Three eyes stared at Buddy's back in awe. Ranma tentively took a step forward.

"Buddy---"

He flinched back as Buddy loaded another magazine and pumped the fallen monster full of more lead.

"You okay, Bud-man?"

Said person slowly face Ranma, breathing heavily with a maddened look in his eyes. The pigtailed man took a step back, but he watched as his friend's face slowly fade to look like that of a tired soldier. A slow nod signalled to Ranma that he was fine.

Rico stepped past the two and checked over the.. monster. He noticed something around it's neck. "A bell?" He shook his head. "So was this our culprit or just some psycho chasing after you?"

"Look at this fella!" Suzarn exclaimed while examining it's right hand. "This must of been what it used to kill all of meah mates! The bloody hand is heavy and sharp at the end. It kinda looks like a fukin' sword if it wasn't so wide."

At least it's not a crock that will bite off your hand, thought Buddy while he imagined Suzarn as the 'Crocodile Hunter'. He brushed Ranma off. "I'm fine man! Shit..."

He knelt by Rico.

"And yes, this is him." He examined the dead monster. "It's no ordinary monster either. This bastard was stalking me ever since we seperated. It was intelligent, that's all I can say. If it didn't look as it was, I would of thought it was human."

Ranma shook his head. "Or WAS a human." Bud and himself exchanged knowing looks, nodding to each other. Rico and Suzarn didn't notice.

"Well, dis' case is solved. I bloody think we should head back." Suzarn suggested.

Buddy nodded.

"Yeah. I smell like shit and I'm... really...tir---"

"Bud-man!" Ranma caught him as he collapsed. He shook his head at Suzarn. "He just overexerted himself. Adrenaline rush probably worn off. We better head by now." He looked at Rico and recieved a nod.

Citan's head jerked up as he heard someone comming down the stairs. When Id appearing, supporting a seemingly unconsious Buddy, he quickly got up and assisted her. In a few moments, the two got him undressed and laying on his 'Class-A' bunk. Citan did a quick check on him and didn't find any problems besides overexertion symptoms.

"Id, what happened down there?" asked the Doc to the redhead.

"Buddy suggested that we seperate. He went off by himself in an attempt to hunt down the murderer." she stated. "He ended being stalked by a monster that we were looking for, but in the end he fought it and gunned it down in seconds." She shook her head. "As worried as Ranma was, he definately has even more respect for Buddy than he did before."

"Yes, young Ranma was protective of Mr. Bud." noted Citan. He blushed and turned away when Id started to disrobe until she only had a tank-top on. "I am guessing you are turning in for tonight..."

When he got no reply, he turned and saw the redhead curled up against Buddy's side. Both were sound asleep.

An interesting person these two are, he thought. He wondered how the Emperor would want him to deal with this.

End of Chapter 19


Author's Notes:

A Bacalava is a head mask that is most commonly used by terrorist in movies. Practical uses would be fire-resistant versions used by stuntmen, pro race car drivers and kevlar versions used by special forces units in night and cold weather.

You'll notice I skipped alot of parts, like the battles Ranma faced in the tournament. I believe that they would just make the story more boring and make the chapter too long.

I'm sorry for those that waited a long time for the chapter to come out. Writers block is a bitch ^_^ I'm hoping to finish the flash back chapters in one or two more long chapters just to speed it along. With the ideas forming in my head, I sometimes lose track of what I am doing.

Next up is Chapter 20: Purge and Escape
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