Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ A Big Help ❯ New Problems Arise ( Chapter 14 )

A Big Help

A Ranma one half/Sailor Moon crossover fanfic

By Michael A. Ivins

 

Mykon and Jora are my original creation so please nobody use them without permission. The rest of these characters are the property of their creators, publishers anime production companies, etc. I write this for fun and make no profit off it.

 

Chapter 14

New Problems Arise

 

In a pocket universe a small planet orbited a blue star. Other than vegetation the planet was devoid of life. No animals, no birds, no insects were anywhere on the surface of that world. Oddly there was a small collection of buildings marring the landscape. At the end of a small street there was one of the buildings that was much larger than the others. The size was similar to an airplane hangar that was big enough for six jumbo jets. No aircraft were kept in this large building.

 

Two men stood on a balcony high up in the structure looking at the massive complex with all of its high-tech equipment. Most prominent among the machinery were four large transparent cylindrical tanks. In these could be grown genetically engineered creatures that would be sent through a warp portal to work destruction on one of the great cities of mankind. One of these tanks was currently empty while inside the others there could be seen some kind of living things moving languidly in a semi transparent greenish fluid.

 

A tall man with black hair that was streaked with gray stood surveying the large room. He had aristocratic features and regal bearing. He was dressed entirely in black even to a short black cape. The fabrics of his garments looked expensive.

 

Standing beside the tall man was a small man who wore work clothes, plain but of good quality. He was mostly bald with a fringe of gray hair around the back of his head. His posture was slightly stooped. He didn't wear glasses but the slight squint of his eyes made it look as if he should.

 

The tall, regal looking man was Torbin Metrone. He said to the small man, “After all of the planning and preparation the time has finally come. We are now ready to begin the actual operation.”

 

The small man, whose name was Narang, said, “Yes my lord, Metrone. While it is gratifying to see the plan finally commencing, I am unsure of the strategy you are planning to use. While random destruction may disorient and frighten a civilian population, it doesn't do much to weaken the military forces.”

 

They had discussed this before. “Trust me, Narang. I am feeling them out. I want to see what kind of forces will be deployed against my Bio-weapons. For now we are evaluating the foe.”

 

“Yes my lord Metrone. Where will you send the first one?”

 

He consulted a handheld data device. “The target for this one to a part of Tokyo called Nerima Ward. It is said that many martial artists live in that area. It should be a good test for this first Bio-weapon.”

 

The first of the Bio-weapons moved about in a holding pen with an excess of nervous energy. Although not of human intelligence, it did have a functioning brain with low level intelligence. It knew what it was to do and was impatient to get started.

 

Suddenly in the air in front of the creature a sound like a whip crack could be heard and a glowing line appeared. That line widened then split so that it was a narrow opening. The opening continued to broaden until it was an oval portal large enough for the bio-weapon to step through. Through the opening could be seen a street in the city of Tokyo.

 

Ranma-Chan was in her room getting ready for bed. It was the day after the trial. While Ranma was glad to be rid of the panda-man, it still seemed strange not to have him in the room. She would surely sleep better without the older Saotome's snoring. The sound of a panda's snoring was way worse than a human's.

 

Following the suggestion of her giant friends, Ranma was in female form. She had changed into a girl right after dinner and went to bed planning to sleep in that form all night.

 

Ranma was getting used to the balance of the taller girl's body. At first she'd had to hold onto walls and furniture to keep from falling on her face. Due to her great adaptability she was quickly getting used to the altered balance of her taller female body.

 

Her day had been spent packing up the panda-man's belongings into boxes, which she had put into the attic. She had spent that evening doing katas that emphasized balance to speed up her adaptation to her new, taller female form.

 

On Ranma's futon Mia, the cat, was curled up sleeping. Ranma looked at the animal with an amused half smile. The cat was testing her limits, trying to see if Ranma would get mad and toss her off the futon. The girl found she actually liked the fuzzy creature. When she went to lie down she would stroke the cat's fur a little before picking her up and setting her gently aside.

 

Suddenly the cat woke up and her ears stood straight up. Ranma heard Mykon's male voice, “Ranma, change form and get dressed in something you can fight in and do it quickly. Jora and I are still not to allowed to get involved in fights and you are needed. You'll be fighting a monster. Jora is getting Akane. I'm going to get Ryoga. Once Akane is moving, Jora will get Mousse and Shampoo.”

 

As Ranma complied, the giant vanished. Ranma stripped out of the pajamas she had been wearing to sleep in. They had been a gift from her mother. Then the instant change to male and he got dressed in his black pants and red shirt. The pigtailed boy didn't bother to go down the stairs, instead leaping out the window. He was the first to arrive but Akane in her yellow gi came out the front door just a few seconds later.

 

Ryoga had spent the night at the Tendo home because his parents were currently lost and he didn't want to spend the night with only his dog for company. The two Amazons came roof hopping in moments later. They had been working late at the Nekohanten so they had already been dressed.

 

Mykon appeared and told the assembled fighters, “On the shopping street two streets over that way and another two streets to the right a monster is attacking the shopping district.” In the distance the sound of police sirens could be heard.

 

Ranma's ki senses picked up something in that direction. He said, “I can sense it. Let's go.” With that he launched himself in a ki-enhanced jump to the roof the house across the street and the rest followed. They quickly passed the distance to the shopping street and stopped on the roof of one of the stores to assess the situation.

 

The martial artists could see several people lying on the ground wounded and bloody. Some were lying quite still, but most seemed to be moving weakly. Hopefully the ones that weren't moving were only unconscious and not dead.

 

The sound of a crash drew their attention. The creature they saw was about 12 feet tall and built very much like a Kodiak bear. The major differences were a scaly skin and a pale brown coloring. The head of the creature looked somewhat reptilian rather than mammalian like a bear would. The claws on its massive paws looked just as big and dangerous as the ones on a real bear.

 

Ranma leapt from the roof and used ki to accelerate his fall so his kick connected with the creatures face with a force similar to a car colliding. To the pigtailed martial artist it felt like kicking a mountain. For all the reaction from the creature he could as have done as much damage throwing marshmallows. Ranma was able to leap clear but Ryoga was caught and his leg raked with the long claws.

 

Shampoo scored a solid hit with a bonborri but the monster just barely seemed to notice it. When Mousse hit with a shuriken it actually seemed to bounce of the creature's scaly hide.

 

Akane had seen how little effect Ranma's kick had so she tried a slightly approach. She landed on the creature's head and immediately launched herself away with as much force as she could muster. This delivered a hefty push to the monster's head. Unfortunately the creature was too massive for this to be more than inconvenience to it.

 

Because of the bandana wearing boy's toughness he was wounded, but his leg wasn't ripped off. Ranma yelled, “Ryoga!”

 

Limping off, the former lost boy yelled, “I'm going to have to throw ki blasts from a distance. I'm in no shape to be going in close to throw punches.”

 

Ranma nodded. He yelled to the others, “Physical attacks don't seem to bother it enough. You guys keep it distracted while I build a ki attack.”

 

The rest of the fighters readily agreed. They knew that of all of them Ranma had the strongest ki attacks.

 

While the others began to harass the monster with hit and run tactics Ranma worked. He formed a ball of ki and began to pour energy into it. What began as a tiny ball grew until it was a big as he was tall. The ball floated about a foot off the ground. Now Ranma began to make the power in the ball more concentrated. As the power grew the ball glowed brighter.

 

Mousse had abandoned thrown weapons and drew a sword. He didn't try to get in close enough to make strikes against the creature's body. Instead he took slashes as the creature's massive arms and legs. While the scales of the creature's hide were tough, they were not invulnerable. He was able to score some wounds on the creature's limbs.

 

Shampoo continued to pound on the creature with her bonborri. She modified her strategy to concentrate on the creature's head. To be able to do that she had to get acrobatic and do a lot of leaping to avoid the swipes of the massive paws.

 

From a short distance off Ryoga was firing off small balls of intensely concentrated ki. From the sound the creature was making it seemed that this form of attack was causing the monster more discomfort than any of the purely physical attacks.

 

Akane wasn't able to throw ki blasts yet but she was able to strike with ki-enhanced punches. These did some damage but mainly served to keep the creature occupied so that it didn't notice what Ranma was doing.

 

While this was going on the police arrived. They could see the battle that was being waged and they had the sense to recognize they would be out of their league to try and participate. Instead they began to tend to the wounded and to drag them away to locations of relative safety.

 

Ambulances arrived as well and the worst injured were picked up on stretchers and moved away.

 

When the ki sphere he was building glowed as brightly as the sun Ranma yelled, “NOW!”

 

The other martial artists leaped away and too late the monster realized that the attacks were a diversion from the real danger. Ranma made a pushing gesture and the ki sphere flew swiftly toward the creature. For the briefest of moments the glowing energy seamed to coat the monster in light.

 

The night air was split with a horrendous shriek of pain. Then the monster's body detonated with a dull `boom' as gory bits flew in all directions. The martial artists didn't duck quickly enough and all were liberally splattered with chunks and body fluids.

 

In spite of her tomboyish reputation, Akane had the most girlish response. She yelled, “Ewww! I'm all covered in monster guts!”

 

Shampoo had to laugh at the antics of her fellow warrior. “Stupid Akane. We all covered in monster guts.”

 

Ranma wiped a bit of gore off his face and in one of the all time great understatements, commented, “I may have overestimated how much ki to use.”

 

Ryoga who had limped over dryly commented, “Oh, do you think so? Maybe you should have used more ki. I don't think any of the chunks managed to get all the way to Juuban.”

 

Ranma looked sheepish and said, “Um… sorry?”

 

Any further dissection of the battle was interrupted when a policeman came up and observed, “Your friend there looks like he could use some medical attention.”

 

Ryoga protested, “This is just a scratch. I've healed up from worse.”

 

Ranma surprised his friend by insisting, “Don't argue with the man. At the very least you need to get that wound cleaned and bandaged. Some monster guts could have got into it and you don't know what that will do to you.”

 

Ryoga grudgingly agreed and move off with the policeman. The boy was still too proud to take the offer of a shoulder to lean on.

 

Another policeman, the commander on the scene by the look of him, came up to Ranma. “Don't worry. After they finish getting your friend patched up one of my men will give him a ride back to his home or wherever else he wants to go.”

 

Ranma bowed to the policeman and told him, “I don't mean to be rude but firing off a ki blast that big really takes it out a guy. I need rest and food. Besides that we all need to clean off this glop. If you don't need us for anything, we'd like to get going.”

 

The police commander told him, “We won't keep you long. I just need names, addresses and phone numbers from all of you, then you can go get cleaned up. We'll send people out to get statements from you tomorrow morning.”

 

All of the martial artists complied and gave their information. Just as Ranma was about to leave the police commander called to him, “Saotome?”

 

Ranma turned. The police commander gave him a deep, respectful bow. “I want to thank you and your friends for what you did here today. A lot of people could have died without your help.”

 

Ranma returned the bow and told the policeman, “It is the duty of a martial artist to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

 

The police commander nodded to acknowledge the statement. Ranma and the other warriors except for Ryoga left. Ranma and Akane headed toward the Tendo dojo while Mousse and Shampoo went in the direction of the Nekohanten.

 

Although Ranma and Akane had managed to avoid any serious injury they had caught a few glancing blows and were stiff and sore. Rather than try to roof hop they walked home and at a fairly sedate pace. Ranma was limping slightly because he had bruised his foot when he had kicked the monster at the start of the fight. They had declined the offer of a ride in a police car (they did have some pride.)

 

Sometime later on an unnamed planet in a pocket universe Lord Metrone viewed the recording that had been made by a recon drone. He commented to Narang, “That did not go as I hoped it would. It would seem that these martial artists are stronger and more resourceful than I had anticipated.”

 

He seemed lost in thought. He was not angry at this point for he really had sent the monster to `feel out' the nature of the opposition they would face. “Very well. We shall mark this one down to a failed experiment. Still, even failed experiments teach us what approaches won't work. We could send another Bio-weapon to that district tomorrow, but they would be better prepared. We will try there again in about two weeks with a stronger Bio-weapon.

 

“Very good, my lord.”

 

The following day was a busy one at the Tendo dojo. Early that day a policeman came to take a statement from Akane and Ranma. Ryoga had gone back to his own home. Later in the morning newspaper reporters came by. The two teens gave interviews.

 

One of the newspaper reporters commented, “I heard that channel five and eleven were sending out camera crews to do interviews. I'm not sure when they will be arriving.”

 

Ranma looked like he was approaching the limit of his patience. “That's enough. I don't mind talking to you newspaper guys but I still think you are making too much of a fuss over this. We're martial artists and it is the duty of a martial artist to protect those who can't protect themselves. In essence we were just doing our duty. I'd rather not have a lot of TV cameras and microphones shoved in my face.”

 

One of the newspaper reporters was surprised to hear that. He commented, “Kid, I thought everybody wanted to be on TV.”

 

Ranma frowned. “I've seen news reports on TV where they interview people who've just had a family member murdered or just had their house burn down. With dozens of microphones in their faces they're asked how they feel about it. Even an idiot can see they feel bad about it without them having to say anything. I don't want to have to deal with that.”

 

The newspaper reporter thought about it for a moment. “Maybe you could make a written statement to give to the TV news people. You know, you do one of those things where they say, `He declined to appear on camera but gave us this written statement.'”

 

Ranma nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” He noticed the reporter he had been talking to had a laptop computer with him. “Could I dictate a statement to you that you could write up on that computer?”

 

The reporter looked at the laptop and answered, “Yeah, I could do that. If you have a wireless connection I could also email it to all the TV stations that have new operations. That would take even take care of the stations that aren't sending crews today.

 

“Good,” said Ranma. After the reporter set up his computer and opened the word processor program, Ranma dictated a statement. He left out any mention of Mykon or Jora and said that he and the other martial artists had sensed something wrong and had gone to investigate. That was true enough, but didn't tell the whole story. Still, it was enough to be believable.

 

Ranma also gave a brief description of the battle taking care to give equal credit to all of the fighters. He gave especially high praise to Ryoga who had been wounded in the fighting. Ranma kept his descriptions terse and factual without a lot of embellishment. He figured that the news people would like to embellish when the statement was read. The reporter who was writing it up made a few suggestions on the wording and Ranma agreed to them.

 

When they were finished the newspaper reporter sent the statement off in an email as he had promised. He also emailed a copy to Ranma who went to the computer in his room and printed out a couple of copies. Thus he was ready when one of the news crews that didn't get notified of the statement in time appeared on the doorstep of the dojo. He handed them the prepared statement and thanked them.

 

Later in the afternoon another reporter came. Ranma answered the door and started to tell the newest reporter about the statement. The reporter told him, “I'm not with a TV station or newspaper. I'm with Tokyo Martial Arts Monthly magazine. We have heard about Saotome Ranma and the work you have been doing with the police and the classes you have been teaching. We are very impressed with your work and have been wanting to get an interview with your for quite a while. Now that this business with the monster fight has taken place my boss told me the time has come that we really must talk to you.”

 

Upon hearing that Ranma invited the man to come in. He sat in a chair while holding a recorder. He was across from Ranma and Akane who sat on the couch. Ranma told him, “I was sort of at the limit of my patience with the newspaper reporters this morning and refused to talk on camera to the TV people. I gave them a prepared statement and I hope they will be satisfied with that. However, I'm a subscriber to your magazine and really like the way you treat the martial artists you feature in your articles.”

 

Thus it was that Ranma spoke a little of his life. He told of the training trip in general terms without going into detail. He told of receiving extra training beyond what his father had given. He also told something of the adventures he had gotten into in his pursuit of retrieving lost items. He was very careful to leave out any direct mention to giants from alternate realities, gods, trials, curses and the like. He did say that his father was currently away from home without offering any details about where he had gone.

 

The interview was actually pleasant and the reporter was quite intelligent. He asked questions about the martial arts styles that Ranma practiced as well as some information on Anything Goes.

 

When they finished the reporter shook Ranma's hand and thanked him. “This was a good interview. I can tell you are well read and educated. You really gave me more than I will likely be able to fit into the size of article they are looking for. Maybe I can talk my editor into running one article in the upcoming issue and a follow up with more of this material in the next issue.”

 

With a bow Ranma said, “I'll look forward to reading your article.”

 

The reporter offered, “If you like I can send you extra copies to give to your friends.”

 

Ranma smiled. “That's very thoughtful of you. I'd like that.”

 

The reporter bowed and left.

 

Although it was officially a school day Ranma and Akane had stayed home to get over the battle. Ranma was so far ahead in his studies he could have taken the rest of the school year off and it wouldn't have affected his graduation.

 

In her room that night, Ranma lay on her futon, trying to sleep with no success. Over and over the fight replayed in her mind. There were things about it bothered her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

 

Finally giving up on sleep, she got up and headed downstairs. Maybe a snack would help, she thought. Before Ranma-Chan could get to the kitchen she noticed the flickering light of the television coming from the living room. Wondering who else would be up at this hour, Ranma went to investigate.

 

She found Akane watching some old movie with the sound turned fairly low. Obviously she was trying to avoid disturbing the other residents of the Tendo home. The red haired girl plopped down on the cushion next to the black haired one and asked, “Couldn't sleep?”

Akane shook her head. “I can't stop thinking about that fight last night.”

 

The transformed martial artist agreed. “Yeah, me too. That creature wasn't just an animal; I could sense intelligence. Instead of attacking one person then killing them it attacked as many people as it could before the rest ran away. That sounds like strategy to me. But then, instead of going back to finish off the wounded it turned to destroying that fruit seller's stand.”

 

The black haired girl mused, “It's almost like a kid with a short attention span. When there were no active targets it lost interest in the wounded and went on to random property damage.”

 

Ranma looked at Akane again, “I was thinking the same thing.”

 

The other girl said, “Part of what is nagging at my mind is that there's something… familiar about that attack. Like there's something similar to an attack I heard about before. The major worry I've had is that this is just the first and not the only one.”

 

Almost as if on cue the screen flashed and a red banner with white print displayed the words “New Bulletin.” The voice from the TV announced, “We interrupt this program with special new bulletin - Monster Attack in Juuban.”

 

The eyes of the two teens went wide and they exchanged a look.

 

The newscaster went on, “Details are sketchy at this hour but we do know that in close proximity to a shopping mall in Juuban a monster appeared. Witnesses report hearing a sound like the cracking of a whip following which they saw a line of light appear in the air. That line widened out into an oval portal or gateway and it was through this opening that the monster entered the scene.”

 

“The creature was fast, vicious, and deadly as it tore into the shoppers who had gathered. The death toll currently stands at six. Five others are in critical condition and may not last the night. The names of the victims are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. In addition to the dead and most severely wounded there were 20 other people hospitalized for wounds received from the creature.”

 

“As bad as things were it could have been much worse. Juuban's own Sailor Senshi arrived to fight the monster. While they kept the creature occupied the injured could be removed to safer locations. The monster was finally destroyed by the Senshi.”

 

“Forensic specialists and other scientists are currently studying the remains of the creature. At this time there are more questions than answers. Is this related the monster attack in Nerima last night? Were these two attacks isolated incidents or are they the precursor of more of the same, like the youma attacks of the past? At this point we can only wait to see.”

 

“Before we return you to your regularly scheduled programming this reporter would like to express gratitude there are still heroes in the world. To the Sailor Senshi and to the Nerima Five I salute you. Who knows where this world would be if not for those brave souls who are willing to put their lives on the line for the rest of us. This is Yonara Kenichi reporting.”

 

Akane hit the button on the remote to turn off the TV and in a wondering tone of voice said, “The Nerima Five?”

 

Ranma said, “Well, at least it's better than the `Nerima Wrecking Crew' that they used to call us.”

 

“But to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Sailor Senshi… To be compared to them… I can't imagine. For the longest time I've admired them, wanted to be like them.”

 

Ranma smiled. “I guess now you are `fighting for love and justice'.”

 

Akane chuckled at that. “More like `life and limb' but I appreciate the thought.”

 

The red haired girl repeated the words, “love and justice,” in a whisper. Then too softly to be heard she whispered the words, “In the name of the Moon I will punish you.”

 

“What was that Ranma?”

 

“Just a line from a TV show I remembered, nothing important.” It was a memory but not from TV. It was something she had said before, she was sure of it. For reasons she couldn't understand those words resonated in her soul.

 

This line of thought was interrupted when she felt something tickle her ankle and looked down to see her cat Mia. “When did you get here?” she asked, picking up the cat and putting her in her lap.

 

Akane reached over and scratched the cat between the ears. The cat shut her eyes in apparent ecstasy and purred. When she finally opened her eyes she looked at Ranma and meowed.

 

Ranma chuckled. Akane was curious now. “Can you understand what she's saying?”

 

“Not in words. I can sort of understand the feelings though. I think she just said, `She's nice, I like her'.”

 

They were both startled when the cat nodded. Ranma smiled, “I guess she understands me better than I understand her. That was plain enough, though. She just agreed with me.”

 

The cat looked back and forth between the two girls then closed her eyes with a smug look on her face and nodded again. Both girls burst into laughter. Akane said, “Oh she understands alright.”

 

Ranma stroked the fur on the cat's back. “Mykon said she's smart. I'm starting to wonder if she was understating it.”

 

The red haired girl told the cat, “I'm going to go back to bed to try and sleep.”

 

The cat nodded and jumped down and started heading toward the stairs. Ranma stood up. “Good night Akane. I think it's going to be interesting in school tomorrow.”

 

Ranma followed the cat up the stairs. As she settled down in her futon the cat started to snuggle up to her side. “Ranma asked, “Will you be all right there if I roll over?”

 

The cat seemed to think a moment before she got up and moved to curl up beside Ranma's pillow. Ranma smiled and said, “Better.” She gave the cat one more pat before closing her eyes in effort to sleep.

 

Author's Note: Fight scenes are not my strong suit. I tried hard with this one.

 

At one time I had promised myself I wouldn't get like other authors and beg for reviews. My other fics were getting reviews without the begging. I'm going to have to guess that this story is neither outstandingly good nor outstandingly bad because, with this being my fourteenth chapter posted, I've only gotten three reviews so far. I hope to someday write fiction that I can get paid for. I can't improve as a writer without feedback. Please tell me what you did or didn't like and why you felt that way. Where do you think I could improve and how? What parts of the story need more detail, or less? Please review and not just “this part sucked.” I want to know why it sucked.