Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Saotome: The Atomic Kid ❯ Chapter 3

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ranma Saotome: The Atomic Kid

Part 4

'Cleanup!' Or 'Kasumi goes shopping!'

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Ranma stared at the Tendo Dojo with a frown on his face. There were piles of dead pigs in the street around the home. The outer wall was destroyed, but not a single shingle of the house itself, or the dojo for that matter, was touched. He whistled as he strolled up to the home. He had a shotgun hefted over his shoulder and two bandoleers of ammunition slung across his chest. His sides and shoulders were covered in weapons of varying kinds. Everything from knives, too handguns, too submachine guns, too fully automatic weapons. He also had a rifle with a scope on it sitting on his shoulder.

"What happened?" muttered Akane in shock. Her father was a much better martial artist than she could have imagined. It was the only explanation she could think of. She had Nabiki resting across her shoulder. The girl had a bandage tied around her right thigh and was supported by her sister. Akane had a few weapons hanging around her neck, but gripped the handgun she had used to shoot Ryoga firmly in her free hand.

Nabiki had a handgun of her own, but nothing else. She looked tired and dirty, Ranma and Akane were both much cleaner than she was. "Home," she sound incredibly relieved. She dropped the weapon to the ground carelessly. It was obvious she had never welcomed the sight more.

"This was a big gunfight. I'm surprised I missed it." He looked around the area as he walked into the remains of the gate. The dojo sign had a single bullet hole in the bottom corner now, but no other damage had been done to it. "Whoever was on this end of it slipped up a bit somewhere. There's a hole in the sign." He calmly walked around to the open back porch as the two girls inspected the tiny circle that went through the bottom corner of the dojo sign.

"What do you mean Gunfight? I'll bet it was my dad! He probably beat them up or something..."

They turned around the corner and stepped onto the back porch. The door was still wide open.

Nabiki fell to the ground in a dead faint. Akane couldn't hold her up due to her own shock.

Kasumi was sitting at the coffee table cleaning an M-60 back to the condition she had found it in. "Oh! You're back! I was growing worried! Um, I hope you don't mind Ranma..."

"Mind?" inquired the boy. He was a little surprised, but didn't know the girl well enough to be completely shocked.

"I borrowed some of your things. It was a horrible mess outside, I just had to clean it up a bit."

"Sure. No problem, you look like you take care of the things you borrow. Feel free any time."

"Thank you," she replied as she blushed a bit.

"Where are these things? Didn't think Duke would make a delivery. I was gonna go get some of it now, and bring the rest tomorrow."

"You should thank him," said Kasumi sweetly.

Akane looked annoyed. "Where the hell is Dad?"

"Aaaah! My baby!" Soun appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the girl. He pulled his daughter underneath the porch where he was hiding with a giant panda. He paused and swallowed hard as he found a handgun pressed against his throat.

"What the hell are you doing down here? Get out! Nabiki needs help!" She quickly dragged the both of them out from underneath the building and into the yard. "Look at you! You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Don't yell at Daddy! Please! He's had a very hard day!"

"Hard day!" screamed his daughter in rage. "Look at me! Do I look like I've had a good day? Do I?!"

Soun noticed his daughter was very heavily armed. If he was correct, the tube he could see poking from behind her was a rocket propelled grenade launcher. "You're absolutely right!" he stated quite firmly. With two of his daughters around, there was no way that anything was going to hurt him. He felt quite proud at that moment. "Really Saotome. It's silly to hide under the porch. After all, we have my girls to protect us now!"

"Don't forget about my son!" said the Panda's sign. "He's the..."

"Do it and I'll shoot you," said the boy calmly. He was inspecting the weapon Kasumi had put together. "Good job. You can have that one. I got a newer one today." He held the weapon up to show her.

"Oh my!" said the girl in surprise. "I suppose I could keep it. I don't know where I'll put it though."

"I'll give you a gun rack. I got a couple spares for new stuff I pick up."

"What?!" screamed Akane. "Hey! You jerk! You can't just give my sister a machine gun!"

"Take a look outside. She's earned it. You do what you want with what you've got hanging around your neck. I think you've already picked out your favorite though."

The girl froze in place and slowly turned her eyes towards the handgun she was still gripping firmly in her hand.

"He hangs out with Duke Nukem," said Genma's next sign diplomatically. He looked quite nervous around all the high powered weaponry. "It's so obvious, our children are perfect for each other! Don't you agree Tendo? I see no reason we can't get this silly wedding thing out of the way? Wouldn't you agree?" Genma went through several signs for all of this.

Ranma snorted, the man was desperately clinging to some sort of script he had worked out with Soun for when they arrived home from school. It was upsetting Akane.

Soun noticed his daughter fingering the strap to the rocket launcher. He shook his head violently and grabbed the panda before he could produce any of the other signs. "Not right now Saotome," he muttered as he glanced back at his daughter nervously.

She was staring at them both. "Nabiki was shot in the leg, in case you care."

Soun stared up at her in horror. "What?"

"We were almost home when it happened. She's lucky to be alive, if Ranma hadn't spotted the sniper she would be."

The girl was currently resting against the outside wall glaring at her father angrily. He seemed to realize what he'd done all at once and hung his head shamefully. Genma didn't look particularly pleased either, but it didn't seem to bother him much.

Akane turned around on her heels and rushed over to help her sister into the home.

"Nabiki! I didn't realize you were back yet!" gasped Kasumi. "I'm so relieved! Now I don't have to go out looking for you now that everyone else is here!"

The middle Tendo smirked at her sister. "Hey. I always make it home in the end don't I?"

"I really wouldn't know. We've never seen this much excitement," said the older girl as she took over for her little sister.

Akane glanced back over her shoulder and realized that Nabiki was out of Kasumi's sight where she had fainted. She had no idea what to do now.

Ranma Saotome stepped out of his room. His choice for dealing with the mess was quite evident. He had on a black leather jacket over his clothes and a heavy pair of combat boots on his feet. He had on blue jeans with a silver and gold radioactive symbol belt buckle. "Where is it?" he asked Kasumi. "I know he would have left it with the rest of this stuff. He doesn't care for it."

"Behind the dojo. I found it about an hour ago," she said cheerfully.

The boy hefted one of the many very large weapons over his shoulder in one arm. "I'm goin out. Might be a while."

"You'd better come back!" said Genma's sign.

He glanced over his shoulder at the man through his shades. "I'll be back."

Akane groaned. "Are we done referencing old movies now? Can we just go?"

"I'm surprised you know about that," responded the boy.

"I have...a bit of a collection," muttered Kasumi with a guilty look about her. She had no idea why, but she just loved a good action movie. Her sisters put up with it surprisingly well. Not that she didn't like other things too.

The boy arched his eyebrow at this and turned towards the door. "I guess you can come if ya want. I don't wanna hear no whining when I tell you to pick up weapons and reload."

"You won't," she grumbled irritably as she crossed her arms and turned her head away from him.

"You're having fun, admit it," he said as he walked out.

"What about the dojo?" said the girl, as she seemed to reconsider.

"Do you really think anything will get by your sister? Anything big enough to be a real danger is that way." He pointed pretty much straight down the street. "You wanna come you're on clean up then."

"What? What the hell does that mean?" snapped the girl.

"Follow my path, I'll be too fast for you to keep up. Clean up anything I miss. I won't be trying to kill everything in my path, and I won't leave anything behind you can't handle. You up for it?"

"If you're so fast, how will I be able to follow you?" she growled irritably.

They turned the corner in the yard to the dojo. The boy said nothing as the girl stopped walking and watched him go behind the structure. He came around the other side wheeling a motorcycle in front of him. It was a sport bike, and a custom one. She could see Machine gun ports and missiles in the nose. Various other weapons were probably hidden within the bike's many panels. She could see seams in the metal where some of them came out. Some of the slots were rather large.

The boy was revving the engine and puffing on a cigarette. He seemed to be listening to the bike and made adjustments on a few of the dials. "Heh. He had to turn the speed down a little. Thought he could slip it past me by adjusting it back up. That hog of his is way too slow." Ranma neglected to mention that there was another Harley Davidson motorcycle parked behind the building as well. He knew it was a bit too much for Akane to handle just yet. She was far too clumsy on her feet to handle a bike. He'd seen her stumble quite a bit in the course of their journey. "That balance thing you've got right now." He revved the engine a bit more. "Don't worry about it so much. You'll grow out of it."

She stared at him dumbly for a moment. Every time she'd stumbled during the trip home, usually over a small piece of debris or something, she would think about the problem she seemed to have. It frustrated her, and prevented her from furthering her skills. "Easy for you to say." He squealed away as she scowled at him.

She briefly considered going off on her own, or perhaps not going at all. She was standing in the yard in front of a large hole in the fence. Ranma had chosen to leave through the hole and vanished into the streets.

"I don't need to go. He doesn't need my help," she said to herself as she glared at the street. "Damn it. I've got to go now, he said he was going to leave things behind on purpose. That jerk." She stormed through the hole angrily. How was he going to tell her when to reload and pick up more weapons if he wasn't around anyway?

++++++++++++++++++++++

Meanwhile, back at Furinkan...

The boys cried as they found themselves trapped in the rooms with the returning girls. They were all huddled into the corners of their respective rooms as the girls glared at them. A few of them were still armed. Even more had picked up weapons they'd found lying around in Ranma and Kuno's wake.

In one particular room, all the boys were tied up with ropes, and an angry girlfriend stood on her former boyfriend's neck with the barrel of the shotgun pressed against the back of his head.

"You know, I had sex with you, and you left me to die."

"Oh god," muttered the boy in horror.

"I heard a rumor about Izumi a few months back, but I thought you were better than that. Do you have any idea who saved me?"

"No," muttered the boy through his sobs.

"The biggest idiot in the whole school, that's who." She conked him in the back of his head with the butt of the weapon and handed it to the next girl in line.

She cocked it and strolled towards her cowering boyfriend, all of the other boys had cleared the area around him. "Traitors!"

"Yeah. I'd noticed that," said the girl coolly.

"Oh shit."

Let's just say things were under control at Furinkan. After all, most of the building was one big collective cold shoulder. For once in his life, Hikaru Gosunkugi was greatly relieved that he did not have a girlfriend. He sat with the other nerds of the school in a lonely room with no girls. All of them had their heads buried deep in textbooks as their fellow men screamed in terror. No shots had gone off though. It looked like some of the girls just wanted to put a good scare into the others.

He scratched his ear as a particularly pained cry echoed through the halls outside the room. Everyone shivered at the sound of it.

"Hey. There'll be a ton of single girls when this is over. We might even have a chance to get a date!" cried one of the nerds as he had a sudden realization.

He was silenced as several textbooks flew through the air and sent him to the ground.

"Quiet you idiot! They'll hear you!" snapped one of the angry nerds.

The large boy next to him nodded vigorously as he sucked on an inhaler greedily.

Gosunkugi wasn't very frightened. Most of the girls were just sitting away from the boys glaring at them and giving them the cold shoulder. There were a few who were vicious enough to resort to violence, but they were the exception rather than the rule.

In the back of the room sat a small group of more normal looking students who ignored the conversation and hid in their books the same as the nerds. They were merely fortunate enough to not be attached when everything had hit the fan. He glanced back at them for a moment and frowned. Most of them wouldn't be seen with a majority of the room normally.

"School is over. Do you think it's safe to leave?" asked one of the nearby nerds who had yet to peer over the edge of his textbook.

Gosunkugi shrugged. "I'm not going out there to find out."

"Neither am I," agreed one of the other boys.

Another pained scream echoed through the hallways and one of the boys near the front of the class fainted.

"Where are all the teachers?" asked another boy as the group ignored it.

"I dunno. I think they all ran away and went home," said one of the other boys.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ranma Saotome squealed to a halt in the middle of the road with his head turned down the ruined street to his right. It was a straight road that stretched for several blocks in either direction. "Well. I'm actually impressed."

A few hundred yards away, Tatewaki Kuno, feared Blue Thunder of Furinkan High was actually making something of a name for himself. The pigtailed boy had found several skirmishes in front of him. He had thought it a bit odd that whoever it was only used a shotgun. It made a lot more sense now.

The older boy was wielding a pair of automatic shotguns like swords. Ten of the pig creatures stood around him with various weapons.

Rather than back away from the large group, Kuno moved in close and swung his two weapons around like swords. He cocked them by striking the creatures somewhere to knock them off balance and spun with his strikes firing at them as he faced them again. He used wide sweeping strikes as he fired and used the motion too keep them from kicking him back or off balance.

The last two remaining animals were behind him side by side with weapons pointed dead at him. They reported and the boy flipped back over the shots and landed with both barrels pointed at their temples. He was untouched by the resulting mess. He paused long enough to glance around and survey his victory. He hooked both weapons like blades at his side through his belt. "Disgusting creatures."

"Hey."

He glanced back to see Ranma Saotome walking a bike up to him. He was covered in large weapons of all sorts. "Saotome."

"How are things going?"

"I am having little difficulty defeating my foes. Where is Akane Tendo? I was told she accompanied you." He didn't look particularly happy to see Ranma without her.

"I dunno. Last I saw her was at her place. I dropped her sister off. She'll probably be along soon. She should be following after me." The boy touched his glasses and frowned. "You're not carrying any ammo. Need to borrow some? I don't have much need of a shotgun with all of this, but I've got a few shells I can lend you."

"Shells?" inquired Kuno. "You know of these weapons?" He glanced down at the two guns and frowned a little. "They perplex me, but I find I am quite skilled at wielding them."

"I'd noticed," responded Ranma dryly. Something was starting to add up in the back of his mind. He'd found several odd shotguns lying around the bodies he'd found. "You don't have to throw the old one away. You can put more shells into it so you can keep firing the same one." He held up a red plastic tube with a metal piece on the bottom. "They look like this." He lifted a shotgun off the ground and demonstrated removing and inserting shells to the older boy. "See." He cocked it and fired into the empty street behind him. "Like that."

"Interesting," grumbled Kuno. He did not want to owe anything to the boy if he could help it. "Perhaps we could aid each other then? I seek to destroy the cause of this invasion."

"That's the plan," said Ranma with a small nod. "I'm not sure I want to be near when you start that up again though. You haven't had much experience with a shotgun. It's not a sword, and you'll break it if you keep using it that way. I'd suggest getting a custom job done for ya. I could probably talk to some people for ya if ya want. It'd only cost around nine-thousand yen or so since it'd be through me."

Kuno glanced down the road. "I have no real need of such a weapon. My blade is enough." He was looking at the weapons at his side quite intently as he said this.

"By the time this is over, you'll be interested. Keep going, have fun. Rescue some babes and all that. I'll take care of the big fish. I'll get there faster with this." He patted the side of the bike and hopped back on. "I'm gonna meet up with the JSDF a few miles out. There's a forward base there, near the landing site."

"Landing site?" inquired Kuno.

"They're stealing women to take to another planet for breeding purposes. Human females are worth a lot, they can crossbreed with a lot of species."

"FEINDS!" cried Kuno in horror.

"Yeah. That's what guys like me are around for," replied the boy with a small shrug. "I ain't sure about you yet though. Maybe I'll find out before this is over?" He started the engine to the bike and revved the engine a few times. "See you around."

Kuno stood alone in the road as the boy peeled out. "I see." Kuno understood very little about the world around him. It didn't really bother him much, as he was a complete idiot. He did know what Ranma was saying to him. He had to prove himself worthy of accompanying him on such a journey. He had to make his way through this, and perhaps then. This angered him; the lowborn fool had dared suggest he was unworthy of such a task. Tatewaki Kuno, unworthy? The very idea was downright stupid as far as he was concerned. That was saying a lot too. "Very well then! Ranma Saotome, I shall defeat this evil without your aid." He turned down the street and moved deeper into the city in a different direction.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

"Great." Akane had gotten herself pinned down behind the counter of a convenience store. She was watching her assailants, three pigs, move through the isles towards the register she was under. She glared up at them hatefully as they closed in slowly She kicked off her shoe and turned to face the counter on her back on the floor. She put her leg up under the counter and waited. Her eyes never left the round glass mirror on the corner above her. None of the creatures had noticed it yet. It was a good thing, because they were going to rush her, two from either side, and one over the front of the counter. She smirked as she saw the top of the pig's head appear just over the countertop. "Got ya." She fired both handguns into the two pigs that rushed up on either side of them and three reports sounded. She had used her toe to squeeze the trigger of the shotgun mounted under the counter. She frowned at it as she dusted herself off and stood up while replacing her shoe.

She wasn't sure what she was doing out here. "You can come out now, they're dead."

A few people slowly emerged from the cooler as she turned towards the door with a serious look about her. "Wait! You can't just leave us here!" cried a frightened looking woman. She had managed to escape capture by hiding with her coworkers when things had started to get bad.

"Sorry. I can't stay, and you'd just get in my way." She felt terrible just leaving them there this way.

She turned her head to look up and down the abandoned streets of Tokyo. Most of the people cowered inside the buildings. Occasionally she would pass a police officer's body. She'd even found a few JSDF bodies lying about. She had missed most of the action already though. Ranma had told her his path would be easy to follow, and he had meant it. He was moving in a twisted path towards the western end of town. She could see a path of destruction even the invasion itself couldn't match ahead of her. He was moving quickly. A large explosion sounded in the distance as a gigantic ball of flame rose into the sky about a mile or so away from her. "Great. I've got to go there I guess." She kicked something that jingled in front of one of the dead bodies in front of the store. There had been five of the creatures originally. Two had died trying to pin her down.

She glanced down and saw a set of keys resting against the sole of her shoe. Her eyes turned back towards the area the animals had attacked her from. A short distance away, was a small vehicle about the size of a motorcycle. It had twin mounted machine guns just above a small clear plastic shield that protected the cockpit. It also didn't have wheels.

She looked down at herself and sighed. She was covered in guns anyway. It didn't really matter if she broke a few more laws. It obviously belonged to the bad guys, but she was sure it was illegal anyway. "What the hell? I've probably already ruined my life." She jumped onto it and stared down at the controls. It looked a lot like a motorcycle on the outside, but the inside was more like a small plane. There were two flight sticks, and relatively few buttons. The triggers on the flight sticks probably controlled the weapons, but she wasn't really sure. She wasn't sure she'd be able to operate the damn thing period.

She sighed and put the keys into the ignition. "What's the worst that could happen?" She almost stopped herself when she realized that she would probably end up dying in a ball of flames that crashed to the ground.

She had to sit and build up her nerve for a few moments while she gripped the key firmly between her fingers in the ignition. "Those pig things are stupid. How hard could this be?" She started it up and the engines roared to life. The readout in front of her lit up and two colored digital bars seemed to fill up. Each one was labeled as fuel and ammo, and there was also a digital speedometer. She glanced down and noticed it was floating about three feet over the ground. She moved the controls slowly and experimentally. The window in front of her shattered as she squeezed off a few rounds. "Oops," she muttered sheepishly as she moved her finger away from the trigger a little.

She was moving side to side and had jumped forward a bit as well as she fiddled with the controls. She had also figured out how to make it swing around on its axis. "Doesn't seem that hard." She seemed to realize that the two sticks worked together. One controlled movement and the other turned her around a fixed axis. "Weird." There were a few things on the heads up display in that was being projected onto the clear bubble in front of her as well. There were a few dials she didn't understand, and something that looked like a compass, but seemed to tell her where the ground was in relation to her. It had taken about four minutes for her to figure that out. The center console also had a throttle lever on it; she was cruising slowly just over the tops of the buildings as she adjusted herself to the transportation. She was starting to think she had most of it figured out. There were still a few more buttons she wasn't sure about, but it had a full tank, and only a few rounds were missing. There was a small digital readout sitting alone on the opposite side. It had the number twelve on it that hadn't changed since she started. It didn't seem to effect anything, and she'd yet to find a switch to change it.

The girl found herself looking over the side of the ship towards the ground. "I hope I can figure out how to land this thing."

She jumped in her seat as the radio she hadn't noticed yet squealed to life literally. The broken sound of pig noise crackled across the airwaves. "Shit." She found herself correcting the ship sharply to avoid hitting the side of one of the large skyscrapers. She was only about five stories over the city.

She swerved back into place and cursed as two more ships like the one she was using started moving towards her in the distance. She could see them coming between a few of the buildings. They quickly turned onto the street she was flying over and headed straight for her side by side.

She simply continued forward. "Shit." She jammed the throttle all the way forward, the street ahead of her was pretty straight, so she'd probably be all right.

The results were immediate as she blasted forward at full speed. Both of the fighters shot past her without firing around. They were as surprised as she was by the maneuver. Both of the ships turned and blasted back after her. "Oh no! Now they're behind me!" she cried as she glanced back. Turning her head forward again taught her that she should watch where she was going more carefully. She pulled both sticks back all the way and shot up the side of the building in a vertical climb. She spun on her axis, her head passing close enough to the side of the building that she could have reached out and touched it. Bullets flew from underneath her, only one of the ships had survived long enough to chase her, its companion exploded as it slammed into the side after trying to mimic the maneuver.

The girl screamed as bullets passed by her on either side. She stopped spinning and pulled back again, this time flying upside down over the top of the building just as she passed the tip of the largest antenna on top of the structure. She actually had to dip sideways a little to keep from getting clobbered by it.

"Wow," she muttered as the other ship slammed into the antenna. It spun around a few times in the air out of control, but was not hit hard enough to really damage it. The girl scrunched her eyebrows together as she pulled the throttle back sharply and spun around on her axis, unloading the machine guns into the unfortunate ship. It exploded into a ball of flames. "Take that you jerk!" she screamed as she leaned over the front of the ship and shook her fist at it as it exploded.

The rooftop below her suddenly became quite active, as several dozen of the pig creatures emerged onto the rooftop and began to fire at her with whatever they had.

"No!" she cried as she flew around the outer edge of the building in a circle. She could see the monsters starting to form a ring around her. "What's this button do?" she muttered a she realized there was a button on the top of the flight stick as well. Two of them in fact, sparks flew off of the sides of her ship, but it hadn't been damaged really yet. Ranma had proven that small arms fire could take one of the ships down to her on the way to the dojo.

She spun on her axis and tried the smaller one first. A small group of boxes appeared on her heads up over each of the pigs. It focused on one and turned it red. They were all grouping together to concentrate their fire on her. Lead was flying all around her and bounced off the still holding surface of her ship. She decided to push the larger button.

Two small missiles shot forward from her front end. The digital readout on her left side went down to ten.

Akane's jaw dropped as a large ball of fire consumed all of the pigs on the rooftop and left little more than chunks behind of any of them. "I've got missiles? Wow!" She grinned as she spun around in the air and moved back down to find Ranma's path again. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to try flying around him though. She'd seen how he'd reacted to spotting them in the air.

"I'm doing pretty good," she said with a small and tired looking smile on her face. "I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I'm pretty sure I'm doing a good job anyway." This seemed to reassure her again and she turned into the air towards the ball of flames she'd seen earlier. "Maybe I should go check that out. I'm not sure what it was."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

"Oh my! I'm out of cooking oil!"

Soun Tendo's head whipped around from his paper, his eyes were wide as saucers. "What? Really Kasumi! The streets are not safe!"

"I'll only be out a little while. I'll have to borrow some of Ranma's things though. Such a nasty infestation we've gotten. I hope someone does something about it." She smiled cheerfully as she walked up the stairs.

Soun sighed heavily and stood up. He walked into the kitchen, and sure enough, Kasumi was out of cooking oil. He closed the cabinet door and shuffled back to his paper.

"Um, Tendo. What should we do if we're attacked while she's gone?" asked Genma.

"I hadn't thought of that. We can't go with her, Nabiki isn't well."

"I think I'll go with her, just to make sure she's safe." The man stood up and started to step towards the door.

Soun grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down. "We'll both be needed to guard my daughter!"

"You're staying. I'll need help to carry her under the porch if any trouble starts."

"An excellent plan, Tendo!" agreed Genma heartily. He didn't really feel much like walking anywhere.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kasumi Tendo frowned as she walked through a peaceful section of town. A light breeze made it cool, but not cold. "What a nice day for a walk."

She strolled down the sidewalk and passed by two grunting pig cops that were standing in someone's front yard staring at her dumbly.

The pair grunted to each other and squealed loudly as they seemed to agree to grab her.

Kasumi's smile never faded as she put two shotgun rounds into their guts. "Good afternoon." She bowed, and then turned to continue happily on her way.

The neighborhood was largely untouched by the disaster. A few small debris and broken signs lined the streets. They still had power, and everything seemed to be running relatively normally. She watched several cars pass by her moving out of the city.

She turned and smiled as she noticed Dr. Tofu standing in front of his clinic with a worried looking frown on his face. He turned to glance at the passerby and froze.

"Oh. Good afternoon Doctor!" she said sweetly.

"Ka...Kasumi!" His glasses immediately fogged up.

"How are you today?" she asked him.

"Imagine meeting you here of all places!" sputtered the man as he laughed nervously very loudly.

"I hope the store is open. I haven't seen anyone around today."

The man's wits returned to him somewhat. "Kasumi? No! What are you doing here!? Don't you know...it's...dangerous?" He was staring directly at the shotgun that was resting on her shoulder. Her large handbag had an M-60 machine gun balanced between the straps. "..."

"I need some cooking oil for dinner tonight. I really should be going now. It won't do to have dinner too late!" She turned away from him obliviously leaving him standing in the front lawn of the clinic.

"..."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Ranma Saotome ripped through the empty streets of Tokyo at high speed. His hair whipped wildly behind his head as he crouched low on the seat of his bike to minimize the drag. He was doing about two hundred and twenty miles an hour.

A group of pigs stood in front of a tanker truck they had moved into the middle of the road.

"You gotta be kiddin me," said the boy in disbelief as he stared at it. They were arming charges onto the truck so that it would explode when he neared it. The creatures rushed a bit more as the sound if his engine reached them. He pushed a small button on the inside rim of his glasses and the telescopic view zoomed back out to normal. The stupid things were standing in front of the tanker and readying their weapons as he blasted into them at a much higher speed than they expected.

The boy slammed on his brakes and stood the bike up on the front wheel just in front of the monsters, spinning the back end around in a 360-degree stop. The bladed rims on the bikes tore four of the thing's faces off as he ripped into the group. The rear end slammed back down and the boy had twin sub-machine guns pointed in either direction. He opened fire and the dumb creatures fell to the ground before they had even knew what had hit them.

His satisfied smirk was short lived though, as three of the air attack vehicles opened their machine guns on him as they rose into view from behind the tanker.

The boy snorted and calmly pulled a grenade off of his chest. He revved his engine and squealed around to face them. He chuckled as the ships roared towards him at full throttle with their mounted guns blazing. The boy shifted around the fire and laid the bike on its side just as he neared the truck. Sparks flew off of the frame as he slid under it. He dropped the grenade as he passed under the vehicle and shifted the bike upright again. He continued a little ways down the street and stopped to watch the ships turn and move back towards him. He sighed and lit a cigarette. The vehicles started to close in just as the tanker exploded in a huge ball of fire. "This'd be more fun if it wasn't so easy." He smiled anyway as he watched the towering ball of flames for a moment as it spit out the twisted wreckage of the ships. "I hope Duke saw that one, it was cool." He turned his attention back towards his destination. It was right up the road.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Several minutes had passed and Ranma was already walking into a drab green tent set up in the middle of the street. A lot of smaller tents surrounded it and he walked into the place unmolested by the guards.

The boy was puffing on a cigarette as he strolled into the room and glanced around at the uniformed officers standing around inside. "What's up?"

"Where is Nukem?" Asked the man with the most crap on his chest.

"I dunno. I'm all ya got right now. More than enough." He frowned at the man and crossed his arms. "Nobody tries to steal my chicks and lives."

"Well, well. If it isn't Ranma Saotome." A young woman with short cut brown hair walked into the room. She was wearing a white shirt and had a pair of tight blue jeans around her waist. She was also wearing a leather jacket. "I was wondering when you and that old man you cart around with you were going to show up."

The boy smirked at her. "Hey. Long time no see."

"You never called," she said irritably.

"I never do. Told ya that when I met ya."

She snorted in amusement and smirked at the man in uniform. "He'll do."

"Izumi..." growled the man as he glared at her.

"He's man enough for the job. Too bad none of your boys were." She handed over a folder to the boy and sat down at a desk that was set up on one side of the tent. He walked over to the front of the desk and flipped through it. "Nuthin I haven't already seen."

"It's the way of government work. I expect you'll be going in first?" She grinned at him and steepled her fingers. The old man was still frowning at her.

"What a dick," commented the boy. The man heard him and busied himself with other things. "Still working for JSA?"

"I'm sitting here aren't I?" she replied cheerfully. "Nice to see someone around who knows what they're doing. I'm certainly not going up against these kind of slavers if I can help it."

"You could handle it," replied the boy calmly as he continued to browse the file. "Nothing new here. I ran into Hibiki earlier."

"What the hell is that asshole doing involved with something like this? Doesn't fit his MO much."

"I think he was hired help. Must be something good if he's helping this scum. I doubt he's getting paid with money."

"Something to do with that old psycho?" asked the woman as she narrowed her eyes. "Trying to bring him back?"

"Trying to finish what he started," replied the boy calmly. "Proton was his father as far as he's concerned. He's forgotten his family, did a long time ago."

"I almost feel sorry for him," grumbled the woman.

"You should. I know he's up to something now." The boy turned towards the tent's exit. "How many ships they bring with them?"

"Just one, it's sitting in the middle of town."

"Good. More than one is a pain in the ass, but this should be fun. Wonder who's in charge?" The boy loaded the twin sub machine guns as he strolled back to his bike. "I'd get out of here if I was you Izumi. They probably won't like you this close to them. I'd hate to have to come back for you again."

"Right," grumbled the woman as she glanced at the old men. "My obligation here is done anyway." She stood up and turned to leave.

One of the officers turned to frown at her. "You're not through here yet."

"Yes I am. Nukem isn't coming," replied the woman as she frowned at him.

"What?!" cried the man angrily.

"I know where he is. I'm no my way to see him now," she replied calmly as she continued on her way. "Don't wait up." She strolled over to a black sedan that was parked nearby and checked her Government Issue handgun over as she walked.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Akane frowned as she looked down at the remains of the exploded tanker. It had been burning a while by the time she had reached it. She had six missiles left, and her ammunition was running low. "Dang. I'm gonna have to ditch this thing soon." The outer hull was covered in black marks and bullet damage; it was just superficial things really. She frowned as she glanced back at her home for a moment. "Maybe I should take this thing home and..." She shook her head and sighed. "Nevermind. I guess I should keep following him." She swooped down and moved along his path.

She looked below as a woman surrounded by green tents stared up at her from beside her car. She pointed at her and started yelling something. Within moments, soldiers surrounded her.

"Uh-oh." Some of them had rocket launchers. "What should I do?" She licked her lips as she stared at them through the targeting system. She squeezed her eyes shut and flipped the vehicle over in the air. She was upside down and moving away at full throttle. A few smoke trails passed by her on either side of her ship and she quickly righted herself and dove to just above street level. She jammed the speed all the way down and started to unstrap herself from the seat as it bounced violently. Finally, she freed the belt and twisted out of the seat towards the back. Her eyes went wide as she saw the two smoke trails in the air moving down towards her. "Oh shit."

She was barely managing to hang on as the vehicle started sliding to a stop and twisted sideways. She steeled herself as she saw the two rockets closing in and pushed herself into the air over it as hard as she could. The ship continued forward and exploded in three violent explosions that sent pieces of twisted metal flying in every direction. She screamed as she shielded herself from the debris with her arms.

Finally, the sound stopped and she realized that the explosion was over. Slowly she looked over her arm and gasped for breath. "Wh...Wow!" She was standing in the middle of several large chunks that had embedded themselves into the ground and was unharmed.

She twisted towards the direction she had come from with a panicked look on her face. It was short lived as she realized that any pursuit was a good ways behind her. "Now what?" She cocked the handgun and glanced around nervously. She had no idea where she was, and it didn't look like she was anywhere near the boy's path. She grounded her teeth together and steeled herself. "Sink or swim Akane. You're trapped now."

Low grunting started to sound in the distance ahead of her. She had two choices, forward or back. "Damn it. I'll show him!" She turned ahead and stomped forward with a determined look on her face.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Wonder how Akane's doin," said Ranma as he glanced back over his shoulder for a moment. He fired a few quick burst with the front mounted machine guns and sent a few more pigs to wherever it was they went when they died.

He twisted the bike around and sailed over a twisted gap in the road that had been created with a large explosion from the initial assault. He flew backwards over the hole and fired his weapons into the remaining forces in mid air. The bike came down and he already had his hands on the handlebars again. He slid around with the momentum of his landing and shook his head as he stepped off of it. The ship was looming over him. It was as large as a skyscraper lying on its side. The massive ship was hovering just above the street nestled snugly between the massive towers of Tokyo.

He turned on an alarm with a remote and an armor plate shifted around the bike, closing it off from the outside world. "Now. What to blow up first?" He cracked his knuckled as he pulled out his personal hand cannons.

++++++++++++++++++++++

"Yamada san?" Kasumi knocked on the back door of the grocery store with a worried looking frown on her face. She knew the family quite well, and it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see her. "I certainly hope he's not ill."

She looked up at the window at the top of the store and sighed. It was very early and neither one of the kindly old couple who ran the grocery store was answering. Their granddaughter was staying with them, she would have expected to see her by this time of day. "Oh my. I do hope everything is all right."

She turned her head to the side slightly, as crashing sounded from within the building in the upstairs part of the building.

She turned away from the door and walked around to the glass door on the front of the building. It was a small place, rather like an American convenience store. They only stocked grocery items though. She blinked as three of the pig creatures charged down the stairs just after the granddaughter. The girl was screaming in terror. She was only about fourteen.

"So. This is why I can't buy things for dinner?" she said with a very disappointed frown as she leveled her machine gun on the window next to the door.

"No! My not my granddaughter!" cried the old man as he rushed up behind the things to try and hold them back.

One of them simply slammed the butt of his weapon into the man's face. It turned and pointed the barrel down at him with an almost gleeful squeal.

The other two seemed to notice the woman standing outside with the machine gun and froze in place.

The window shattered and a horrible blasting rip tore through the air as cans exploded on shelves between the girl and the trio of monsters.

Each one was pounded into a bloody pulp by the force of the bullets that ripped through them and the dairy counter. Jugs of milk poured onto the remains like a fountain.

Everyone in the building was staring at her dumbly.

"I'm very sorry about the window...and those other things." She looked quite embarrassed.

The old man was howling with laughter as he nursed his bruised nose. "Oh. We don't mind one bit!"

"Kasumi dear. Are you all right?" asked the old woman.

"Wow! That was so cool!" cried the granddaughter as the shock started to wear off.

"I just needed a few things for dinner," said the girl sweetly.

"Well, I think we should come over for dinner tonight. I'll even supply enough ingredients to feed all of us!" said the old woman happily. "I'm sure your father won't mind, after all, there is safety in numbers!"

"Oh my!" said the girl a she blushed a bit. "I suppose that would be all right. I should call first though."

The old woman blinked and shrugged. "Sure. You can use the phone."

"Thank you," said Kasumi as she bowed politely and went to make the call.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Ranma sighed as he stared at the task before him. There were about a hundred of the pig things guarding a beam of light that held a small platform that would lead him into the ship.

There were other ways to get in of course, but going in the front door was always the most fun. He chuckled to himself as he shook his head and screwed a special warhead into one of his shoulder-mounted missiles. "Heh, heh, heh. Fire! Fire!" He licked his finger and put it up into the wind for a moment.

After a moment to figure out his shot he hefted the launcher onto his shoulder and fired at an almost eighty degree angle. The round arced through the air and came down in the middle of the army of pig cops leaving a smoking trail in the air behind it.

He started walking towards them. They were still almost four hundred yards away. He zoomed in to the area around the smoke cloud. The stupid creatures were all looking at it dumbly. A few had moved in for a closer look, that number grew. They all grunted excitedly around it, thinking it was a dud.

Six nozzles slid out of the sides of the warhead and a blanked of fire surrounded the round on all sides as it released a thick stream of napalm into the unsuspecting crowd.

The creatures all panicked, firing wildly and blindly, killing each other. The boy sidestepped around the mess firing both his handguns into the flames, picking off the remaining creatures easily.

He snorted and unhooked a freeze gun from his belt. It was a small silver handgun. He calmly blasted a path through the fire to the platform. It didn't take much to clean off the controls and enough room to stand in. He flipped a switch and replaced the freeze gun. "We'll go with sub machine guns." He wanted to save the mini gun on his back for later.

The platform clanked into place nosily. The boy smirked as he realized he was surrounded. "Only ten of you? Must have caught you off guard."

These were aliens, not pigs. They were brown skinned creatures in armor armed with energy weapons and machine guns. "I was wondering when I was gonna get a halfway decent workout."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Akane had no idea where she was. She'd never been to the area she was standing in before. It was a bad neighborhood by the look of it; not that it worried her much. Having your own matching set of sub machine guns did wonders for feeling secure.

"Where the hell am I anyway?" She found herself wandering from building to building, looking for open doors and cleaning anything that wasn't human from her path with lead.

She was dirty, sweaty, and she was not having a good time. "You stupid jerks!" she screamed as two more of the machine gun toting things appeared before her. She'd only recently started seeing them wandering around. The pig things seemed to take commands from them.

The girl growled as she fired two shots at the things. One of them was clipped on the shoulder; the other had his brain lying on the pavement. The monster opened fire on her, but she stepped aside from his firing path and put a corrected shot into him before he could adjust his aim completely. The weapon continued to go off as it quickly pointed up as he fell over.

"Honestly! Why do they keep jumping out at me that way! It's creepy!" She shivered and rubbed at her arms as she continued to wander aimlessly.

Dull thumping music muffled by thick concrete walls caught her attention in the otherwise deserted street. She spotted a bar with several bikes sitting in front of it. "A...biker bar?" Her face contorted, a half-naked neon woman waved invitingly from the sign.

The girl frowned as she pushed open the doors and aimed her weapons inside immediately. She froze as dozens of weapons were cocked and pointed at her from all sides of the room. She slowly lowered her weapon and the people in the room did the same. "False alarm," said a midget who was standing on a stool by a chalkboard with a piece of chalk in his hand. Several names were written on the board with about thirty-five marks between them. The name with the most, around nineteen, was 'Duke'.

"What's this kid doing here?" asked one of the strippers that were hanging around a large man with short cut blonde hair.

"Leave her alone," said the man stonily.

"You!" gasped the girl as she stared at him.

"Have a seat kid," said the man as he shoved one of the women off of the chair next to him. "Quite a collection you've got there."

"Um, thanks I think," she grumbled as she walked up to the chair and ignored it. "What the hell are you doing? You're just going to let him do this alone?"

"Yeah. Kind of the point this time," replied the man as he chugged a beer. "It's pissin me off too. I hate sittin around."

The girl simply stared at him for a long moment. "This is part of his training." She wasn't sure if she was angry with him for it or not.

"If it don't work out, he'll live, and I'll be around," said the man as he tapped the bar and ordered another one. The bartender was quite interested in what Duke was talking to a girl as young as her for.

"How do you know I know him?" she grumbled.

"Saw yer picture when I dropped his crap off. Bet he took that damn rice burning crotch rocket of his, stupid piece of crap. Sure it's fast, but it ain't got no real power in it."

"Whatever." The girl was clearly uninterested. "Look. Do you mind if I hang out here? I'm kind of lost, and I don't think I should be wandering around on my own in a place like this just yet."

Duke arched his eyebrow. "Yet?"

"I'm stuck here because I didn't listen to him. I haven't seen it yet, but there's something really big running around. I don't think it's some kind of vehicle either. I've heard it, but I haven't run into it yet."

The man nodded. "How big?"

"Very. I haven't seen it really, but I know it's out there. I don't think it noticed me yet."

"Larry, get out the big shit," said Duke as he put his empty beer on the counter. The half-naked girl sitting in his lap was pushed aside.

"Right." The man had an American flag handkerchief tied around his head and a leather jacket. He tapped the wall behind a POW flag and it flipped up, revealing a heavy weapons cache.

"Wow," muttered Akane.

"Give the kid a rocket launcher," said Duke calmly, couple of grenades too.

The man stared at him and then looked at the girl. She was covered in small arms anyway so he shrugged. "Sure. Why not."

"Huh?"

"Think you can take it now?" asked Duke.

"I guess. How do I use this thing? Ranma didn't show me how to work something like this." She hefted it up into a firing position.

"Don't worry. We're all goin," said Larry as he frowned at Duke. "Are ya nuts man? She's a kid!"

It was clear she wasn't happy with hearing that, but didn't argue with anyone about it either.

"I was just pointin out how nice it felt to hold one," said Duke as he stared back at the man.

"Um, Duke? What are you gonna do when you find it?" asked one of the strippers. Akane rolled her eyes; she looked like she was getting off just talking to him.

"Shoot him with something really big," replied the man as he caught the mini gun he'd been tossed from behind the bar. "This should do."

"No problem," said Larry cheerfully as he began handing out heavy weaponry to the other patrons. "No firing any of this crap until we get out of my place! I don't care what walks through the door before then!"

"Yeah. I'll be pissed if I can't have a beer when we're done," said Duke as he walked out the door. The others followed him outside cheerfully, drunkenly, and heavily armed.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Akane as she stepped up beside Larry the bartender.

"Yeah," said the man cheerfully. The girl glanced around at the ragtag band of bikers. None of them looked Japanese; they were all older Americans. "You guys were soldiers weren't you?"

"Yeah. I fell in love with Japan during Nam. It's where most of us came from. We sort of started this place for folks like us."

"So, you're all soldiers?" she asked nervously as she glanced back at the group again. They weren't world war two vets or anything. All of them still looked able bodied and she realized they were moving in a very military like fashion. She was starting to feel better about being around them already. They knew what they were doing. At least it appeared that way.

"How the hell did I end up here?" she muttered to herself.

"You know. I can actually understand you asking yourself that. How did school girl end up in a place like this. That uniform isn't from any of the area schools."

The girl glanced up at the man she was speaking too. He was searching the area around them carefully with his eyes, and not even looking at her. "I'm still not sure. I kind of flew here. I was supposed to follow Ranma, but I went off on my own and...well..."

"Best made plans are laid to waste," said Larry cheerfully.

"Right," she grumbled nervously. She felt completely out of place and decided it was a good time to stay quiet. She'd noticed no one else was speaking. After a few moments she noticed them using hand signals to communicate. Duke Nukem was running point just ahead of them. He raised his fist and backed up behind a corner. She stayed with Larry and he didn't seem to mind much as he crouched behind an alley wall. She'd figured out he was the one designated to keep an eye on her.

They all sat behind cover in the street making no sound as they waited. Akane let out a quick and quiet gasp as she realized what they were listening too.

A dull thumping noise as something massive hit the pavement as it moved. It was stomping its way through the city.

"Big fucker isn't he?" said Duke. Her guard had a two-way radio on his belt.

She turned her head down the other end of the alley and raised her weapon as her eyes went wide. "I've got a shot. Should I take it?"

"Huh?" said Larry as he glanced at her. She was looking down the alley over the rocket launcher that was hefted onto her shoulder in a ready position. He realized that she was pointing dead at a gigantic brown and metal mass of sinew and teeth. "Holy shit! Fire!"

The girl squeezed the trigger and felt her body kick back from the force of the weapon. The rocket blasted forward and the thing turned to look at them. It roared in anger and pain as the rocket lodged into its eye. It blinked with its good eye in what seemed like confusion. Then its face contorted into pain and anger, finally, its head blew up.

The girl lowered the weapon and looked at him.

"Wow! That was a one in a million shot!" cried the man in triumph.

"I hit what I was aiming at ya know," she muttered irritably.

The rest of the squad was yelling and cheering as they rushed up around her.

Duke looked slightly disappointed. "Nice shot kid. I was kinda hopin to get off a few rounds before I had to go back. Oh well."

The girl shot him an annoyed glance. "I'll try not to kill the giant monster so quickly next time."

"No big thing kid. Relax."

She blushed and nodded as she realized just how rude she was being.

"You Japs sure get embarrassed easily," commented Larry with a rough snort. "Come on. We should head back."

"Hey. What the fuck is that?" asked one of the squad. He was an older black man with white sideburns and had a cigar clenched in his teeth.

"Looks like I get to have some fun too," said Duke as he watched the swarm of alien creatures charge for him. They were more of the off-world invaders rather than the pigs he expected to see. The rest of the squad jumped away for cover as the things began firing at them. Duke Nukem stood calmly and grinned as the gears in the weapon began to spin quickly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"..."

Kasum i blinked as she realized Dr. Tofu was still standing in the same place she'd left him. "Oh. Dr. Tofu! Good evening!"

Mrs. Yamada poked the man a few times with her finger.

"..."

"What's with him?" asked the Granddaughter in confusion. She didn't look happy and had her arms loaded with groceries.

"I'm not sure," said Kasumi.

"Ka...ka...ka..." muttered the man softly.

"Well. I think we should invite him to dinner with us. We have plenty of food, and I'm certain your father won't mind."

"I suppose one more won't hurt." She gripped the man's arm and found that if she pulled on him, he would follow. "It's kind of cute. Like a puppy," she thought to herself cheerfully.

The group moved off towards the dojo.

"How come I've gotta carry all this crap the whole way?" she whined.

"Now, now. We're not as young as we used to be," said the old man as he shuffled along slightly slower than before.

"Yeah." The girl didn't look like she bought it, but it was enough to quiet her down.

"I hope dinner isn't delayed too much," fretted Kasumi.

"I'm sure it will be fine," comforted the old woman. "I'll help you out in the kitchen."

"Oh! Thank you!" Kasumi Tendo's worries seemed to melt away. She often traded recipes with the woman and knew she was an excellent cook.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"I've completed the terms of the contract." Ryoga Hibiki stood with the aid of a large mech-like power suit. "I'm taking payment now."

"How dare you?" snarled one of the aliens at him angrily. Three others like him nodded in agreement. The only reason the lost boy could understand them at all was because of a translation device within the suit they had supplied him. "You have failed us!"

"I brought you the women. Whether or not you can hold them is your own problem."

"We will not stand for this!" snarled the head alien again. None of them were armed.

"You cannot stop me." He calmly hefted a case containing a small computer within it. It looked like nothing but a steel briefcase for his armor. "I have what I want. Our contract is finished."

"I'll have you destroyed," snarled the leader. "You are not Proton, and we will destroy you easily!"

Ryoga moved over to the platform that would lower him back to the ground again and flipped the switch. He raised his free arm and unloaded the machine guns into the leader. He snorted. "You're right. I'm not Proton. I'm his heir. He had the genius to create these weapons. I have the skills to use them properly. I'll accomplish what he could not. This planet will belong to me. If you get in my way, I suggest you remember just who taught me everything I know." The platform clanked loudly as he was lowered to the surface. "Soon, I'll have my revenge on Ranma, and then Nukem. No one will stop me after that."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Nabiki huffed angrily as she pulled herself back into bed and shifted back into a comfortable position. She didn't look particularly rested and grumbled angrily as she finally managed to cover herself in the sheets. In her hand during all of this was a baseball bat.

Genma and Soun were on their backs with bruises on their heads and faces in the hallway just outside the room.

"I think we should just hide ourselves. We'll sneak out to get her if there's any real trouble," said Genma.

"A...an excellent idea Saotome!" agreed Soun.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tatewaki Kuno stood in the middle of the street with his hair blowing dramatically in the wind. He looked calm and had one of the shotguns in his possession slung over his shoulder, the other was inside his belt like a sword. A few smoking remains littered the ground behind him. He pulled the weapon off of his shoulder and put a few more shells into the chamber.

"I have yet to find evil to make a worthy challenge. They cower and fall before my might too easily with these weapons."

"Tell me! Is there not a worthy warrior among you?!" he cried out into the streets. "I crave battle! Come evil, fall before the might of the Blue Thunder of Japan!"

A dull thumping sound caught his attention. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder and frowned.

A gigantic beast with gigantic cannons for arms and robotic legs roared at him as it spotted him down the street. It had just turned the corner and immediately moved towards him slowly. It had leathery skin and jaws full of jagged teeth. Two massive horns rose from its head accented by glowing red eyes for that really evil touch.

"Tell me! Is there not a slightly less worthy warrior among you?!" cried Kuno out into the streets.

The beast continued towards him and he stared at it with a stupid fearless determination. "Perhaps I..." He started to turn and run. Unfortunately, the monster unleashed the power of its cannons onto the buildings on either side of the street. Rubble came crashing down from above as the entire side of both buildings rained down into the middle of the street, creating a pile that blocked his escape.

"So. It seems I have no choice." He cocked the weapon in his hand with his shoulder and reached for the one in his belt. "I look forward to a worthy challenge demon! You will fall before my mighty blade!"

++++++++++++++++++++++++

TBC...

See how that one sits with ya. ^_^