S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Gray Skies ❯ Chapter 3

Suddenly, lances of pure light pierced the floating book and Gosunkugi screamed as if in pain. “What?!”

“Now, children!” Both Kuno and Akane turned to the voice and saw Cologne on a nearby roof, with her hands in a complicated hand sign, as she glowed with white energy. In the place of her usual cane was an elaborately decorated staff with large rings and other ornaments. “I can not hold such power for long!” Akane closed her eyes, as the green aura surrounding her grew heavier.

-The Shi Shi Hokudan is executed by the thought of despair…- Akane didn't care to know why she'd remembered the attack, and how it worked.

“As you say,” Kuno said as he held his overpowered sword up above his head with one hand. “Tenkou Seizan!” He shouted as he slashed down, sending an intense wave of holy light at the monster.

“Shi Shi Hokodan!” The distraught girl held up her hands and shot a large sphere of heavy ki at the demon. The ki blast, powered by sorrow, and the crescent of holy energy collided with the demon and the book respectively.

“Guooaaaaaaa..!” Gosunkugi and the book both immediately exploded into multiple orbs of blackness that scattered as his scream echoed on. Cologne dropped out of her pose when there were no traces of the boy or book left. In his wake was a large crater.

Akane sighed and fell forward on the ground, and Kuno quickly ran over to her.

“She's only exhausted, boy. She used a high level attack that drained almost all of her reserves,” The old woman said solemnly as she pogoed over to the two.

“…What of Saotome and those who were with him?”

“I assume you mean the other Tendo girl and Hibiki Ryouga,” The old woman said as she closed her eyes. “Unfortunately, I can not feel their Ki.”

“But all living things generate Ki,” Kuno insisted. “It would not be like Saotome to die in such a way.”

“How right,” the old woman said with a smile. “It is possible that they have merely been displaced. I do not have the means to search for them over long distances with me in this city, however.”

“I see,” Kuno said. “Then it is possible that they are still alive, somewhere.”

“Heh…” Akane's voice came from below them. “It's a good thing… you didn't tell me that before… I wouldn't have been able to get that off…”

“Hmm, indeed,” Cologne shook her head. “For now, it is late, and we must rest. I will see about locating Son-in-law on the morrow.”

----

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.
Notes:

(1) Tenkou Seizan:「天光è& #8211;æ–¬/ã¦ã‚“ã“ 7;†ã›ã„ã–ã‚“ã& #8364; Lit. “Heaven Light Saint Cut”. I'm not sure if “Tenkou Seizan” is how it would be read by a Japanese person (There's multiple readings for Kanji) but that one looks correct to me.

(2) Hai, kaachan: 「ã¯ã„ã€æ¯ã ¡ã‚ƒã‚“〠akin to “Yes, Mommy”

(3) Updates won't be as fast in coming as the first three chapters were. I have tons of other work to do, and this ate up a lot of my time.

 

More detailed information (No spoilers) on the Lost Ground and Japan can be found at:

http://www geocities com/olderperuruu/grayskies/lostground txt

http://www geocities com/olderperuruu/grayskies/IV txt

Replace spaces with dots/periods(.)

 

GRAY SKIES

-Chapter 3: Alter-

---

A week and a half passed, and Ranma's group had settled into a routine. Ranma and Ryouga would wake up to find Nabiki gone, eat breakfast with Kanami, and then go to the farm with the little girl to help out there for small amounts of money and food. Nabiki had not yet bothered to invite either one of them on the morning outings, and had already started saving up money from whatever she did with Kimishima and Kazuma. The young woman wouldn't talk, and had flat out told them she wouldn't until she needed them.

But that day had been soon in coming.

-

“You're coming with me tomorrow,” Nabiki said from her position on the bed. Both boys were laying on the ground on futons. Nabiki had insisted they all shared the room they used the first night, so that they could keep certain things to themselves. The other rooms had no space to sleep, or already had an occupant. “We won't be coming back for three days, actually.”

“What, you mean Kanami-chan is coming too?”

“The little girl is staying here,” She said.

“All by herself?” Ranma demanded. He was in his male form, and had already explained his and Ryouga's awkward transformations to the house's two inhabitants, as well as Kimishima. It hadn't taken too long to convince the three that they weren't really alter users in disguise, but the one who'd pointed out that it was impossible and done most of the explaining had been Kimishima.

-

“I've never seen any water based Alters,” Kimishima said. “And I've never seen Alter Users whose Alters were uncontrollable to such a degree. Not only that, but since they both have the same trigger, and they transform, it's just too unlikely because there are no two identical Alters, or even two that are that closely related.” The six were in the clinic's lobby, or what was now more appropriately called a foyer. Kimishima was sitting on one of the benches with Kanami by his side, while Kazuma leaned against the front door. Nabiki was sitting on the other bench, while Ryouga and a drenched Ranma-chan stood before them all.

“So they're not alter users?” Kazuma asked, surprised. He had a confused look on his face.

“Alter Users have that glow, don't they?” Kanami reminded him. “They have an aura when they use their powers…”

“You mean that rainbow thing?” Kazuma asked. “That's right… Hey Kanami, how'd you know about that?” The girl blinked and looked put-off for a moment before answering.

“Kazu-kun told me, remember?” She said. “You're so forgetful, Kazu-kun.” Nabiki's eyebrow merely raised as she watched the exchange.

-

“Hey, Nabiki, you okay?”

“Yeah, I just spaced out,” the girl said. “Anyway, as I was saying, Kanami can take care of herself, and there's the farm to consider. I'm sure they'll put her up for three days.”

“Yeah, they probably will,” Ranma said with a sigh. “What do we tell them, though?”

“We're going out on a business trip, that's all,” Nabiki said. “Nothing more. Now turn out the lights, we need to get sleep since we're leaving early.” She laid sideways just as Ryouga stood up and walked over to the door, where the light switch was, and closed her eyes as he flicked the switch, leaving the room in complete darkness.

`That girl…why is she hiding what she can do?'

-

Morning came swiftly for Ranma. He'd been unable to sleep well since finding out they were in the future(which he still harbored some doubt to), and had taken to practicing his kata when he couldn't sleep, or woke up too soon. The boy sighed as he looked into the cardboard box and took out what was now his now trademark red and black ensemble. Ryouga had taken to what the gender switching martial artist had found him, but Nabiki had bought some new clothes that more resembled what she'd used to wear. She now had clothes that more resembled what she used to wear; skimpy shorts and some semi-revealing shirts.

Ranma pulled them on and took his dragon's whisker from atop a drawer, tying his hair into the familiar braid as he walked out of the room. As he passed by Kazuma's and Kanami's room, he glanced in at the two inhabitants. Both were sleep, and as he looked at them, he noticed a strange, multi-colored glow around the young child, and blinked. `Rainbow-colored glow?' He frowned. `That's supposed to mean something, but I forgot…' Shrugging it off as unimportant, he continued down the hall and down the stairs to the foyer, where he grabbed his slippers and put them on.

As soon as they were on, he opened the door and walked outside, shutting the door behind himself quietly. The sun had not yet risen, and the sky was still intensely dark. There were no working clocks in the clinic, and the one on that little computer Nabiki had started keeping with her couldn't have been set on the right time. As he looked up at the slowly brightening sky, he mentally set the time to be somewhere around five or so.

With that, Ranma closed his eyes and cleared his mind as he prepared to start.

“What are you doing, Ranma-chan?” came a soft, tired voice from the side. Ranma opened his eyes and looked over to the door. Just in front of it, on the steps, sat Kanami.

“Haven't I told you not to call me that? Why do you still do it, even when I'm a guy, anyway?” He said in an empty, humorless voice. The girl didn't seem to notice, as tired as she was, and giggled. “Why are you up, anyway? Couldn't you sleep okay?” He asked. The girl nodded.

“Yes, I was able to sleep…” She said. She looked up at the slowly fading stars. “…I was dreaming… It was a very intense, rough, and brave dream…”

“…” Ranma turned away and stared off into the distance. “…Sounds like some dream.”

“Does Ranma-chan dream too?” After a pause, Ranma shook his head slowly.

“…I used to. Not any more.” He said. “My dreams used to be intense, rough, and brave, too…”

“That's too bad. I hope Ranma-chan starts dreaming again soon,” the girl said sincerely.

“…Thanks.” After that, neither said anything for a whole minute, and Ranma remembered the whole reason for coming outside and closed his eyes, once again clearing his mind in preparation for a simple kata. Once he began, Kanami took notice and looked down from the sky to watch.

---

“So you're going to be away for three days,” The older, heavyset woman said as she peered at Kazuma, Ranma, and Ryouga. Kimishima and Nabiki were waiting down by the road in his jeep while the other four explained their case to the Farm's owners. The woman glared at Kazuma, but seemed to have an approving look as she inspected the other two teens. “If he had come alone, I'd be setting up a permanent bedroom,” The woman said, casually flicking her thumb at Kazuma. The boy sighed at that and hung his head. “But I know you two will come back for her. You'd better, anyway.”

“Thank you,” Ryouga said with a slight bow. “It is most appreciated.” Ranma, who was in her female form, since she hadn't bothered to explain anything to the people at the farm, knelt down and started ruffling the girl's hair.

“You behave now, okay Kanami-chan?” She said sternly. Kanami only giggled.

“Hai, kaachan,” She said sweetly. Ranma frowned as both Kazuma and Ryouga immediately busted a gut. The older woman merely smiled, not having seen most of the humor in the exchange.

“Mou…” Ranma pouted and stood back up.

“You three go on then, don't you have somewhere to be?” the older woman asked, still smiling at the exchange.

“Yeah, that's right. Thanks a lot, really,” Kazuma said as he calmed down. “So then, see ya later, Kanami.” The boy said as he turned around.

“Thank you again, you've really saved us,” Ryouga said, bowing once more before both he and Ranma both turned to leave. Halfway back to the car, they turned around and waved, and both Kanami and the woman waved back. Once they were there, Kimishima, who'd been leaning against the car door, looked at them.

“You guys back? How'd it go?”

“It was alright, they didn't have any problems,” Ranma said as he climbed into the back of the car and picked up a thermos. Ryouga and Kazuma sat on either side of him as he opened it and emptied it's contents over himself. Kimishima got into the driver's seat and Nabiki turned around to look at them from the passenger seat, raising her new sunglasses as she did so.

“Well then, you're all ready?”

“Yeah,” Ranma said as he toweled himself off.

“Then, Kazuma, I believe you know what to tell them,” the girl said, turning back around.

“Right,” Kazuma nodded. He turned his head to look at both of the other teens. “Well, first off, what do you two know about our jobs?”

“You said you did freelance,” Ryouga said. “Is that not the case?”

“Er, well, it is, but a more accurate term would be to call us mercenaries,” Kazuma said as he crossed his arms. “We do jobs for important people, and it gets us paid well.”

“What kind of important people?” Ranma demanded with narrowed eyes.

“You know, important people,” Kazuma said with a grin. “Anyway, we don't do anything bad, unless they're willing to pay a lot. Usually the worst I get to do is rough someone else's thugs up,” he said with a shrug. “But there's also the fact that some of these other people have alter users at their disposal. That's when I get to have fun, you see,” He said.

“Have fun?” Ranma asked. “You mean you fight Alter Users?”

“That's right,” Kazuma nodded.

“How do you do that? I thought you said Alter Users were incredibly powerful?” Ryouga asked with his brow creased.

“Kazuma is an Alter User,” Kimishima explained. “He's the strongest one I've ever seen, too.”

“I see,” Ryouga nodded. “I expected as much.” Ranma looked interested.

“Alter User... what do you do, anyway?” The pig-tailed martial artist asked.

“You'll get to see that later,” Nabiki said. “For now, Kazuma, explain what we're doing this time.”

“Right,” Kazuma said with another nod. “Well, two days ago, a high ranking executive from the city was abducted while he was wandering around outside the city walls. I can't figure out exactly what the idiot was doing outside his prissy walled up play-pen, but we're going to rescue him.”

“Rescue? Isn't that kind of different from your usual work?” Ryouga asked.

“Well, it is. But that's okay, because I'm getting paid.” Kazuma said nonchalantly.

“That's right, what about us?” Ranma asked.

“You two are getting paid, too. As for Kimishima-san and I, we're getting something that goes deeper than money out of this,” Nabiki said as she started inspecting her nails.

“A high ranking official, huh... So, you're thinking if you can save him, you'll be able to start making friends in high places?” Ryouga asked.

“Sharp one, aren't you,” Nabiki said cheerfully.

“Why did it take so long for you guys to invite us to this kind of work, anyway?” Ranma asked.

“Kimishima-san has been watching you guys since we arrived, and he had to make sure you two could handle our kind of work,” Nabiki said offhandedly.

“Yes, that's right,” the driver said cheerfully. He glanced out the corner of his eyes at the girl to his side. He'd been watching her too, but there was no reason to tell her that. Likewise, the Tendo girl smiled to herself as she noticed the slight twitch of his eyes from her peripheral vision. She'd noticed that he'd been watching her too, but there was no need to let him know that.

“Today, we're going to meet with some contacts of ours to get more information.”

“Associates...” Ranma frowned. “What exactly do you two do? If we're going to be rescuing this guy, obviously the three of us are gonna be doing the hard labor,”

“Middle management,” Ryouga answered for them. “It's simple. They do all the talking, we do the hitting.”

“Oh,” Ranma said. “Well, why is it supposed to take three days?”

“First off, we have to find out where these guys are. Then, from there, we need to gather intelligence on the area, their man power, etc. Someone from inside the city gave us what little information we already have, we're going to have to meet with them again to get any real work done. We're going to be near the city for a while,”

“The city, huh... Can you tell us anything else about Alter Users in general?” Ryouga asked.

“Alter Users...” Kazuma started that time. “Hmm, well there's not much to say about us...”

“There's a group of alter users who call themselves HOLY, they make up a special division of the police force for the city,” Kimishima started.

“Special division?”

“Police force?”

“The usual police force is composed of normal humans with guns and the like, but HOLY was made specifically to combat Alter Users like Kazuma there,” Kimishima said. “Thing is, although they claim to be rooting out Alter Criminals, they'll force any Native Alter Users they find to either join them or be imprisoned.”

“They'll arrest just anyone who's minding their own business just because they're an Alter User?” Ryouga asked with a frown.

“That's right,” Kimishima confirmed.

“Why do they do that?” Ranma asked.

“We're not sure, but there has been an information leak from the inside that says they're taken to the Main Land, and used for something. Either way, it can't be all that fun.”

“That's why, if we run into any HOLY members, we get the hell out,” Kazuma started. “I ain't afraid of them or anything, but it would suck if they even knew I existed.”

“Because then they'll start to actively hunt for you,” Ryouga said with a nod.

“What about Kanami?” Ranma asked. “What would they do to her if they ever caught you?”

“Nothing,” Kazuma snorted. “'Cause I'd never tell them where she was.”

“Why not?” Ranma asked with a frown.

“She doesn't need any of this garbage,” Kazuma said with a sigh. “She's just a kid, and she's not even an Alter User.”

“They might even use her to entice Kazuma into joining HOLY if they found her,” Nabiki added.

“That too,” The boy nodded.

“Huh...” Ranma sat back as the car sped down the dirt road. The conversation died after that.

---

Ranma stared up at the huge wall that served as a barrier between the urban district and the undeveloped district. It was at least ten stories high, and beyond the wall, inside the city, he could see buildings that literally towered over the thing. As he looked up at the tall, foreboding structures, any doubt that he was actually in the future was quickly expunged. There were several skyscrapers in the city, and because of its lack of developmental space thanks to the huge walls, he could see several roads suspended in the air by huge support beams. But above all else, and quite literally, stood a colossal tower in the distance. It had the appearance of platforms of variable width being stacked atop one another. Several of the suspended roads led straight to it, and Ranma was sure that there were even more ways inside from the ground level.

“What's that huge thing?” Ranma asked. He, Kazuma and Ryouga had been left in the car while Nabiki and Kimishima went to the appointed spot to meet with their associate. Their parking spot had left them in view of the city though, and both Ranma and Ryouga marveled at how… well, futuristic the whole place looked.

“I dunno, I guess that's HOLY or something else important,” the native alter shrugged. “I've never been in there before.”

“Never?” Ranma asked.

“You have to have ID or something to get in,” Kazuma shrugged. “Otherwise we'd all be in there, partying or something, right?”

“Nabiki told us this, Ranma. Remember?” Ryouga said.

“Oh. Well that was a long time ago, I'd forgotten…” the pig-tailed martial artist said. Ryouga looked at the pigtailed-martial artist and frowned.

“Say, Ranma, can we talk for a moment?” The boy asked.

“I guess, not like I'm going anywhere,” Ranma shrugged without looking at the other teen.

“I meant in private,” Ryouga said calmly.

“Oh, um, sure, I guess.” Ryouga turned and started walking in a random direction and Ranma followed after him. Once they were without of hearing distance of Kazuma, who really couldn't care less anyway, he whipped back around and looked at his rival, and without preamble, spoke.

“You've changed.”

“Huh?” Ranma blinked. “What do you mean I've changed?”

“I've been noticing recently… you act a little differently. It started when we found out we were in the future. What's going on with you?” the fanged boy demanded.

“It's none of your business,” Ranma snorted.

“It's about Akane-san, isn't it?” Ryouga prodded. “When Nabiki suggested she'd married someone else and was happy, you got upset.”

“Heck no, it ain't about that tomboy,” Ranma snorted.

“Then what is it?” Ryouga demanded.

 

“It's nothing!” Ranma shouted.

 

“Fine then, don't tell me. After all, how can I help you if I don't know what the problem is?” Ryouga said sarcastically. “Whatever, Saotome. Let's just go back.”

 

“I don't need your help,” Ranma snorted as he started walking back to the jeep. Ryouga narrowed his eyes and followed him back.

 

“What happened to you guys?” Kazuma asked when they both returned. “You have an argument?”

 

“Nothing, don't worry about it.” Ranma said, forcing himself to calm down. Ryouga glanced at the other boy with a frown on his face.

 

`You prideful fool…'

 

---

 

That night, Ranma was sitting outside a modest one-story house on a brick fence, looking up at the stars.

 

“Yo,” a voice came from behind him and he turned around to see Kazuma standing there. “What are you doing up so late?”

 

“Just thinking about someone,” Ranma said honestly. “What's up?”

 

“I woke up and found that you were missing,” Kazuma said with a shrug.

 

“Well, I'm not Ryouga, so you don't need to worry about it.”

 

“Hm, actually I was thinking of something else.” Kazuma said with a grin.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You say you're as strong as an Alter User, but I don't think so,” Kazuma snorted. “Just another tough guy who doesn't know what's going on, that's what you are.”

 

“Oh really?” Ranma asked in a distorted voice. He chuckled. “You want to try me?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Hmm,” Ranma hopped down from the fence and landed on his feet. “I never refuse challenges, you know.”

 

“That's convenient, but I wouldn't call this a challenge. More of a test,” The alter user said with grin.

 

“I hate tests.”

 

“Heh, that's good too,” Kazuma said as he held up his right arm. There was a sudden multi-colored glow that surrounded him, and before Ranma's very eyes, large chunks of the fence he had been sitting on suddenly de-materialized into lots of dust-like material. Kazuma's right arm split into three even sections down the middle and the dust like material flew over to his arm as golden bands appeared all along his arm, binding the three sections together. The molecules all converged on his arm and began to cover it in shiny yellow and orange metal. When the transformation was done, his arm had bulked up considerably, and looked to be made completely of metal. There were three red fins hovering behind his right shoulder.

 

“So that's an Alter?” Ranma snorted. “Doesn't look tough.” Kazuma grinned and immediately went into action. He punched the ground with his right hand and flew into the air. Ranma looked up and whistled. “Well I guess it has to be pretty strong if you prefer jumping with your hand.” Ranma jumped back just as Kazuma's fist crashed into the ground where he'd been standing. Kazuma looked up and Ranma blinked as he noticed that Kazuma's hair had become more solid. It was spiked up and rough looking, where as before his hair had simply fallen around his face.

 

“My alter doesn't look like much, but it's the strongest one in the world,” Kazuma grinned.

 

“We'll see about that,” Ranma said as he took a martial arts stance. Kazuma knelt there for a moment, apparently assessing Ranma's skill. “If you don't go all out, you'll lose,” Ranma said simply as he launched at the other boy. Kazuma leapt straight up into the air, not bothering to use his fist that time, as Ranma passed under him. He flipped in the air and landed facing Ranma as the martial artist turned around and simply watched. Both were feeling the other out; they could not help but be cautious. Neither one seriously wanted to hurt the other, and both were used to fighting opponents weaker than themselves. This time, Kazuma leapt at Ranma with his left, unarmored fist cocked back and swung at the martial artist.

 

Ranma almost laughed as he dodged the attack, and several following ones. Kazuma was clearly untrained and fought every bit like the street fighter he was. But the other teen was quickly picking up his speed, and Ranma had to give him credit for that as he allowed himself to be pushed back. Soon, Ranma found himself blocking blows rather than dodging - most of them from Kazuma's unarmored arm, and decided he could return the favor. Kazuma's eyes widened as Ranma's fist suddenly impacted with his chest, and then followed up with a mild uppercut to his chin. They both disengaged and Ranma smirked at his opponent.

 

“I think I can get into this,” Kazuma smirked back and soon the fight was rejoined. Ranma knelt backwards to dodge another punch, and kicked up, hitting Kazuma's chin as he did so, in a backflip. He used his hands to continue with the motion and completed the flip, standing up and peering at his opponent. Kazuma leapt at him with his left fist held back, and Ranma moved to block it. Suddenly, the Alter User's right arm shot forward, catching Ranma in the gut and sending him flying. Ranma's eyes widened at the speed and strength that his foe had just displayed. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet in time to see the brunette running at him. Kazuma leapt at him again and this time Ranma rolled over to the side. Kazuma's momentum carried him forward and his fist crashed into the ground behind the two. Ranma's hand lit up with blue energy and he called out the name of an attack.

 

“Mouko Takabisha!” The boy yelled as he threw his attack at the Alter user. Kazuma narrowed his eyes at the approaching projectile, and at just the right moment swatted it away with his right arm, sending it veering off course into the night sky. He grinned at Ranma, only to be surprised as an equally pleased looking martial artist flew at him with his fists by his side for an attack. He barely had enough time to bring his transformed arm to bear, and threw a punch that Ranma was surprised to see. Kazuma grinned again as he caught Ranma in the gut again, and the martial artist hung there on his fist for a moment.

 

“Thought I'd block or something?”

 

“Sorta,” Ranma said, sounding as if he was in pain. “This is okay, too.” He suddenly snapped back to life and moved grabbed Kazuma's extended arm with his arms and legs. Kazuma blinked at the martial artist.

 

“What the heck is that supposed to do?” He asked, confusedly. The other teen suddenly exerted some kind of force on his arm and Kazuma shouted out in pain. “Hey, what the heck!” He swung his right arm around in a panic. “What are you doing?!”

 

“It's supposed to hurt,” Ranma explained. `But how the hell are you swinging me around?!' Eventually, Ranma leapt off to avoid getting dizzy. `Geez, that arm is retardedly strong,' he thought as he landed. Kazuma looked at his arm in shock and then back at the other teen.

 

“No one's been able to hurt it that much before,” Kazuma said with a grin.

 

“Pfeh, I've heard that before,” Ranma snorted in amusement as he took a non-aggressive stance with his hands at his sides. Kazuma bent his knees and crouched, with his chest low to the ground. Ranma found himself reminded of a predator about to attack.

 

“If I didn't already know better, I'd call you an Alter User for sure,” He said with a grin. Ranma just shrugged.

 

“Heh. You ain't seen nothin' yet,” The martial artist told him.

 

“Well don't keep me waiting,” Kazuma said smoothly as he suddenly punched the ground and flew up into the air above Ranma. “Shougeki no First Bullet!” Ranma watched as one of the red fins behind him started eroding away, leaving a green energy trail in its wake. Kazuma suddenly shot forward at him at incredible speed, but the surprise only lasted a moment for Ranma. The martial artist jumped back in time for Kazuma's fist to crash into the ground once again. The resulting crater was incredibly wide, and somewhat deep as well.

 

“That was a bit faster than before,” Ranma acknowledged. “But I can move faster too,” He said as he leapt at the alter user. Kazuma's eyes widened as Ranma rained a wide and incredibly fast spray of punches down on him. The brunette flew back from the force of the blows and skid across the ground several times. Ranma smirked as his opponent righted himself on the ground and stood up.

 

“You sure you aren't an Alter User?” Kazuma asked with another grin. Although he'd been able to mostly shrug the attack off, a feeling told him that Ranma was still holding back on him.

 

“You sure you are one?” Ranma asked, matching his smirk.

 

“That's what they tell me,” Kazuma said, shrugging. “I just hit stuff.” His grin didn't fade as he held up his right arm in front of his face. Ranma was able to see the alter user's armored arm change suddenly as he prepared for an attack; the Alter User's triceps suddenly split in half, revealing more metal underneath. Two thin metal protrusions shot out from the base of his triceps past his elbow. “Gekimetsu no Second Bullet!” The teen suddenly launched at Ranma as a second red fin disintegrated, leaving green energy in his wake. Ranma moved to the side and turned his head in time to see Kazuma's fist pass right by his eyes. Kazuma rotated several times from the energy on his right arm, and even after he touched down with his right foot, he span again on it and knelt down, so that his left foot drew a curved line in the dirt around him. They both looked at each other appreciatively and prepared to go all out with their next attacks.

 

“How long are you two idiots going to do this?” Came an irritated voice from the side. Both Ranma and Kazuma blinked in surprise and looked up to see both Nabiki and Ryouga standing at the door to the house. “Causing me to lose sleep costs you by the second,” Nabiki gritted out angrily. Ranma immediately dropped out of his stance and held up his hands.

 

“Uh, we're done, we're done,” He said hurriedly. Kazuma blinked at the display.

 

“You'd better be,” the girl said angrily as she walked back inside the house. Kazuma looked at Ryouga and spoke up.

 

“Why didn't you join in? It would have been more fun,” the Alter User said, confident that Ryouga was at least as good as Ranma at fighting.

 

“I was fine just watching,” Ryouga said, waving it off casually. “It'll be harder for you two to sleep with all that adrenaline, you know,” He said as he turned around back into the house. Both Ranma and Kazuma looked at each other with frowns on their faces before uttering a single word in unison.

 

“Crap,”

 

---

 

“Looks like we finally found these bastards,” Kazuma said in anticipation as the car stopped before a dark building. It was the early morning of the fourth day, and there were several lit lampposts around the building with groups of thugs all carrying dangerous looking blunt instruments. Kazuma, Ranma, and Ryouga all quickly hopped out of the car. “And so close to where we live, too. That pisses me off.”

 

“I got tired of waiting for this,” Ranma snorted in agreement. “I can't believe we spent that long just trying to find these assholes.”

 

“They didn't exactly want people coming after them. You think if they were in an obvious spot that the city wouldn't have found them by now?” Kimishima asked, raising an amused eyebrow at their antics.

 

“I guess,” Ranma said with a shrug. “I don't know how things work, really.”

 

“Right, well, you guys can take it from here, right?” Nabiki asked. “We'll be waiting here for when you get back.” The three teens nodded at that and started walking towards the building, but they stayed out of the light.

 

“So we just rush in there and kick their asses, save the guy and then go home?” Ranma asked. “There's a lot of guys on the ground, though. Shouldn't be a problem, but if they know we're there then they might take the guy somewhere else while we're fighting.”

 

“They're probably keeping the guy inside,” Ryouga said with a frown. “Should we go in from different angles?”

 

“I've got an idea,” Kazuma said. “Why don't we go in from above?”

 

“Above?” Ranma blinked at that. “What the heck do you mean?”

 

“We can jump from one building to another, right?” The alter user asked, pointing at another tall dilapidated building.

 

“Hmm… we can. If we go in from above, they'll be surprised, and we might be able to get to the guy before they move him away,” Ryouga said in contemplation. “That's not a bad idea…”

 

“Then let's go already,” Ranma said as he entered the nearest building. Kazuma and Ryouga quickly followed, and once inside the teens looked around. “Hey, it's a department store.” The interior of the first floor was ruined; things were knocked over, walls destroyed trash spread all around. There was a directory on the wall near the entrance, and Ranma held up a hand, willing a small ball of Chi to appear. “The stairs are this way,” he said, pointing. They all nodded to each other and started for the stairs. Walking around the debris rather than through it, the group came to a door that undoubtedly led to the stairs.

 

They walked in and started up the spiral staircase, only to come to a halt at the second floor. The stairs that led to the third floor and higher were destroyed and lie in rubble in front of them. They looked up they could see that the stairs started up again four floors above them.

 

“I wasn't thinking there'd be something like this,” Kazuma said with a frown. “Are there more stairs around?”

 

“Maybe, but the elevator should be nearby.” Ryouga said.

 

“I don't think the elevator'll work, genius,” Ranma snorted.

 

“I know, that's why we'll climb up the cables,” Ryouga said casually as he walked out the door. Ranma blinked as Kazuma followed him and frowned. The second floor didn't have nearly the amount of damage as the first floor, and Ranma noticed a mound of clothes covering a sleeping person, but neither of the other teens paid it any heed so he ignored it.

 

“…I knew that's what you meant,” He said as he followed after them. “I'm just surprised that you'd come up with something like that. You don't seem the type to know about department stores.”

 

“I didn't say anything,” Ryouga responded. Ranma went silent after that. Soon, the three came upon the elevator and stopped. Ryouga stepped forward and cracked his knuckles before reaching out and grabbing each door. With a grunt, the lost boy quickly forced the elevator doors open. Inside, the shaft was empty save for the cables they'd been expecting. Ryouga reached out and tested one by pulling on it slightly. He nodded and then leapt up, grabbing hold of the cables and pulling himself up. Ranma quickly followed, but Kazuma stayed back for moment as the sensation of being watched suddenly washed over him. By instinct, the teen turned his head, but he only saw a large pile of clothes lying on the ground. He raised a brow in confusion and started looking around.

 

“Kazuma! What's keeping you?” Ranma's voice echoed down the narrow shaft.

 

“Oh, I just thought I saw something,” Kazuma said as he turned back to the shaft and leapt up to grab the metal cables. The three teens climbed up, and soon, they came to the roof, which was set above the twelfth floor. Ryouga stared at the twin doors in thought. Hanging as he was from the cables, he couldn't get the leverage he needed to pry the doors open. He cocked a fist back and punched the two doors, smashing them outwards. He leapt from the cables to the ledge and continued on onto the roof. Ranma and Kazuma quickly came out behind him and started looking around.

 

“What's with all of these exotic flowers?” The brunette asked. Although the outside of most abandoned buildings were covered in moss and vines, the roof had plants that Kazuma hadn't seen before.

 

“It's a roof garden,” Ryouga noted. He walked over to the edge and put his food on the raised ledge. “How convenient. They're keeping him on the top floor.” Kazuma and Ranma walked over to the edge and peered. The other building could be seen across from them, easily distinguishable from the rest because of how well lit the roof was. There were a group of thugs all standing around, some playing card games, or telling jokes and just laughing around. In the center of the group was a red girder with a heavyset man in a suit and tie tied up with ropes. They couldn't see any more details at their distance, but that was more than enough to tell them they had chosen right in coming in from above.

 

“How are we going to get over there? It's a little further than we thought.” Ranma pointed out.

 

“Yeah…” Ryouga frowned and Kazuma turned around to look around. As the alter user looked up into the sky, he smiled.

 

“Here comes our chance,” the alter user said cheerfully. Both Ranma and Ryouga turned around to look at what he was talking about and blinked.

 

“An airplane?” Ryouga asked.

 

“It is flyin' kinda low,” Ranma remarked. “So we jump when it gets over here?” Kazuma nodded and held up his right arm as he was enveloped in a multicolored glow. Chunks of the concrete vanished and the molecules reformed into the metal encasing over his right arm. Ranma and Ryouga knelt down, as the plane got ever closer. Once it was close enough, all three jumped in unison - Ranma and Ryouga using their legs, while Kazuma punched the ground with his metal covered fist. The three all quickly launched into the air and landed on the plane's left wing. Without missing a beat, Kazuma punched the wing and all three teens leapt up higher. As they fell towards the building, Kazuma smirked and aimed his fist downwards, Ranma held up his hands and Ryouga reached up to his forehead.

 

“Mouko Takabisha!” Ranma cried out the name of his attack as a huge sphere of blue chi appeared at his palms and flew down at a group of the men. Ryouga tossed several of his bandanas down at the men who were by now all looking up in surprise at Ranma's shout. The blue chi ball crashed into several of the men and punched a hole in the ground that continued all the way to the ground floor, and Ryouga's projectiles all hit individual targets.

 

“Shougeki no First Bullet!” Kazuma cried out as one of the red fins on his back vanished, and he shot forward in a burst of green energy. As his fist came into contact with the roof, the entire building shook. As Ranma and Ryouga landed, the entire building started to collapse. Ranma shot towards the captive man and took a hold of the steel girder and leapt off the side of the building, followed by both Ryouga and Kazuma. The three landed roughly on the ground as the building continued to fall in on itself and Ranma dropped the heavy man down to the ground rather carelessly.

 

“A-alter users!” The thugs on the ground all screamed and started running away. Many of the thugs in the rubble were unconscious or in too much pain to realize what had happened. As the dust cleared, Ranma smirked as he looked at the destruction and carnage that was their handiwork.

 

“Man, that job was too easy,” He said, and then looked down at the man in the suit, who seemed to have fainted. “But this old guy is way too heavy.”

 

“Well, you only have to carry him to the car,” Ryouga snorted. “Better get to it,” He said as he started walking away. Kazuma smirked as he took his cue and quickly moved to follow, leaving Ranma behind with the overweight salaryman.

 

“What? You assholes!” Ranma growled as he knelt down and haphazardly grabbed the man by his bindings with one hand. Ranma followed them and caught quickly caught up, despite his cumbersome load. Once they made it to the car, he set the man in the back compartment of the Jeep.

 

“You guys done already?” Nabiki asked. She was sitting in the car while Kimishima leaned on the door to the driver's seat. “Oh well. I guess it's to be expected from you three,” She said with a shrug. “We're not that far from the clinic, so Kimishima and I are gonna just take this guy back. You guys can walk home, right?”

 

“Aa, I know this area,” Kazuma said with a nod as he looked around. “We'll probably be back in half an hour or so.” The sun peaked over the mountains in the distance and the sky was already a bright blue. Kimishima opened the car door and sat down, almost immediately starting the engine.

 

“We'll be back later today,” he told them. “Oh yeah, almost forgot,” Kimishima reached into his coat pocket and held up three odd tickets out. “Here, take this to Chikawa-san for your money. You know where he lives, don't you?” Kazuma grunted as he took all three tickets.

 

“Gangly dude in Shoda's hood, right?” Kazuma asked. Kimishima nodded and turned away.

 

“All right, see ya later,” the driver said as he took off.

 

“Well, that's that,” Kazuma sighed. “I can't believe we left Kanami for three days for this.”

 

“Me neither,” Ranma agreed. “It better pay well.”

 

Ryouga just snorted.

 

---

 

As the trio stepped out of a rundown looking house in a neighborhood of rundown looking houses, Ranma snickered to himself as he counted his money.

 

“I can't believe we got this much,” He said in a giddy voice as they continued walking, turning onto the street when the weeded dirt path that led from the home ended.

 

“Hey Kazuma, if you make this much all the time, why are you so poor?” Ryouga asked, looking at the Alter User. Kazuma looked surprised.

 

“This is a lot?” He asked. “It doesn't look like much.” He said as he looked down. In his hands, as well as Ranma and Ryouga's, were at least ten bills, all marked with a one and three zeroes succeeding it in each corner.

 

“We each got at least ten thousand yen!” Ranma said, shocked at his answer. “What do you mean not much?”

 

“He doesn't know the value of money,” Ryouga said impassively as he pocketed his own share. “He probably gets swindled all the time.”

 

“Hey, I don't get swindled,” Kazuma said with a frown. “Kanami-chan does all the shopping.”

 

“Hey, that's the first time you called her Kanami-chan,” Ranma noted. “Anyway, that means we need to teach both of you the value of money. The clinic's not too far, right? So you said?”

 

“Yeah, that's right,” Kazuma said. “We could take our time if we wanted, actually. We have to pay a toll to get under a bridge from where we are, but it's not much,” Kazuma said.

 

“Not much…” Ryouga frowned. “I'll believe you when I see the price,” he mumbled.

 

-

 

“Hell no,” Ranma said angrily. “Three thousand yen just to cross under this bridge?! I'll just jump over the damn thing, thanks,” The old man standing before them glared at him.

 

“Jump over it? And just how the hell do you plan on doing that?” He demanded. “Kazuma, you with these idiots?”

 

“Um…”

 

“Kazuma, if you've been paying three thousand every time you come through here, this guy has definitely been cheating you,” Ryouga said with a frown. “We should just go through it.”

 

“W-what? You have to pay the toll!” The old man growled.

 

“Who's gonna stop us?” Ranma demanded. The old man smirked as two men walked out from under the bridge. They were both very muscular and had a menacing look about them. One of them sported tons of scars all over his abdomen and arms - which were uncovered, and the other one had a very thin muscle shirt that showed off his impressive physique. Ranma snorted. “You're joking right?” He snickered and Ryouga chuckled to himself.

 

“Hey, idiots,” Ryouga said as he stepped up. “Which one of you is stronger?” They both stepped up at the same time, and then frowned and looked at each other. “Heh, that's all right. Both of you can attack me at once.” He said as he crossed his arms. “Now come on, hit me as hard as you can.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“You sure that's okay?” The one with the shirt asked, scratching his head.

 

“Yeah, go ahead. I'll even turn around,” Ryouga said as he turned his back on them. “Come on now, we don't have all day.”

 

“Oh man, this is gonna be great,” Ranma snorted.

 

“Boss, what should we do?” the scarred one asked the old man. The old man snorted.

 

“Go on and hit the fool, should teach him a lesson.” By now, nearby people were all starting to watch the display.

 

“Come on now, both of you, at the same time,” Ryouga encouraged them even more. “I'd like to get this over with.”

 

“Well, if yas say so, chump,” The shirtless one said with a grin. They both cocked their fists back, and screamed towards Ryouga with malevolent intent and several of the passersby gasped.

 

When their fists impacted the lost boy's back, he made no reaction at all. They boy started tapping his foot in apparent impatience.

 

“When are you guys going to hit me, already? I left it wide open for you,” He said as he turned around to look at them. “Oh, you did already?” The two men looked at each other in confusion. “Now that that's over, how about I show you how hard I can hit?” He asked, cracking his knuckles.

 

“A-alter user!” The old man said suddenly. “That's got to be it! You must be one of them damned alter users!” Several people in the crowd gasped again, while others started mumbling nervously and Ryouga frowned. Things had taken a bad turn rather quickly.

 

“I'm not an Alter User,” he said calmly.

 

“Sure you are! You're some kind of damned monster!” the old man growled out. “And you raise a ruckus by refusing to pay toll!”

 

“You're demanding far too much money,” Ryouga said. “Three hundred would be a more appropriate price than three thousand. And since this is technically public property, you can't really demand a toll anyway,” he continued calmly.

 

“W-what?” the old man cringed.

 

“You heard me. This bridge belongs to everyone, not just you. Everyone here should be able to use it at their leisure, instead of paying you money just because you said they had to.”

 

“Y-you…” the old man sputtered. “N-now listen here, you little upstart! I'm just an honest man making an honest living! You're the one coming out of nowhere and disrupting everything!”

 

“It's a martial artists' duty to stop evil when they see it, even if it's petty,” Ranma snorted.

 

“Evil!” The man shouted. “You're the one interrupting the peace-“

 

“Shut up already,” Kazuma said suddenly. “I don't really know what's going on, but this is just taking too long and I'm starting to get annoyed. Let's just leave already.” He scowled at the old man. “And I trust these guys. I'm not paying you a single yen ever again, you stupid old geezer,”

 

“How dare you!” the old man thundered. “Reizo! Shigeki! Kick the shit outta these losers!”

 

“Um, boss…” The scarred man scratched his head. “You did see us hit him, didn't you?”

 

“That's right! He's an alter user!” The old man remembered. “Get out of here, you monster!”

 

“I'm not an Alter User,” Ryouga snorted as he walked under the bridge with Ranma and Kazuma in tow. “I'm just a martial artist.”

 

“You can't go in there without paying, damn it!” the old man shouted. “Come back here!” The three ignored his calling, however, and he growled at the two men in front of him. “You idiots! You let them get away!”

 

“Sorry, boss. But dat guy's an alter user. No way we're pickin' a fight with one o' dem,” the one with a shirt said, rubbing his head.

 

“I SAID I WASN'T AN ALTER USER!”

 

“Right kid,” the one with the scars snorted. “Like anyone wit' skin dat hard ain't one o' dem freaks.”

 

-

 

“Well, that's a way to introduce yourself to the local populace…” Ryouga muttered as the three walked along a dirt path that was quickly becoming familiar. The discrimination against Alter Users was going to become a problem what with their incredible martial arts capabilities.

 

“I can't believe that old man's been cheating me this whole time,” Kazuma growled.

 

“You never thought about why you had to pay to go under a bridge?” Ranma asked, incredulously.

 

“Nah, he was just there, so I thought it was natural.” Kazuma explained.

 

“Hmm…” Ryouga frowned. `The level of education in the Lost Ground seems to be lacking. If anything, we should teach both Kazuma and Kanami the value of money as quickly as possible…' His frown lightened as his thoughts took a more positive turn. `Or rather, that would be best left to Nabiki. Maybe worse.'

 

“We're almost to the farm,” Kazuma said. “It's pretty early, so Kanami might still be working. We can just wait around at the rocks,” Kazuma said.

 

“You're kidding, right? There's no reason not to help if they're working,” Ryouga said.

 

“Uh, actually…” Ranma started nervously. “We just finished a job already. We don't wanna overwork ourselves, do we?” Ryouga snorted in amusement.

 

“You just don't want to have to turn into a girl and go work with the other women,” he jeered. Ranma glared at the bandana-clad boy, as the other's emphasis on `women' was not lost on him.

 

“You want to make something of it, pork breath? If they knew about your curse you'd be barbecue ribs before the day was over,” He spat.

 

“What was that, Ranma?” the fanged boy demanded.

 

“You heard me, porkchop.” They both stopped walking and glared at each other.

 

“I've been waiting for this,” Ryouga said with an undertone of excitement as he clenched his fists.

 

“Uh, hey guys… We're kinda close to the farm, you know. If people see you two fighting, they'll get the wrong idea,” Kazuma said with a frown.

 

“I don't care,” Ranma said coldly. “Piggy here has had an ass whooping comin' to him for a while now.” The two teens started to circle each other right there in the road.

 

“Oh great,” Kazuma sighed. He glanced around and quickly realized they were already near the boulders where they would be meeting Kanami. He walked over to one and sat down on it, turning to watch the fight in disinterest.

 

Just as the two teens bent their knees and braced to engage one another, a young, feminine voice called out to them.

 

“Kazu-kun! Ranma-chan! P-chan! You're all back!” Ranma and Ryouga blinked and turned their heads to see the small child walking towards them with a smile on her face. She waved at them cheerfully.

 

“Uhh… Hey there Kanami,” Ranma said, awkwardly. `Not again…' Ryouga frowned.

 

“Wait a minute. Did you call me P-chan?” he asked. The girl nodded enthusiastically.

 

“Ranma-chan likes to call you that, so I thought I could too…” she said as she finally came to a stop right next to the two. Ryouga knelt down and got a stern look on his face.

 

“Kanami-chan, I know it might be fun, but you shouldn't call me that. Don't call people things that they don't want to be called.”

 

“Why?” the girl asked, tilting her head.

 

“Because it would hurt my feelings if you called me that, I don't like it when people call me that.”

 

“You sure love it when Akane calls you that,” Ranma snorted loudly. “P-chan.” Ryouga growled and stood up.

 

“If it wasn't for Kanami, you'd have a broken jaw,” he said heatedly.

 

“Heh, maybe,” Ranma said with a grin.

 

“Let's just go home already,” Kazuma said with a sigh as he stood up and started walking away with his hands in his pockets.

 

“Okay!” Kanami said as she started after him. Ranma and Ryouga merely sighed, their mood ruined.

 

-

 

As the four arrived at the clinic, they found Kimishima's jeep parked on the side. Ranma frowned.

 

“Maybe we should have just stuck with them,” the boy frowned.

 

“Nah, I got to see that that old man was cheating me because we didn't,” Kazuma said shaking his head. “I'm glad we didn't.”

 

“Hm, well when you say that,” Ranma said in agreement as they all made for the door. Kazuma got there first and opened the door before walking in, leaving it open for everyone else. After Ryouga, the last person in, shut the door, Kanami began speaking.

 

“So how much did you bring back this time, Kazu-kun?” she asked. “One thousand?” Kazuma blinked and looked down at her.

 

“Err, ten thousand,” He said, patting his pocket. The girl gave him a skeptical look.

 

“I'll believe you when I see it,” she said patiently, holding out her hand. Kazuma frowned and reached into his pocket before taking out all of the money and holding it out for her to see. The girl took it and started counting it. As she finished, her eyes widened in surprise. “W-what did you do to get this much, Kazu-kun? Did you steal this?” She demanded. “You shouldn't steal from people, Kazu-kun.”

 

“Hey! I earned that money fair and square!” Kazuma said indignantly.

 

“He doesn't know the value of money,” Ryouga explained to the girl. “He said he usually gets that much, but I'm guessing between the time he gets his pay and the time he gets home, he ends up losing it.” Kazuma flinched.

 

“I know the value of money,” he said bitterly. Although it was true that he had been cheated by that old man for a long time, most of the time he saw someone struggling to pay for something on the street, he'd slip them a bill or three while no one was looking. It left a good feeling, but was sufficiently embarrassing that he didn't feel like explaining it to anyone. An incident where a boy no older than twelve was going to work in construction gear didn't have enough money to pay for the bridge toll came to mind, and he frowned. `That means that the old man was cheating little kids too! I should go back and kick his face in!' As he was overcome by righteous anger, a voice called him out of his retrospection.

 

“Kazu-kun, don't worry about it. You know better now, right?” she asked. He blinked and looked down at the little girl. “This means things should get much easier from now on, if you're not going to be losing money any more.”

 

“I'm sorry,” He shrugged. “I didn't know that it made that big a difference,” he said despondently. The smaller girl patted him as high as she could on the back.

 

“Like I said, don't worry. Things will be OK.” She beamed at him and Ranma and Ryouga both had a sudden coughing fit. Kazuma glared at them.

 

“Yeah, thanks. It's nice to see someone cares, unlike two jerks I know,” he said bitterly.

 

“Yo, Kazuma! You're back!” They all looked up at one of the doors to see Kimishima prance in. “I got another job for us already, this one's much smaller and pays a thousand each, but it's tonight. You guys willin' to do it?” He asked. Ranma and Ryouga looked up.

 

“Sure, why not. This morning wasn't enough to get the tension out,” Ranma commented casually. Ryouga snorted at that.

 

“We'll get our match sooner or later, Ranma,” the lost boy said.

 

“We better,” the pig-tailed boy agreed. Kimishima nodded at that.

 

“Well then, see you guys later,” he said as he turned around and left the room. There was silence after that.

 

“Ranma-chan, you want to go outside with me?” Kanami asked.

 

“Sure kid, why not,” Ranma sighed. “It's not like there's much else to do.”

 

“Can you show me how to do that funny stuff you do when you jump around? It looks fun,” the girl said. Ranma blinked and looked down at her.

 

“Don't you know about martial arts?” he asked. One of the girl's hands rose up to her mouth.

 

“What's that?” she asked.

 

“I'll show you,” Ranma said simply as he shrugged and walked over to the door and opened it.

 

“Be careful,” Kazuma warned as Kanami followed him out.

 

“We will,” the little girl assured him.

 

-

 

“Damn it, I hate these freak thunderstorms!” Ranma-chan growled out as she ran into the clinic with Kanami in tow. Both girls were soaking wet. “How often does it rain here like that, anyway? The last time was when we first showed up.”

 

“Actually, things have been pretty dry for the past week or two,” Kanami said as she shut the door. “It usually rains fast and hard. It's always been that way,” the girl said.

 

“You're kidding,” Ranma said with a frown. “You mean it's going to do that more often?”

 

“Well, it might,” the little girl said, tilting her head. “What's wrong with turning into a girl, anyway? I think it's kind of neat.”

 

“A lot of things that you aren't old enough to understand,” Ranma sighed. Thunder crackled in the background and the lights all went out at once. “Oh great! No power!” the girl complained. It took a few more seconds for the implications to hit her. “That means no hot water either!” she said with a growl.

 

“If you hurry, there might still be some in the pipes,” Kanami said.

 

“You're right, I should go,” Ranma quickly ran for the stairs and passed Kazuma on the way up. Kazuma blinked at that but merely continued walking down the stairs.

 

“Kanami-chan, we're going to be leaving in a few minutes,” the brunette said. “We should be back before the night's over, though, so don't worry about it.”

 

“Really?” Kanami asked. “Well, if you say so.” She said. “I was going to go to bed in a little while, actually. Ranma-chan showed me some moves, it was fun but exhausting too.”

 

“Okay then,” Kazuma said with a nod. Kimishima and Ryouga both walked into the room from one of the doors.

 

“You ready to leave, Kazuma?” Kazuma looked over at his friend, who'd spoken.

 

“Yeah. I was about to go get Ranma, but he just got back.” He said. After a few seconds, Ranma, still female, came back down the stairs.

 

“Either of you have a thermos I can use? Water's all cold,” She said, miffed. Both shook their heads in the negative. “Damn it. I'm gonna start carrying one with me all the time.”

 

“Watch your language,” Ryouga chided, glaring at Ranma. Ranma blinked and looked at Kanami, who waved at her in response.

 

“Oh. Yeah.”

 

“Even though the power's out, I was about to tell you that the water heater's out, too.” Ryouga said nonchalantly. “We haven't been able to get hot water since you went outside.”

 

“And the stove's electric,” Ranma said through gritted teeth. “It's almost like someone is plotting against me!”

 

“Don't worry about it, it'll only be for a little while. I've fixed the water heater before,” Kazuma said casually. “We'll just wait for the rain to stop before we go.”

 

“Right,” the redhead grumbled. “Like it'll stop anytime soon…” And as if magic, the rain outside stopped. Everyone looked at Ranma. “…And the power will come back on?”

 

Nothing happened.

 

“Damn it,” She said, snapping her fingers.

 

“Ugh, Ranma…” Ryouga sighed into his hand.

 

“Oh. Oops. Heh.” The redhead giggled innocently. “Erm, anyway, let's hurry up and do that job before the rain decides to start up again,” Ranma said.

 

“If you're ready to go now,” Kimishima said. “Nabiki said she'd stay here for now. Let's go, then,” He walked over to the door and opened it. “Hmm, maybe I should get a different car if I'm going to be taking you guys around,” he muttered as he walked out of the house. Kanami looked up at Kazuma.

 

“So you're going out again?”

 

“Yeah,” He said as both Ranma and Ryouga walked out of the house. “Don't worry about us, we'll probably be back in under an hour. Hideki's is not all that far.”

 

“Hideki? Who's that, Kazu-kun?”

 

“Oh, he's a friend of Kimishima's,” Kazuma said. “He needed us to help him with a small problem he had in his neighbor hood. Something about wild animals attacking or something,” the boy snorted. “Anyway, we're going to help him.” He ruffled the girls hair. “Don't give Nabiki any trouble while you're here, okay?”

 

“Okay,” She said with a nod. “Come back safely, Kazu-kun.” Kazuma grinned at that.

 

“Nothing can hurt me,” He said with a thumbs up. “So don't worry. See ya, Kanami.” He turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind himself.

 

“…Kazu-kun…I mean it…” the girl walked over to a window and looked outside, to watch Kazuma as he hopped into back seat of Kimishima's car. He looked upset at something, and Ranma-chan, who was sitting in the front passenger side, turned around to stick her tongue out at him. Kanami giggled as the car sped off.

 

---

 

“So the leader of this gang is an Alter User,” Ranma asked as they rolled into an abandoned city district. The street and many of the buildings were still standing, but the weather had worn them away. “And he's picking on some other guy's gang, which is made up mostly of a bunch of twelve and thirteen year olds, daily beatings and stuff.”

 

“Hideki's a friend of ours, but his group isn't exactly a gang.”

 

“So I'm assuming that's why you gave him a discount,” Ranma said. “All right, I'm up for rockin' some bullies,” She clenched her right fist and punched her left palm.

 

“I'll do this one free,” Ryouga said. “Picking on small children is despicable.”

 

“Hey, those kids aren't exactly innocent either you know, they're sorta in a gang,” Kazuma said, grinning.

 

“Even still. These other people are in their twenties and what not, right? And I don't think you two could be friends with this Hideki fellow if he was a horrible person.” There was silence after that as Kazuma and Kimishima considered what he'd said.

 

“I guess you're right,” Kazuma acceded to his observation. “I guess I'll do it for free too.”

 

“Heh, fine with me,” Kimishima said. The car suddenly jumped and the engine died. All four teens were silent as the car coasted down a hill. Once it reached the bottom of the hill, the car quickly came to a stop.

 

“…Well, at least we're almost there,” Kazuma said after a whole minute.

 

-

 

Moments later, Ranma, Ryouga, Kazuma and Kimishima were pushing the car down the street. After they hit a bump, the four teens all stopped.

 

“Heh heh,” Ranma-chan chuckled. “It's a good thing we're close,” she said. “But that was a good warm-up.” she said as she stood back. Kazuma and Kimishima looked up at her like she was crazy.

 

“Pushing a car is a warm up for you?” They both demanded.

 

“This puny thing?” Ryouga asked as he stood up. “Guys, it has wheels. That makes it all the more easier.”

 

“Hey, you idiots!” A fat man with blue-green hair, a red vest and some green pants walked over to them, but they ignored him.

 

“Puny?” Kimishima asked, incredulously. “It's at least a few thousand kilos!”

 

“Yeah, that's right!” Kazuma said, looking at Kimishima. “What's with you, anyway, making us push this good for nothing thing? Trying to wear us out before the job?”

 

“Hey!” The fat man tried again, but no one paid him any heed.

 

“If we didn't, it'd have been stolen. And with all four of us, it wasn't that hard to push,” Kimishima explained.

 

“Well you need a new one anyway, like you said,” Ranma-chan snorted, waving a hand up.

 

“Don't ignore me!” The fat man raised a meaty arm into the air, prepared to strike the nearest person, who happened to be Ryouga.

 

“New cars are expensive,” Kimishima reminded with a frown. “If you guys don't chip in, I'll get another open-top one.”

 

“What? You've got to be kidding me!” Ranma said angrily.

 

“I said, don't ignore me!” the fat man growled out as his fist flew down towards the lost boy. There was a noisy impact as meaty fist met tense muscle.

 

“That's ridiculous,” Ryouga snorted. “You can afford one, I know it. And it's not more expensive to get one with a closed top. It's actually less expensive.”

 

“Well you heard me,” Kimishima said as he crossed his arms. “If it's all my money I'll buy what I want—”

 

“YOU LOSERS!” All four teens stopped chattering and glared up at the fat man.

 

“You want to fight or something?” Ranma asked.

 

“This punk is mine,” Kazuma said as he cracked his knuckles. “Nobody calls me a loser.”

 

“Kazuma!” a male voice called out from the side. The four teens looked over to see a man lying on the ground in front of their car.

 

“Oh, Hideki,” Kazuma said casually. “So we finally made it.” As the four looked around, they noticed a bunch of kids lying, unmoving, on the sidewalk near the injured Hideki, and a group of men and women holding blunt weapons off to the side. “Okay, so where's the chump that did this?” He asked. Hideki raised a hand and pointed at the fat man to their side. “Well that's convenient,” Kazuma said as he looked the fat man up and down.

 

“So you're an Alter User, huh?” Ranma asked, her scowl becoming an evil smirk. “We can have fun with this one, boys,”

 

“You don't need to tell me that,” Ryouga said as he cracked his knuckles. Kimishima looked at them and then the fat man, and took a few steps away.

 

“Do you kids know who I am?!” The angry pile of lard shouted at them. “I am Biff!”

 

“Biff, right,” Ranma nodded. “Hurry up and bring your alter out already, Biff-o.”

 

“Bring my alter out?” The fat man started laughing. Many of the thugs in the background seemed to take notice of this, but neither of the three teens acknowledged him. “Fine! I'll crush you!” The fat man jumped back and was suddenly surrounded by a rainbow colored haze. He yelled out as chunks of the buildings, the street, and Kimishima's entire car all vanished and started to converge in a mass of molecules.

 

“My car!” Kimishima yelled out in horror. At that point, all of the thugs started running away.

 

“This one's gonna be big,” Ranma noted as she and the other two fighters simply stood back and watched. “Hey, Kimishima, get those kids out of here before he smashes them with his fat or something,” the girl said. Kimishima nodded and ran over to help the kids all get away. The one called Hideki helped him as well and they all quickly cleared out of the area. The Alter finished forming in a matter of seconds, and a metallic tentacle with five fingers reached down and grabbed the obese man, then lifted up into the sky. The chubby guy laughed at them from his position in the air.

 

The three looked up at the giant Alter; it was a robot with a huge club for a right arm, and its left arm was the metal thing that had picked up its creator. It's support were four identical legs that jutted out from the bottom of a vaguely cylindrically shaped chassis.

 

“Hammer!” The large human cried out gleefully.

 

“Hmph, it don't look so tough,” Ranma snorted. “Let's hurry up and get this over with,”

 

“It's been a while since I had an Alter Fight,” Kazuma said. “I want to have fun with this guy.”

 

“It might rain again, let's just get it over with. I'll fight with you tomorrow,” Ryouga said.

 

“Heh, fine by me,” Kazuma replied. “It's a promise, then,”

 

The fat man was mildly incensed by their banter.

 

“Bring out your Alters already if you're going to fight me!” He taunted. “I'll crush you all!”

 

“Heh, fine,” Kazuma said as he was surrounded by a multi colored glow. His arm transformed as it did before and was encased in the shiny metal.

 

“Is that it? You talk about beating me, but you have that tiny little Alter!” The portly gangster laughed at them all. “And I don't even see yours!” He'd directed that last bit at Ranma and Ryouga.

 

“Good,” Ranma said as she leapt up at the robot's head. Kazuma followed by punching the ground and he landed on top of the club that served as the robot's right arm.

 

“I'd play with you but we're in a hurry today,” He said as he punched the thing's arm. Ryouga ran for one of it's legs and yelled out as he jump kicked it, snapping the thing as if it were aluminum. Ranma landed on its face and held up a glowing blue hand.

 

“Mouko Takabisha!” She yelled out as she launched backwards off the thing's round head. A Ki blast materialized at her hands and flew at it's head, and detonated with incredible force as it hit.

 

“What the hell is going on here?!” The corpulent man screamed as his Alter fell over. Its left arm destroyed, one of it's legs torn off, and it's face was smashed in. It started glowing, and Kazuma jumped off of its arm in time to land next to Ryouga at the same time as Ranma. The robot exploded in a huge fiery display, and when before the smoke even cleared, the overweight goon fell down to the ground in a heap, unmoving.

 

“It might not have lasted long, but it was worth it to come out here and embarrass that guy,” Ranma said as she bent over at the waist and looked at the unconscious alter user lying across from them.

 

“Kazuma,” Kimishima ran over to them and they all blinked. “I figured you would take a bit longer than that. Did he piss you off or something?”

 

“Nah, these two were afraid it'd rain or something again,” Kazuma said cheerfully. “I got Ryouga over there to promise me a fight, though.” Ranma snorted.

 

“Don't be upset if he doesn't show up,” She said, laughing. “P-Chan over there is notorious for challenging people to duels and not showing up until a week after the date.”

 

“Huh?” Kazuma frowned and looked at Ryouga, who was blushing in anger and embarrassment.

 

“Shut up, Ranma.”

 

“He's got a horrible sense of direction, you see. He's only been able to stay with us now because I've been keeping an eye on him,” she said, giving her rival a good-natured pat on the back. “Whole family is like that, too, poor guy.”

 

“Ranma, I'm warning you…” The lost boy started.

 

“Well, someone has to fight me,” Kazuma said, annoyed. Just then, the four were blinded by some sort of light, and as they turned their heads to look, they saw a group of armored vehicles rising up from behind a nearby cliff. As Ranma studied them, she found herself comparing them to what little she knew about war machines. `APCs,' she guessed, as there were no visible turrets. When the things stopped rising, they were at least three stories tall and had armored men with guns trained on the four teens.

 

“We'll be your opponents,” came a voice from a megaphone. The four were able to see a blue haired girl in some kind of white and purple uniform standing on top of one of the vehicles holding up a radio to her mouth.

 

“Who the heck are these guys?” Ranma asked as she stood straight and held up a hand to cover her eyes.

 

“That's HOLD, the city's police force,” Kimishima frowned. “This is not good.”

 

“What are they doing here?” Ryouga demanded.

 

“Who knows, but they're definitely going to cause us some problems,” Kimishima sighed.

 

“I'll buy you guys time to escape,” Kazuma said calmly. “You two don't need to get involved,” He directed the last part at Ranma and Ryouga.

 

“You think we're going to run from this?” Ranma snorted and Ryouga crossed his arms. “Kimishima, you go on and get those other guys out of here. We'll hold them off,” She said with a sigh.

 

“All right. You guys be careful,” He said as he turned and ran. The three fighters all looked up at the girl with the radio.

 

“So you guys want to give us a fight,” Kazuma said with a grin. “I don't care if you're HOLD or whoever, there's no way you can match us!” He declared as he punched the ground and flew over towards them. His fist crashed into the vehicle's wall and both Ranma and Ryouga took action after that.

 

“All we want to do is buy some time, don't hurt anyone too much,” Ryouga called out.

 

“You're not the boss of me!” Ranma hollered back as she leapt up and held out both of her hands. “Double Moko Takabisha!” She called out, throwing twin spheres of blue energy at the soldiers. “Besides, they have guns!” Her chi attacks slammed into several of them, knocking them unconscious and sending the guns flying away.

 

“Ranma, you idiot!” Ryouga growled. “Fine, whatever!” He grabbed his belt and pulled it off of his waist, leaping at one of the APC's ends and swung his belt in a very wide arc, cutting off a chunk of metal, taking one of the tires with it. `If I had my umbrella, guns wouldn't be a problem,' he thought with a frown. `I'll have to get a new one.' Kazuma landed on the dirt near where they'd all been standing a moment ago as Ranma and Ryouga continued to attack. A panel on one of the tall vehicles slid to the side and a green haired man in a purple and white uniform jumped out calmly, despite the commotion.

 

`He must be the leader,' Kazuma thought to himself. There was something in the green haired man's eyes that made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but the wasn't about to let that stop him. “Shougeki no First Bullet!” He cried out. The bottommost fin on his back vanished and he shot forward towards the other man. Suddenly, a humanoid shape appeared in front of him and two ribbons shot out from behind it's head at him. One of them wrapped around his right arm, and the other one shot at his gut. Kazuma gasped as the ribbon impacted; it had felt like a physical blow. `Stupid ribbons… How did he stop me so easily?' The brunette looked up at the humanoid shape in front of him and saw that it looked like a person wearing a straitjacket.

 

“Kazuma, hang on there!” Kazuma registered Ranma's voice and looked up in time to see the girl directly attacking the Alter's creator, who only looked mildly surprised. She didn't waste any time and both of her fists blurred as she hit the green haired guy at full speed. Kazuma's could barely believe his eyes; the attack had barely lasted one entire second but the force of all the blows had sent the Alter User flying away. The alter immediately retracted the ribbon from Kazuma's gut and used the one wrapped around his arm to toss him, hard, into one of the APCs. The blow to his head would have immediately knocked him out if he wasn't being powered up by his Alter. He groaned as he fell to the ground and then struggled to stand.

 

“Kazuma, are you all right?” He heard Ryouga's voice nearby and grunted.

 

“Yeah, I guess.” He tried to clear his head and was able to stand after a few moments of trying. As he looked up, he saw Ranma fighting off the alter wearing the straight jacket. She managed to bat away its ribbons as it tried to whip her, but after only a few seconds of the ineffective strategy, one of the ribbons shot out and snaked around her torso, trapping her arms by her sides. The second one proceeded to slap her face a few times before the other one slammer her into the ground.

 

“Damn, that guy always needs help,” Ryouga growled as he reached up to his head and started over towards the two. He wordlessly grabbed his bandana and flung it at the ribbon that was holding her. His bandana cut right through the material, and Ranma fell down to the ground. Unfortunately, the bindings were not loosened, and the girl couldn't move from where she was. The alter turned towards him, unconcerned with Ranma, tied up as she was. It immediately tried to wrap the other ribbon around the fanged martial artist, seeking to restrain him as well, but the lost boy merely laughed. “You think I'm as easily defeated as her?!” He growled. The boy roared as he flexed and the bindings all snapped away from him.

 

“I'm not defeated! And who are you calling a girl?!” Ryouga merely ignored her, however.

 

“Take this! Bakusai tenketsu!” The lost boy poked a spot on the ground, and an explosion of rocks and pebbles buffeted both him and the alter. Ryouga, however, was unfazed and continued to move while the Alter was surprised and took some damage. He charged at the thing and punched it in the face, sending it flying into one of the armored vehicles. It crashed loudly and left a large indent in the metal, before falling to the ground as Kazuma had earlier. Kazuma whistled as he walked over to join his two friends.

 

“Not bad,” He said happily. “I guess I owe you guys. This bastard might have gotten me if you two weren't here,” Inside, however, he was frowning. `I have to get stronger,' he thought to himself angrily.

 

“Can you two hurry up and untie me?” Ranma demanded from the ground.

 

“Maybe we'll leave you that way-” Ryouga's retort was cut short as he suddenly flew backwards as if he'd been hit in the face. The boy landed on his back and both of the other teens looked surprised at where he'd been standing.

 

“Hey, what happened? You okay Ryouga?!” the girl asked, concern for her teammate overriding her ire.

 

“That hurt,” the boy said as he sat up and wiped his chin. Blood started dripping down his chin from his mouth. “That really hurt.”

 

“As well as it should have,” Said a confident voice from the side. They all turned their heads to the side in time to see the green haired man in the purple and white uniform walking towards them with a cold look on his face. Ryouga stood up with a frown.

 

“You should learn how to stay down,” Kazuma said as he reared his right fist back. “Gekimetsu no Second Bullet!” Another of the fins on his back vanished and he shot forward in a blaze of speed only to be slammed by an invisible force and knocked back, into Ryouga. The lost boy easily caught the alter user, but the momentum sent them sliding back a few feet.

 

“What the hell was that?” Kazuma demanded as Ryouga set him down. There was a flash of light followed by the crackle of thunder.

 

“Damn, we're almost out of time!” Ranma yelled out. “Hurry up and untie me you guys!” She wriggled around a few times, but the bindings didn't loosen at all. `If I was a guy, I wouldn't be having this problem!' She thought. `Stupid curse!' Ryouga ran over to her as Kazuma jumped for the Alter User again.

 

“Massatsu no- GURK!” He gagged and coughed as the unseen force once again slammed into him while he was in the air. Before he could land, it slammed into him again from another direction. He fell to the ground in a heap just as Ryouga knelt down by Ranma. The lost boy was silent as he reached down to rip her bindings away, but before he could even touch them, whatever was flying around and hitting them slammed into him again, knocking him away from the girl. Ryouga flew backwards and landed in a heap behind some ruined concrete just as rain started pouring around them.

 

“Damn it!” Ranma growled out angrily as she squirmed around in vain. She looked around, but all she could see was the water pounding relentlessly on the ground, a dazed Kazuma and the male Alter User's boots as he walked over towards the rubble that Ryouga had landed behind. She looked up and watched as he inspected the area. `That's right- he does't know about the curse! He'll never find Ryouga!' She thought with a small amount of hope.

 

Suddenly, a small black piglet shot up at the Alter User.

 

`No! Ryouga! You idiot!' She cursed her rival several times in her head.

 

“It's a pig.” the Alter User said as he looked at the thing. He was holding it away from him, and had it's head held sufficiently away from his arms so that it couldn't bite him. “It must have wandered off from a local farm…” Ranma's eyes widened as she suddenly came up with an idea.

 

“Run, you stupid pig! They'll arrest you too!” She cried out desperately. Both the pig and the alter user looked at her like she was crazy. “You can't do anything once you're caught,” She said in a low voice as she suddenly stopped moving. The pig looked at her with sudden understanding, but the alter user merely started to chuckle.

 

“It seems you have a fine grasp of the situation,” he said as he calmly set the thing down. It immediately ran away and he only looked after it for a second before turning over towards her. “So you'll come peacefully?”

 

“Come peacefully?” She snorted. “You make it sound like I've already lost or something.”

 

“Perhaps I spoke too soon.” the man said with a small smile.

 

“Oh no buddy, joke's on you, see. You'll get it later, don't worry.” She chuckled to herself again.

 

“Humor me, then,” He said as he walked over to her and looked her over. He knelt down and lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. She smirked at his uncaring expression. `There's still some fight in this one,' he thought. `I can see that she's not a bad person… Perhaps she can be convinced to join us…'

 

“Don't lay a finger on her!” came a voice neither one was expecting. “MASSATSU NO LAST BULLET!” Ranma and the green haired Alter User looked up in time to see Kazuma flying at them with his fist cocked back.

 

The green haired alter user merely smirked as the brunette got closer and closer. `They must be close. He's so infuriated that he doesn't seem to realize he'll hurt her too.' Kazuma's face was set in a scowl as he flew at them. “It's too bad things have to be this way.” He muttered.

 

Before he could reach them, he suddenly slammed into the ground as the unseen attacker struck him once more.

 

That time, he didn't get up.