Biker 1/2 Cycle 1 - Birth of a Modern Legend

Book 1: Opening Moves

Chapters 21-26

by Calum Wallace

=====

LEGALISTIC SHIT and RANT
Ranma 1/2 is not mine, no no i didn't do it you can't make me say it woz my
fault
THIS FIC WOULD BE 18-RATED IF YOU FILMED IT AND GAVE IT TO THE BBFC!
There's audible off-screen sex (but no more, even Ranma has a right to some
privacy when he wants it and I'm no good at writing sex scenes) gratuitous
violence, character deaths, drugs, rock 'n roll and insane quantities of
swearing. If you can't handle it don't read it.
Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi and varied companies much bigger
than me; I'm just borrowing the characters and world without permission as a
way of learning to carry a decent plot. I'll put them back when I've
finished with 'em. I promise.
The Amerai, S'Vek, Sidhe, the Wade family, Clan Hakkenan, Rat Diva, Seven
Hope and all related concepts are property of Calum John Wallace (me) and
Mad Dog Games; all rights reserved and all that. If you want to use 'em in a
fic, please A) read Biker 1/2 carefully, it should give you a good idea of
what the Amerai are all about, B) ask for my permission and C) include me in
the prereaders for your tale.
Finally, at least four characters are gay or bisexual - if you can't handle
that then please be so kind as to fuck off. Like the alternate Ryoga of this
tale I have little time for homophobes due to certain problems suffered by
my (bisexual) elder sister.

Please note, I'm using "{this}" to denote things said in Cantonese and
"[this]" to denote things said in what wolves use for a language.

Chapter 21: Kill, Crush and Destroy.
"Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young?" - Guns 'N Roses,
'Such Fun'

"Werewolves, ancient technology, magic, vampires, weird ass curses - all
part and parcel of the fun of being alive!" - General Eichii Honda, JSDF
Special Operations, quoted from a press conference in March 2000.

************************************

Akane snapped another clip into her FAL and opened fire again. She glanced
at Shampoo and jerked her head at the garden of the house across the street.
Shampoo gave a slight nod and the two sprang neatly over the wall, Shampoo
shapeshifting as she went.
They found a small group of Conservatives pinned down by fire from the dozen
or so Reformist Amazons who had hidden in the bushes. Akane grinned and
popped a grenade into her rifle's underslung launcher.
Shampoo grinned even wider and joined in letting off short bursts of fire
over the pinned Conservative's heads. Akane levelled her rifle and took
careful aim with the grenade launcher sights then pulled the trigger.
There was a massive explosion and a lump of the house behind caved in. The
four would - be flankers vanished in a spray of shrapnel then their bodies
slammed into the dirt.
Shampoo was aware of Kodachi and Mao Xing dropping over the wall behind
them. She signalled to the hidden Amazons to check out the house then the
four moved round the sides, Mao and Kodachi going one way while Akane and
Shampoo went the other. Shampoo whispered instructions to the other three
then they moved.
Sure enough they found three more Conservatives heading into the house the
other side. It took six seconds for the four Nerimans to mow them down.
The twelve Reformist Amazons popped out the windows a moment later. Shampoo
signalled them to stay in the house then she, Mao, Akane and Kodachi headed
back to the road.

************************************

Ryoga dropped off the roof of Nodoka's trailer unit with an AK47 in each
hand. The street beyond was degenerating into a melee and she had long since
emptied Akane's minigun.
She barged into the horde of advancing Conservatives, feet flying and AK
bullets spraying in every direction. A kick caught an enemy under the jaw
and sent her into a wall hard enough to embed her in it. Ryoga shot her a
couple of times for good measure while spraying shots from her other AK at a
dozen Conservatives who were returning fire.
"Man, this is-"
She ducked a sword blow and smashed it's owner in the face with the bottom
of her AK's pistol grip-
"-Fucking-"
A dozen bullets embedded themselves in the kevlar lining of her leather
jacket-
"-FUN!" She caught a dazed werewolf round the neck in a headlock and used
her to club another one then blasted both of them with a few of her
wolfsbane - tipped AK shells.

************************************

Akane glanced over her shoulder at the sound of machine gun fire and
explosions from the neighbouring house they had just checked out.
She went wide eyed then flung herself over the wall pulling Kodachi after
her. Shampoo saw what she was looking at then dragged her brother over the
wall.
There was what looked like a mechanical spider the size of a small car
spraying the house behind them with bullets from the ends of it's fangs.
"Holy shit, what the fuck is that THING?"
"Xian Pu not know!" The Chinese girl was shaken enough by the sight that her
Japanese had degenerated almost to gibberish.
Mao groaned. "I be know. It be ancient war machine what Kou Loun dig up from
ancient ruins."
"Say WHAT?!?!"
"We - how you say -  screwed, no?"
Akane pulled her bazooka off of her back.
"I don't know, but I'm going to try screwing that!" She slotted a missile
into the weapon. "You three get out of here - it sounds like it's trying to
kill those poor sods we left in that house. Shampoo, cover me - I'm going to
blow that freaky spider machine to bits!"
Mao Xing glanced at Kodachi. "You shotgun not hurt that. Go other place, I
have thing to pick up." He dashed off into the Saotome-Tendo garden.
Akane stood up behind the wall and levelled her missile launcher at the
spider machine. "Screwed are we? Screw THIS!"
She fired the missile.

************************************

Mao Xing burst into the empty workshop and ran over to his bike.
He stopped beside it and started tearing bits off. Bits he had fastened to
it with cable ties to make it look like something it wasn't - a trail bike
made from old truck parts.
The bulky and misshapen black shape beneath all the bits of old Chinese
truck was something very different.
"{Ha. It's not just Kou Loun who salvages ancient war machines from those
ruins... pity it's gun was fucked.}"
He swung onto the bike and shoved the keys into it's jury-rigged ignition
then flicked the hidden switch.

************************************

Akane swore and stuffed her second missile into the launcher. The spider
machine hadn't even noticed her first shot - the missile had exploded
harmlessly off it's upper carapace.
"Okay, bullshitter! Let's try this again!"
She loosed off another round at it. The missile smashed into the machine's
leg. Again it was shrouded by a massive fireball.
This time when the fireball cleared the machine had one less leg. She
slotted the third missile into place.
"And another one!"
She fired again. This missile slammed into it's head and tore one of it's
machine gun fangs off.
Akane grabbed her last missile and slid it into the launcher.
"And one for the road!"
The spider turned and opened fire at her. She ducked as bits of the wall -
two foot thick stone - started to fly off.
Then the spider mecha's fire was answered from behind Akane. The report of a
gun she recognised - her 25mm cannon.
She looked round, expecting to see Ryoga.
Instead she saw an eight foot tall black humanoid machine that looked like
it had crawled out of some manga. And had her big gun clenched in it's
hands.

************************************

Mao Xing laughed maniacally. "{HAHAHAHA! Not so tough now are we, ugly!}"
His pride and joy - at one and the same time his bike and his secret weapon
- held Akane's massive anti-aircraft gun like a pistol.
He blasted off another couple of rounds then charged while the spider tank
was still reeling from the impact of his shots. The wall didn't even slow
his powersuit down -it broke before his charge like surf on a rock.
There was a massive bang as he bodyslammed the spider tank. He dropped the
25mm cannon and grabbed it's head then wrenched it back, lifting the
spider's forelegs off the ground. It's remaining gun fang swivelled towards
him and he grabbed it then squeezed.
He saw Shampoo joining him out of the corner of his eye.

************************************

Akane stared. The black mecha and Shampoo were rapidly tearing the spider
machine to bits. Ammo cooked off as the black mecha crushed the machine's
remaining machine gun. Shampoo clawed through the carapace, tearing strips
of ragged metal out of it.
Then she punched into the cockpit, found the pilot and ripped the
unfortunate Conservative Amazon apart.

************************************

Kasumi glanced out the window. Gunfire was still crackling sporadically away
but it was now mostly replaced by the sound of close combat. The two Amazon
groups seemed to be running low on ammo.
She took another draw at her spliff and returned to the bloodied Amazon she
was helping. The girl had stopped nearly a hundred rifle bullets - it was
hard to believe she was still going.
"Like, the miracles of being Amerai." Kasumi ferreted another slug out of a
wound. "It's kinda amazing, man. Like, wow... how can you have so much lead
in you and keep moving?"
The girl winced. "It's easy - ow fuck - if nothing's blocking your - OW! -
bones from moving in the right way. But it sure stings!"
"Can you feel any more in there?"
"I think there's a couple more in my arm... it isn't healing up properly. I
got a couple in the head but they went clean through. Fuck sake, have I got
a headache or what!"
"Like, shot in the head and you're still moving? Wow, man! Kinda how much
shooting does it take to, like, kill a Amerai?"
"Shit loads. Either that or explosive bullets."
There was a couple of thuds from the stairs. Kasumi frowned.
She finished extracting the last bullet from the Amazon's arm then went to
look.
She found a dazed man in a suit half fallen down the stairs. He lurched to
his feet and fell the rest of the way then started pulling himself upright
on the end of the bannisters.
Kasumi swayed over to him. "Like, what's kinda wrong?"
The man groaned. "Ahh fuck - Nabiki - she's been -"
Kasumi got her arm under his shoulder and helped him through to the living
room.
"What's happened to Nabiki?"
The Amazon who was helping her blinked. Kasumi didn't sound stoned any more.
The man shook his head. " -Dunno. Some fucker - hit me - from behind."
"Where's my little sister?"
"Gone." Honda slumped onto the couch. "I think someone sneaked in and took
her to Kou Loun."
"No shit! Su, get Dad. We've gotten heads to break!"
Her Amazon 'assistant' dashed out and rapidly came back with an agitated
Soun Tendo, Mi Soon and another Amazon.
Kasumi frowned at her father. "Daddy, Nabiki's been kidnapped."
Soun narrowed his eyes and grabbed a naginata off the top of a cupboard.
"Where who when which what why?"
Honda shook his head. "I'm not sure but I suspect this Kou Loun person has
her."
The Amazon who had accompanied Mi Soon piped up.
"I spotted their camp when I was looking for that Akira guy's van."
Soun growled. "Well, what are we waiting for? Come on - let's go."
Kasumi grabbed the AK Akane had left her, dashed into the kitchen and shoved
her cleaver down the back of her belt. She slung on her trenchcoat, tugged
her driving goggles down then nodded at her father.
"Like, nothing and I mean *nothing* stops my hot-rod. Come on, Dad."
They and the werefalcon girl sprinted through into the garage. The girl
stared at the car within for a moment.
"Holy shit!"
Kasumi dived in through the open driver's window. "Stop gawking and get in!"
The Amazon and Soun followed suit through the passengers side.
Kasumi fired the engine then flicked a switch on the dash. The garage door
rolled up.
She switched on the stereo, put the car into gear, gunned the engine twice
then simultaneously jammed her foot on the throttle and dumped the clutch.

************************************

Nodoka was slashing at a frantically dodging Amazon when her opponent was
suddenly mown down by a wildly accelerating red Corvette.
She just had time to recognise it as Kasumi's car then it was gone leaving a
fading roar and a two dimensional Amazon to remind people of it's passage.

************************************

Soun blinked. "Did we just flatten someone?"
"I thought I felt a bump, man. But who gives a shit?"
"Argh!"
"Like, stop screaming. You're supposed to be a brave Amazon, ain't you?"
"Yes but not at this speed! Left at the next turning! Argh!"
The car flashed past a burning wreck - formerly a Hummvee.

************************************

Ranma frowned as the hot-rod shot off down the street and vanished round a
corner on two wheels.
"What th' fuck? Wonder where Kasumi's of ta?"
He turned his attention back to the dozen Amazons he was beating up.

************************************

"Right! Turn right!"
"Gotcha!" Kasumi tugged on the handbrake and let the back end slide out then
planted her foot back on the throttle. The car popped a wheelie as it slid
round the corner. The speedo was just touching 130 miles per hour.
"They're in the patch of woods about half a mile on!"
Kasumi slammed on the brakes and slid the car for about a quarter of a mile.
She switched off and climbed out.
"Right, let's move it!"

************************************

Genma frowned as a van pulled up and started unloading Amazons. Enemy
Amazons. He aimed squarely at it and started building up ki.
He spotted what the seven or so Amazons were unloading from the van. Ammo.
Shit loads of ammunition.
"No you don't! KIJIN RAISHUU-DAN!" He slammed his hands apart.
A vacuum blade shot out and hit the van bang in the middle.
Genma dived behind a wall as the pulverised van's fuel tank blew up and
touched off the ammo they had been unloading. The wall shook as cooking off
bullets smashed into it.
He nodded and went invisible again.
"Score another one for the mighty Genma Saotome!"

************************************

Soun crept towards the camp. Kasumi and the Amazon were hard behind him.
He swept his eyes across the camp. Around eight or nine enemies - they
looked like guards and were crowded round a camp fire playing cards.
He waved the girls forwards and began to edge towards the fire, holding his
naginata at the ready. It felt good to have that blade in his hands again -
it had belonged to his great-grandfather. It was a family heirloom that had
been carefully hidden away when the Allies demanded the disarmament of
Japan. Along with the hundred or so other weapons he kept in his house.
He got to within ten feet of the Amazons before one of them saw him. She
yelled and grabbed her AK.
Soun's next move made both Kasumi and the Amazons gasp. He leapt, did a
midair somersault over the fire while shapeshifting and landed beheading the
woman who had spotted him then spun round and smashed the two nearest
surviving Conservative Amazon's guns away. All this took just under three
seconds.
Then he really got rolling. He repeated his leap over the fire, kicked two
of the guards, slashed another  with his naginata and punched through a
fourth's chest, grabbed the second to last's neck in his mouth then swung
her knocking down the last guard. All at the same time.
He stopped with his teeth around one cringing Amazon's neck and his naginata
a hairs breadth away from the other's throat.
The rest of the guards were dead.
Kasumi and the werefalcon girl walked over.
"Where is Nabiki?"
The Amazon in Soun's mouth kept cringing. "Who?"
The other tried to shove herself into the ground. "If you mean the
Matriarch's prisoner she's in that truck over there! Please - don't kill
me!"
Soun spat his mouthful out and handed two bloodstained AK47's to the girls.
"I'll get Nabiki. You watch them. They move, they die."
Kasumi glanced down at the AK then looked at the other girl.
"So how do you fire this thing?"
"No idea-" KER-CHUNK! "-Just wing it."
Kasumi shrugged and copied the werefalcon's motions, cocking the gun.
"Okay!" KER-CHUNK!
Kasumi shoved the barrel of her gun into one of the two remaining
Conservative Amazon's ear. "Well, I do know that when you pull this trigger
thingy the end with the hole goes bang very loudly and bullets come out... I
think I can take it from there."
Soun snorted. "Maybe you should take the safety catch off?" He leant over
and flipped it to the full auto position.
Kasumi nodded. "Oh. Thanks, Dad."

************************************

Nabiki was scared, sore and angry. Her wrists were securely chained to a
section of the truck's rollcage. One of Kou Loun's lackeys had earlier
beaten her up a bit.
She looked up when she heard a few shouts and some crashing and banging from
where the guards were grouped round a fire. Somebody had probably cheated.
Something was sprinting towards the truck. A huge furry figure rolled in,
ripping the tailgate off.
It was around nine foot tall and had a very familiar naginata clenched in
it's right hand. Nabiki put two and two together, which made...
"Daddy?"

************************************

Soun glared out the car's windscreen. Nabiki was too shaken to go into ice
queen mode - she was curled up in his lap and crying.
He cracked his knuckles as they raced back into Nerima.
"Kou Loun, I'll make you suffer!"

************************************

Genma glanced around again. A couple of Kou Loun's Amazons were trying to
get behind Ranma who was battling a dozen or so other Amazons.
Genma grinned. Those fools couldn't see him, couldn't even imagine he was
there.

************************************

Akane slotted another clip into her AK and looked around, searching for
targets. She spotted a flicker of motion by the garden wall and cracked off
half a dozen shots at it, forcing whoever it was to hit the ground. Shampoo
dashed past her with the black mecha beside her.
The two killing machines - one biological and the other mechanical - smashed
through the wall and flipped a van over onto a half dozen enemies. Akane
waved Kodachi forwards and kept scanning while the other girl limped hastily
to the wall.
Kodachi snapped another drum into her shotgun's receiver and stood half up,
scanning once more for targets while Akane dashed over the patch of open
ground.
Akane looked around again. The four of them were some distance from the main
area of fighting - Shampoo had thought she'd seen something being unloaded
from a truck and they had gone to investigate.
They were now beginning to realise just how large a distance three hundred
yards could be.
The mecha shot her a thumbs up then crouched down to examine some peculiar
scarring on the pavement. It looked like something very heavy with at least
six small wheels had run up the kerb and gone into the garden opposite their
position.
Shampoo nodded and slapped her last clip of ammo into her AK. She checked
both directions then started moving across the road while the other three
covered her.
She froze for a moment as a series of thuds then a muffled scream echoed
from the house across the street. "What in the?"
All four of them came to an unspoken agreement and bolted across the street.
They paused at the wall. Akane and Kodachi ducked into an alcove while the
other two jumped over.
A section of the house beyond the wall collapsed. Shampoo frowned and
started moving towards the wreckage.
The rubble moved.
"There's someone alive under all that?" Shampoo stopped by the ruins.
"Amazing."
The rubble shifted again. A claw - like arm burst out of it and grabbed her
crotch.
Akane shoved Kodachi flat on the ground. The black mecha dashed towards
Shampoo. Shampoo emptied her AK into the rubble then the minigun in the palm
of the claw opened fire.
Shampoo screamed once then went limp. Her AK clattered to the ground and she
shifted back to human form.
A second spider tank shrugged the rubble off it's carapace and tossed the
bloodstained Amazon away.

And another one bites the dust!

Chapter 22: I wanna destroy.
"Pressure's building up inside, I gotta let it out tonight. Shattered window
cure my pain and make me feel okay" - The Offspring, 'Nothing from
Something'

"Thirty minutes of pure, unadulterated hell." - Saotome-Tendo Enterprises
CEO Nabiki Tendo, describing the First Battle of Nerima.

************************************

Mao Xing stared unseeingly at the HUD within his powersuit's faceplate.
"-Sis-"
The spider machine turned and brought it's guns to bear on the black mecha.
"-Sis-"
The powersuit's onboard battle computer jerked it's arms up in front of it's
face as minigun rounds spanged uselessly off of it.
"-Sis-"
Seeing his reaction and the ineffectiveness of her fire, the spider mech's
pilot retargeted Shampoo.
Mao Xing tried to yell at it to leave her alone, to fight him. All that came
out was a scream.
He lowered his arms and levelled his gun at the spider. His finger twitched
against the trigger and 25mm shells screamed into the enemy mecha. The gun
clicked.
Out of ammo.
He cast it aside and charged, not noticing that he was still screaming in a
mindless rage. Not noticing his body changing and growing and the powersuit
changing to fit his new body.

************************************

Akane gulped as the black mecha started howling like a banshee, emptied the
25mm cannon at the spider machine then charged.
She gasped. The black mecha was shapeshifting.
"Oh my GOD! It's a cyborg Amerai!"
People sometimes have all the evidence and still reach the wrong conclusion.
She cast around. What could she do?
The long six barrelled, belt-fed metal shape laying in an overturned car -
from the dents Ryoga had been there - answered that.
She looked at the belt of ammo connected to the minigun. Depleted uranium.
A decidedly evil grin spread across her face.
"Alright!"

************************************

John Kirth sprinted through the melee, ducking and weaving under attacks. He
had somewhere to be.
A series of bangs followed by a massive BRAAAAAAAAAAP! noise echoed from his
target location. He leapt over the wall and found the black powersuit
battering at a frantically reversing spider tank while Akane staggered under
the immense recoil of a 7.62 calibre minigun and screamed. Bits of the
beleaguered spider tank were starting to fly off. Shampoo was laying in a
puddle of blood and rapidly healing.
John Kirth grinned and cracked his knuckles. Time to rock and roll.
The black mecha ground to a halt as its motors overheated and shut down,
then toppled onto it's face.
Realising she was no longer being battered by the black werewolf machine,
the spider tank's pilot turned towards her other assailant. One unarmoured
teenage girl with a very large machine gun. Much easier.
Then a fireball rocketed across the garden and touched off the spider tank's
leaking fuel cells.
John smirked and blew imaginary smoke from his fingertips.
"Right between the eyes!"

************************************

Ranma skidded round the corner, running perpendicular to the ground on a
wall for a couple of seconds. He hit the ground still running and did a
flying leap into the middle of a group of enemy Amazons.
They were completely unprepared for a whirlwind assault of fists, foreheads,
boots, elbows, knees and teeth.
Ranma stood up from pummelling the last of them and spotted Ryoga
headbutting an Amazon through a wall.
"Hey! Sis!"
Ryoga jumped up and down on the Amazon a few times then turned round. "Hey,
bro! How's it going?"
"Ya know that ECM what Nabiki wuz complainin' about? Reckon we should do
somethin' about it?"
"Yeah, might be a good idea right enough. Come on!"
"No ya dipshit! We don't know WHERE! We gotta go back th' house an' talk ta
Nabiki, see? An' the house ain't that way!"
"Alright, enough already. Lead on."
The two bikers raced back to the house, smashing their way through the melee
around it. They skidded to a halt in the garden then ducked inside the
house.
They burst into the living room together. Kasumi was helping a couple of
Amazons who had stuff stuck in them that was stopping them healing up.
She glanced up as the two came in the door then shot them a tired grin.
"You dudes alright?"
"Yeah, is Nabs in her room?"
"I'm here." came a shaky voice from the couch.
Ranma walked over then frowned and sat down beside Nabiki.
"Ya alright, Nabs? Ya look kinda fucked up. Anythin' I can do ta help?"
"Ranma, once this crap is over there's something I've got to do. I need to
learn to fight well. I mean, I've got a dan in Kempo but around here that
makes me a non-combatant and I just can't stay that way."
"Yeah, sure! Don't ya worry, I'll have ya muckin' in with th' best o' us in
no time. Look, there's somethin' we figured needs done th' now. We need ta
get a fix on Kou Loun's jammer so we can go an' fuck it up."
"So you want me to triangulate it, right? Okay, but stick with me while I do
it."
Nabiki stood up - wincing slightly as she put weight on the leg someone had
kicked out from under her earlier. She limped upstairs and grabbed a
portable radio set.
After checking some dials in two places in the house she drew a couple of
lines on a map.
"That's where it is."
"Nabs, why're ya limpin?"
"I got kidnapped then beaten up earlier."
"What bastard did that?"
"I don't know his face... tall guy with long dark hair, white trenchcoat and
damn thick specs."
Ranma gritted his teeth. "That Moose dick. He's dead meat... Nobody an' I
mean fuckin' NOBODY fucks with my family an' gets away with it!" He gave
Nabiki a quick hug. "Don't ya worry, I'll rip that stinkin' bastard ta
bits."
"He took me to Kou Loun... that's where I got beat up."
Ranma gritted his teeth again, grabbed a couple of ammo belts from the
table, threw one to Ryoga then nodded.
"Okay, Ryoga. We're bein' jammed from a couple o' streets across. Let's get
our bikes an' go waste some fuckhead ass!"
He snapped the belt into his M60 and tugged the charging handle back.
"Your bikes? Are you nuts? You'll get-"
"I'm surprised at ya, Nabs. Mind John said there's forcefields on our
bikes?"
Nabiki blinked. "Oh yeah..."

************************************

Nodoka smiled nastily at her opponent.
"You know what you remind me of? This dumb boy racer I ran into in a
transport cafe up north. All mouth and no brawn."
The werewolf growled and attacked, sending a blurringly fast string of blows
at her. Nodoka casually turned them aside with the flat of her sword.
Sizzling noises came from the werewolf's arm each time it touched.
The clatter of shots from behind her showed that Ranko still had ammo.
Nodoka laughed and decapitated the werewolf.
She glanced around. The enemy Amazons were backing away from her.
Rule one when fighting supernaturals, her father had told her. Always mock
them.
She laughed and wiped blood from her sword on her dead opponent.
"You lot are so pathetic... Come here and fight, you cowards!"

************************************

Ranma let out an exultant whoop as his bike shot round the corner. He could
see a van pulling away further down the street.
Nabiki had given them a direction finding radio that was set to one of the
jammed channels.
It was clamped to his handlebars and the arrow on it's dial pointed straight
at the van.
Ryoga glanced over at him. "Well?"
"That van, I think. Come on!"
Ranma raced past the van. Sure enough the dial swung round, keeping pointed
at it. "It is too!"
He unshouldered his M60 and started spraying the van with bullets. Ryoga saw
him open fire and followed suit.
First it's windows blew out then one tyre went. A bullet found the van's
fuel tank as it flipped over.
"WOW! WHAT A SHOW!"
The van disintegrated in a huge fireball.
Ryoga triumphantly punched her fist into the air. They turned their bikes
and raced back towards the house.

************************************

Mortise growled. In his present form he couldn't talk. Certainly no language
any human or werewolf would understand.
He grabbed an Amazon and slammed her into the tarmac, leaving a foot deep
dent. The Conservative didn't move after that.
A thermos flask full of hot water impacted against his ear and he returned
to human form. This didn't really make that much difference as far as
Mortise was concerned. He selected another target and struck, punching
through her chest and dropping her heart in the gutter.
He snarled, showing his fangs. His eyes glowed red as he began to burn ki at
an extraordinary rate, accelerating towards a group of Amazons at nearly
sixty miles per hour. His battle aura blazed into life, a pulsing red glow.
Even in human form, Mortise Tarou looked like something straight out of
hell.

************************************

Akira jerked his hands up. "HADOKEN!"
A glowing blue ball of ki exploded out of his hands, ploughed through twelve
Amazons and a car then obliterated a large lump of a house that was unlucky
enough to get in the way.
He chose another target and unleashed a fully blown Amaguriken in her face.
She flew sixty feet and smashed through a fence.
An Amazon in Battle form dropped in front of him and started pulling faces.
Akira's bad temper exploded.
He went after her like a mad thing, punching, kicking, headbutting, even
biting. But the Amazon evaded all of it.
The other Amazons in the area saw the spiral pattern and reacted
accordingly.
Akira's opponent suddenly turned and launched an uppercut.
"HIYRU SHOTEN HA!"
"OH SHIT!"
Akira was promptly launched straight upwards into the resulting whirlwind.
He finally came to earth on his ear in the middle of the Tendo back garden.
He spat out his mouthful of dirt, staggered back to his feet and stormed
back into the fight.

************************************

Ranma glanced down the street. "What the fuck? I thought I saw some sorta
fuckin' whirlwind screamin' 'Oh Shit' down there."
Ryoga snorted. "Ya must be going nuts, bro."
"Th' scream wuz in that dick Akira's voice."
"Come on - let's get back to the house an' dump our bikes."
They turned and steamrollered their way through the melee.

************************************

Kou Loun pogoed through the melee, idly throwing away any Reformist stupid
enough to get in her path.
Two flat black bikes shot past, ploughing varied combatants out of their
way. One rider - Ranma - spotted her and sprayed her with his M60. She
dodged out the way of the hail of bullets and let them smash into a wall
behind her.
Kou Loun raised her hands to launch an attack but the biker was gone.
She turned her attention back towards the raging vampire boy. He was walking
straight into her trap.
"Like a lamb to the slaughter..."

************************************

Mortise snarled again. The group of Amazons leapt clear of him, letting him
see the trio of withered hags who had been hidden within his ranks.
He recognised their black and gold robes - the colours of an Amazon Magus.
"Houston, we have a problem."

************************************

Akira snarled. He had let his temper take over control and he was lucky that
none of the Amazons he was attacking knew the Hiryu Shoten Ha.
He snarled again and launched at one of them. At which point a length of
chain suddenly wrapped itself round his legs pitching him onto his face.
An anvil joined it, landing on his arse with a resounding clunk. Several
somethings smashed over him then a wheel contacted his ear. From the weight
it was attached to a car. Akira let out an enraged howl and started trying
to shred the varied objects. More and more whatevers piled onto him.

************************************

Ranma stepped out of the gates and couldn't suppress a laugh, despite being
really angry at the sight. Mu Tze was standing and dropping an immense pile
of objects on Akira. He'd already dumped a couple of fridges, a safe, two
anvils, at least sixty feet of chain and a pink Cadillac on the Saotome
elder.
Ranma launched. He owed Mu Tze one hell of a kicking for Nabiki.
His feet ripped lumps out of the tarmac as he let out the Ranma Saotome
warcry and charged.
"GERONIMO!"
Mu Tze looked up a moment too late - just in time to get a real close-up
view of the bottom of Ranma's boot.
This caused the bank vault door Mu Tze had been about to smash Akira in the
face with to drop on Mu Tze's toes.
"AAAARRRRRGH!"
Ranma grabbed a sledgehammer Mu Tze had earlier dumped on Akira.
"FORE!"
He grinned nastily as the Chinese boy sailed over a house.
"Well, I think that's a hole-in-one." He dumped the hammer - it landed back
on Akira - and raced off, headed for another bunch of Amazons who were
sprinting down the street having regrouped down the road a bit.

************************************

Shampoo staggered to her feet. "I alright! I alright!"
Akane let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God - if there is one."
She glanced at the dazed figure John was helping out of the black mecha.
"Your brother punked. Bigstyle."
"It Mao Xing in black robot thing?!?!"
Akane nodded. "Come on - let's head back towards the house. John says
there's a couple of bullets still in you - we need to get Kasumi to get them
out."
Shampoo winced at the shooting pains from her legs. "Be so."
A distant BRAAAAAAAAAAP! announced yet another spider machine. Akane's face
hardened and she heaved her new minigun onto her shoulder.
"Scratch that - I've got something to blow to fucking bits."

************************************

Ranma rolled aside, shocked nearly out of his socks. He concentrated on the
Battle form and felt his body responding, changing to a wolfman.
The spider tank thing kept up it's hail of fire. Ranma frowned.
"So how th' hell do I smash *this*?" he wondered aloud. He suddenly grinned
and jumped at it, landing neatly on it's head.
It started to jerk around violently, trying to shake him off. Ranma snarled.
"Ya can't get rid o' a Saotome that easy, fuckwit!" He latched onto it's
head and started trying to rip bits off of it. Sparks flew from his claws as
they raked across it, tearing strips from it's armour.
"Damn! Sure is tough-SHIT!"
An especially wild jolt sent him sprawling onto the ground. He flipped
upright and sideways as it fired at where he'd landed. He came up from the
flip and jumped over it, planting a couple of full strength kicks in it's
carapace as he flew over. They left large dents in it's hull. It responded
by kicking him with one of it's hindlimbs sending him ploughing into a wall.
"Goddamnit!" He sprang clear of the rubble as it's guns pulverised what was
left of that stretch of wall.
His foot hit a patch of spilt oil and he landed flat on his face. As he
started to come up out of the fall something *very* heavy landed on his
back.
One of the spider machine's feet. Ranma swore and tried to rip it off, but
he couldn't get enough leverage.
"Ohh shit..."
A pair of booted feet appeared in his line of vision. He recognised them as
his father's boots.
There was a cracking noise and the spider tank fell in two halves. Genma
leant down and gave his son a hand up.
Ranma looked at the older man for a second.
"Thanks, Dad."
Genma grinned smugly. "No problem, son. You mean far too much to me to let
some pile of junk shoot you up. Come on - we got heads to break!"
The two Saotomes, father and son, sprinted off towards what looked like the
centre of the battle. Genma finally decided to shapeshift as they went.
Ranma let out a low whistle as his father started the - by now familiar -
shapeshifting twist. Only this one kept going.
Genma grew. And grew. And grew.
Sixteen feet of werebear grinned down at his nine foot werewolf son.
"Let's break stuff, Ranma!"

************************************

Ranko blasted another couple of shots into the melee. She was starting to
reduce her fire rate since the battle was rapidly devolving into one huge
melee, both sides intermingled and still trying to tear each other to bits.
Something caught her eye - an Amazon with a sniper rifle crouched on a roof.
The gun had a laser sight and the red dot was tracking in on the back of
Nodoka's head.
Just as she was about to act something else caught her attention - Mortise
screaming. She glanced over that way and saw him struggling in the centre of
a field of crackling blue light.
Fifty generations of martial artists, warriors and samurai as ancestors
swung into play. Ranko wasn't much of a hand-to-hand fighter, but she knew
what she had to do. Her genetic makeup came from two of the toughest warrior
lines in Japan.
She leapt upwards, unsure how she was managing it. Her shotgun leg slammed
into her left hand as her right drew a bead on the sniper.
For a fleeting second she was glad that she'd swapped her pump  - actioner
for a SPAS 12 semi automatic shotgun before the battle. Then there was no
time for thinking, just time for doing. The recoil of the shotgun jerked up
her leg. Her handgun bellowed.
She felt a series of hammerblows all over her body. She saw Mortise rip out
of the field of light as one of the three hags flew forwards into him. The
sniper tumbled backwards off the roof.
Ranko grinned as she smashed into the ground on her face. Mission
accomplished.
She rolled herself over, noticing the huge amount of blood coming from her
stomach as she did so.

************************************

Nodoka heard Ranko scream something unintelligible. She turned to see what
was wrong with the girl.
A dot of red light caught her eye. She recognised it as a laser sight at the
exact moment Ranko fired. The sniper rifle crashed, but the sniper was
jerked off line as she pulled the trigger and the bullet slammed into the
ground between Nodoka's feet. A pair of enemy Amazons saw Ranko's jump and
opened fire on the red haired girl.
Nodoka felt herself go numb all over as her daughter hit the ground, blood
seeping from her body. Ranko pushed herself onto her back. The two Amazons
levelled their guns at her.
Two furry figures - one simply large and the other positively MASSIVE - hit
the pair of Amazon gunwomen. The werewolf rammed his fist through one of
them's chest from behind. The werebear grabbed the other and squeezed. Blood
sprayed from between his arms as the Amazon was squashed flat.
Nodoka found herself beside her daughter. Her knees hit the ground with a
thud.
The werebear spoke.
"Ranko..."
She opened her eyes.
"Dad?"
The werewolf - apparently Ranma - crouched down. "Sis, yer gonna be alright.
Just hang on in there, huh?"
"Ranma? I'm dying, bro... guess I'll see ya around, huh?"
Mortise knelt down beside Nodoka.
"Ranko... This proves it; there is no God."
Ranko tried to laugh, but only succeeded in coughing.
"I think I'm gonna find out. I'll see you guys later..."
Mortise grabbed her hand. "Ranko! You CAN'T die! I won't let you!"
"Wolfsbane bullets, man. That'll be why she ain't changin'. WHERE THE HELL
IS MI SOON?"
"It's no good worrying about that, Ranma. But... there is a way."
"Huh?"
"I am clinically dead, Ranma."
Ranma glanced from the vampire boy to Ranko and back.
"Ranko? Ya want this? 'Cause it ain't my choice."
Ranko nodded. "Do it."

************************************

Nodoka stared at her son. Her eldest child by about ten minutes.
He had returned to human form. Ranma looked *extremely* angry. He had his
back turned to Ranko and Mortise, refusing to look.
"I'm gonna teach Cow Lone a lesson she ain't gonna ever fuckin' forget!"
Nodoka shut her eyes. "Oh, God... where did I go wrong?"
"Ya don't wanna ask some god that, Mum - they ain't gonna answer. Fact is,
ya didn't go wrong. Cow Lone went fuckin' wrong. If she wuz a decent sort
she'd leave us th' hell alone an' let Shampoo get on wiv her own life rather
than tryin' ta run it fer her. I mean, what Ranko did wuz th' right thing
an' I woulda done the exact same if I wuz her - well, I probably woulda
landed in one piece. It wuz her choice an' she made th' right choice. Yer
*family*, Mum. Mortise ain't only good ta have on yer side, he's a damn nice
guy ta boot. He's th' sorta guy I'd stick my neck out fer any day. Hell, I
spent this entire fight stickin' my neck out fer folks."
Nodoka shook her head again. "I just don't get it, Ranma! You kids go on
about honour not mattering and how you won't die for it yet..."
"Honour ain't worth a damn out here in th' real world. Life sucks, so ya
gotta make th' best of it in yer own way, Mum. I ain't gonna die fer some
concept. When I go I'm gonna go fighting fer somethin' I can believe in.
That wuz th' biggest lesson life taught me - it ain't what ya do, it ain't
who ya know, it's who ya are. Live an' let live, that's what I do. But any
fucker who tries ta screw up people's lives around me better watch out
because they're gonna get *me* upside th' head. Ryoga think's th' same way.
So do Akane an' Shampoo. An' Ranko. I dunno about Mortise but I guess his
first concern ain't whether society sez somethin's right, it's whether his
heart or whatever he uses fer one sez somethin's right. Sometimes th' only
way ta do th' right thing is ta act dishonourable, even ta break th' law.
When a friend's life's on th' line or family are gonna get screwed over -
sod fightin' fair. Fight ta win whenever it counts. Like I said, live an'
let live an' if some bugger don't - kick their ass."
Nodoka opened her eyes. "I think I'll give that a try."
"It's worth it, Mum. Ya had ta fight ta get yer place in truckin' - th'
accepted thing fer women ta do in that world is not get involved. Ya got
involved, ya did well an' ya made a name fer yerself. Truckers hear yer
name, they think o' a woman who beats th' guys at their own game."
Nodoka nodded. "I get you. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it..."
"I gotta go bust ass, Mum. Keep an eye on things round here, huh?"
She nodded. Ranma turned and sprinted away.

************************************

A eight wheeled APC skidded round the corner. It's turret cannon started
hailing fire into the mob of regrouping Conservative Amazons.
The back hatch crashed down and six figures stepped out. Each was dressed in
camo fatigues and toting an *insane* quantity of firepower.
They levelled their guns and opened fire.

************************************

Akira raged through the heart of the battle. smashing anything within reach.
A small and horribly familiar figure stepped out in front of him, blinked
and shapeshifted.
"AKIRA!"
"KOU LOUN! YOU'RE DEAD!"
They glared at each other for a second then attacked, both simultaneously
launching the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken at each other, simultaneously
attacking and blocking the other's attacks.

Once more unto the next chapter...

Chapter 23: Repercussions.
"Second guess, did I do my best? There was a friend I had..." - The
Offspring, 'No Hero'

"Do you really think I had any idea what I was getting into?" - Ranko
Saotome on vampirism.

***********************************

Akira slid around a series of blows. Kou Loun snorted and had another go
with the Amaguriken. Akira backflipped clear and started laughing.
"Two thousand five hundred years and you're still too slow, kid."
"Oh, go screw yourself. I hear that Ranma brat had very few problems beating
you to a pulp."
Akira snorted and lobbed a couple of Hadokens at her. She countered them
with blasts of her own. Varied onlookers from both sides were now centring
their attention on the pair, the battle forgotten while they watched what
had to be the facedown of the decade. If not the century.
"You've got as much power as an average slug, Akira."
"So speaks the one who had to bring along an army to capture one brat.
HADOKEN!"
Kou Loun jumped over the ki blast. "You do like showing off, don't you."
"Aye right. And you fuck anything that moves. I heard you once dated your
own brother."
"Oh, and who decided to assassinate an ally who trusted him?"
Another ki blast shot at her, this one tinted red.
"That Saki bitch was a demon hunter. Enough said."
Kou Loun sniggered and jumped over the blast.
"That's not what I heard."
Akira smirked and started closing on her. "Oh? Then maybe - just maybe -
your informants aren't quite as reliable as you think. Saki Moroboshi was a
demon hunter. She killed several close friends of mine."
Kou Loun snorted and shot a sidekick at him, followed up by a string of
punches which he evaded smoothly.
"Oh? I didn't know you *had* friends."

************************************

Nodoka felt her legs starting to go weak again. Saki Moroboshi. One of the
most capable demon hunters ever to exist. Killed by a car bomb some twenty
years ago.
Her mother.
Nodoka's grip tightened on her katana. She steadied herself and narrowed her
eyes. Kick ass, huh?
"Something tells me Ranma was right, *is* right."

************************************

Akira snorted. "Oh yeah? And what about poor old Damien? The old vamp,
wouldn't hurt a fly? Staked then flamethrowered on the orders of a certain
Amazon? For being too close to Joketsuzo? After being welcomed into the
village with open arms? Or a certain young lady I suspect might be named
Xian Pu? The one who was supposed to be the next Matriarch of Joketsuzo? The
one you decided to assassinate for finding her own life?" He punctuated his
words with a string of punches, kicks, headbutts and bites. All of which
either missed or got blocked.
Kou Loun smirked again. "Akira, you always were a narrow - minded arrogant
bigot. I distinctly remember when you threw your own mother out on the
street for saying she thought you were an idiot. And I also clearly recall
you tipping off Clan Hakkenan as to the whereabouts of poor little Xian Pu's
mother, then helping those psychotic backstabbing werefoxes disguise it as
the actions of the Japanese government."
Her own replying stream of attacks was suddenly cut short as she sensed
*something* inbound. She ducked aside and swung her arm up to block the
attack she'd sensed. She had no idea what was coming at her, just roughly
what angle
There was a noise like silk tearing and her arm slammed into the ground. She
jerked out of Battle form.
Everyone gasped. Where the Conservative Amazon matriarch had stood there was
now a white haired six foot Amazon beauty staring at the stump of her arm.
She rolled aside as Nodoka went to hack off her head. Kou Loun rapidly dived
into a nearby group of her supporters.
Nodoka glared after the woman.
"And don't come back!"
She turned to Akira. He too had returned to human form. His jaw was hanging
open and making him a contender for the World Record for widest opening
mouth.
"As for you, you treacherous backstabbing piece of shit - eat this!"
She whirled her katana round. Akira was knocked flat before it could contact
him.
Ranma grinned at his mother from where he was now crouching on the older
man's back.
"Leave this fuckhead ta me, Mum. I gotten a shitload I owe him."
Nodoka paused then picked a rag - formerly part of somebody's clothes - off
the ground and used it to clean up her sword.
"Ranma, this bastard had my *mother* killed."
Ranma growled. "Beheadin's too quick for th' bastard. Come on - we got other
problems ta solve."
Nodoka blinked. "That hag's lackeys are leaving, Ranma."
Ranma swept his eyes around the battered street. The last few Conservative
Amazons were bolting off in every direction.
"We won... We fuckin' won."
Akira spat his mouthful of dirt out. "Ranma, get off my damn head!"
"If he does, you festering piece of shit, your head will be off your goddamn
neck!"

************************************

Ranko sat up. She spat out the mouthful of filth she had somehow collected.
Mortise knelt down beside her.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded then blinked and slumped back down.
"My leg..."
"What? What's wrong?"
Ranko pointed at her prosthetic limb.
"It doesn't hurt..."

************************************

A silence descended over the area around the Tendo-Saotome dojo as the
Nerima Amazons began the grim task of counting the dead. The dojo became a
makeshift morgue.
Ranma stood and watched the scene in silence. A small group of Amazons were
over to his left, helping Mortise and Ranko by giving the latter her first
vampire meal. Nodoka was overseeing the removal of makeshift armour plate
from her truck. Nabiki had recovered somewhat from her kidnap, but she still
jumped violently at every loud noise. She was talking to Honda and a couple
of grunts.
He sighed and reached for his cigarettes. He stopped suddenly when his
fingers encountered an arm.
He looked down. Shampoo was standing beside him with her hand on his chest.
"Ranma?"
"Huh?"
Akane leant against his right side. "What are you spacing out for, Ranma?"
Ranma sighed and gathered the two of them into a mutual embrace.
"We're alive... Thank fuck."
A familiar bald bearded figure in a beat up leather jacket stepped round a
building. Genma's face was lit by the glow of a cig.
Ranma waved. "Yo! Dad! Over here!"
Genma nodded and slouched over to his son.
"It's over."
"Dad... there's somethin' I gotta say. Ya know th' way I usta always slag ya
off?"
Genma winced and nodded.
"Dad, I wuz wrong. Yer none o' that stuff." He jerked his thumb at the black
Dodge van that was parked nearby. "It's Akira who's th' dickhead."
A warm smile spread across Genma's face. Ranma and the girls parted
slightly, inviting him into their mutual hug.
"Dad, yer th' best. Ya rock."
Genma felt tears running down his face. But he couldn't stop grinning.
"Thanks, son."
They stood like that for several moments before a voice interrupted them.
It was Mao Xing.
"Xian Pu! It Wu Chii... she asking for you." He swallowed. "Mi Soon say she
only have maybe ten minutes."
Shampoo let out a moan and broke away from the other three. She dashed after
her brother towards the house.
Ranma and Akane looked at each other then dashed after her, followed closely
by Genma. The smiles had vanished from their faces.

************************************

Akane blinked as Shampoo went straight past the living room and dashed down
the steps into the basement. They dashed after her.
She was standing on the hatch and fumbling frantically at the wall.
"Shampoo? What's wrong?"
"Wu Chii be sister of Tiger!"
Akane blinked again and flipped the latch. The hatch sank into the floor.
Shampoo hugged her.
Akane could feel damp on her T-shirt from Shampoo's tears.
"Is only right she see her sister again."
They dashed to the third basement room, let the dusty Amazon within out.
Tiger glanced around at them.
"What now?"
Shampoo grabbed her arm. "Is no time for chit-chat. Wu Chii here... she
dying."
Tiger gasped.
"She can't be!"
"Come on!" They dragged the shocked Amazon over to the hatch.

************************************

Wu Chii was breathing in quick, ragged gasps when they got to the living
room. Shampoo went over and knelt beside her oldest, best friend. Wu Chii
smiled crookedly at her.
"{Xian Pu... it's good to see you...}"
"{Wu... I've brought someone you might want to see.}"
Tiger's knees hit the floor with a resounding thud.
"{Wu... Little sister... who did this to you?}"
"{Conservatives, sis.}"
Tiger's face hardened. "{Why? *Why*?}"
Wu Chii whispered her next words. "{Because they could...}"
Shampoo gently wiped the blood and filth off her friend's face.
"{You did alright out there.}"
"{Little sister, lend me your blade...}"
Wu nodded and fumbled a dagger out of her belt. She held it out to her
sister with one trembling hand.
Ranma tensed up.
Tiger looked at the knife for a moment then calmly pulled off her shirt. She
reached up and fingered her bone pendant for a moment then took it off.
She paused for a second then stabbed the knife through the pendant.
Wu Chii nodded and shakily removed her own.
Tiger took Wu's pendant from her shaking hands. Shampoo gasped and dashed
outside. She was back in a moment with a handful of dirt.
Tiger looked her dying sister over. The wound that was killing her was
easily visible - a broken off spear in her chest.  Wu's lungs were filling
with blood too fast for her werewolf body to stop it drowning her.
Tiger silently cut a strip from her own skin in the exact location of Wu's
fatal wound. Shampoo handed her the dirt and she firmly rubbed it into the
wound.
She placed Wu's pendant around her own neck.
"{You will be avenged, sister.}"
Tiger cleaned the knife on her own shirt then slid it back into it's sheath.
The two sisters looked each other in the eye for a moment then Wu let out a
gentle sigh. Her eyes closed. She let out one more ragged breath and was
still.
Her eyes rolled sightlessly open.
Tiger gently closed them. She carefully picked her sister up. Shampoo
gathered up the varied weapons that had been laying around Wu and lead Tiger
out to the dojo.
Tiger glanced around then lay Wu down among the ranks of the dead. She took
Wu's weapons and carefully loaded the guns, slid the weapons into holsters
and sheaths.
With a final click the last knife went into it's sheath.
Tiger and Shampoo bowed to the dead girl then turned away, their eyes
fierce.
Tiger swept her gaze across the others, who were grouped by the door
watching them. "A warrior died tonight."
Shampoo nodded. "A warrior died tonight."
Tiger smiled slightly. Not a nice smile. "But her death will be avenged."
Shampoo nodded and clasped hands with the other girl. "But her death will be
avenged."

************************************

Tiger sat on a remaining lump of wall and stared at the moon.
She heard footsteps crunch on the gravel behind her. Looking round she found
Ranma frowning up at her.
"There's somethin' ya oughta see."
"Don't bother me now, mister. I've got a lot on my mind."
"We found a dead Conservative holdin' a busted off spear handle. She had
nearly two hundred AK rounds in her, her throat wuz slashed an' someone had
stabbed a crowbar through her head. Th' bullets wuz outta yer sister's gun
an' I flung that crowbar... Th' busted spear fit th' one yer sister got hit
by." He paused. "I gotten a rough idea how yer feelin'. If ya need ta talk,
come see me or Shampoo."
He turned and walked back inside. Tiger resumed her stargazing.
But she now had a vindictive grin on her face.

************************************

Ranma slumped down on his bed, muttering obscenities about the number of
bullet holes in the clothes Shampoo had just taken off.
"Goddamnit, how much blastin' did ya get?"
Akane snorted. "She stopped around sixty 25mm shells from one of those
spider machines."
"Oh, hell... is th' baby alright?"
Shampoo nodded. "Mi Soon is check my ki five minutes ago. Is extra aura."
She patted her belly.
Ranma nodded and pulled the two girls in beside him.
"Thank fuck. Say, what wuz that ritual thing Tiger done?"
Shampoo sighed. "Is way for say that vengeance is only reason she have for
to live any more."
"I told her about that corpse Mortise found. Th' one with th' spear what yer
friend wuz killed wiv... ya reckon Tiger's gonna be alright?"
"Yeah, she one tough chick."

************************************

Mortise sighed and sat back.
"Well, thanks all of you. Ranko, Mi Soon said she wanted to speak to you.
I've got to go for a walk."
Ranko nodded and stood up. She walked outside without looking at any of the
Amazon blood donors.
Mortise sighed again and shook his head. He got to his feet and left through
the other door, shooting the dozen or so Amazons a cocky grin as he went.

************************************

Ranko stopped by the tailgate of Mi Soon's truck. She could hear the old
Amazon talking to someone in a low voice.
"...t. Sure, it's a hiccup, but worse things have happened at sea."
The someone - another Amazon elder - replied.
"Mi Soon, you know the stories about those creatures as well as I do."
"And you know the stories about we shapeshifters as well as I do. Come back
and finish annoying me later, I have something I need to do."
The other elder grunted. Ranko heard her jump down from the truck and stride
off towards another vehicle.
She climbed into Mi Soon's truck. The old lady nodded at her.
"Hello, Ranko. I think I need to explain a few things to you.
Ranko sighed. Every so often she was noticing her own lack of breathing.
This was scaring her.
"Mortise said you wanted to talk to me. What likes?"
"Oh, a few details of your new nature."
"There's nothing natural about it, you old bat! I spent the last half an
hour drinking blood, damnit!" She made a face. "I feel sick."
Mi Soon sighed.
"Ranko, you need to understand. The blood is not the point, it's what's in
it. Vampires are beings of pure ki."
"Pure ki?"
"Yes, that's what I said. When Mortise... did what he did, your entire mass
was converted into heavy ki. To survive you need more ki to replace that
which you use to move about. The easiest source of ki is human blood. Drink
it and you will absorb the ki within. Go too long without getting ki and you
will crumble into dust."
"You mean I have to drink people's blood to survive?"
"Not necessarily. That is the easiest way to acquire ki. Other methods
exist, but they are slower and harder. For example, you could hang around in
an area which sees frequent martial arts duels and absorb the ki that
saturates such places. Or you could beg it off of your Amerai relatives."
"Huh?"
"In ki terms, Amerai are to humans what a nuclear bomb is to a firecracker.
We shapeshifters generate almost endless quantities of ki. We bleed ki into
our environment. We pick up stray ki from other Amerai. We burn ki whenever
we shapeshift, heal or use our other powers. Ki is life force. There is
nobody this is more true for than a vampire such as yourself. Since you are
made of pure ki you have several distinct advantages and accompanying
disadvantages. You cannot be injured by attacks that contain no ki or magic.
You can learn to absorb ki from attacks, plugging that weakness. You cannot
be killed - if you 'die', all it takes is for a ki buildup in the right
place and guess who's back? Say you were 'killed'. If, for example, someone
spilt some blood on the ground where you had collapsed, or a martial arts
duel took place. Or even say a werewolf started using their powers nearby.
You would reform instantly. You are quite powerful - think about it. Ki is a
form of energy, and you are pure energy. A lump of plutonium about this
size-" she gestured with her hands "-Converted to energy in the form of a
nuclear bomb can destroy an entire city. The amount of energy you consist of
could knock the moon out of orbit."
"What?"
"You weigh what - fifty or so kilos? That much raw energy is enough power to
dwarf an H-bomb. Amerai generate ki faster than any other living thing. And
it would take one of us around a month to produce as much energy as you
consist of. But one average werewolf will spill enough waste energy every
day for you to survive on for a week."
Ranko sat back. "For real?"
"Yes. You should be able to *feel* the ki permeating the air from today's
battle. Is there an almost metal smell on the edge of your senses? There is
on mine."
"Huh? Yeah, I've been wondering what that is. Look, I saw Ranma fucking
*glowing* and it wasn't his battle aura. I mean, so-"
"What about myself?"
"That's what I was gonna say. You're glowing enough to light the entire damn
house. Shampoo glows, so does Akane, all the Amazons, Dad - hell, everyone."
"That, Ranko, is my ki. Reach out and touch it if you like."
Ranko paused then poked an experimental finger into the glowing field. She
gasped and jerked her hand back.
"Damn!"
"What did you feel?"
Ranko paused, scratching her chin.
"It was like... that burning feel you get from vodka and such. Only up my
arm."
"Yes, you just absorbed some of the waste ki I spread around my environment.
Did it... taste - for want of a better word - good?"
"Damn, yeah! What a rush!"
Mi Soon smirked and yanked a blanket off of a large mirror.
"Look at your reflection, child. Tell me - what do you see?"
Ranko blinked a few times. "Um - myself. Only glowing like you but not so
intense."
"You see the ki that forms you. A normal, untrained human would be unable to
see your reflection, as would any camera ever devised. I can see it, but
it's fuzzy, out of focus and colourless. You can see it as plain as day - a
survival trait. The best meals are the people who glow."
"You mean I don't show on camera?"
"The camera that can see ki hasn't been invented. No man-made sensor could
detect your presence... but your clothes and equipment show."
"That's kinda useless."
"It is just a fact of unlife, dear... Would you like to know the origin of
your kind?"
Ranko nodded. "Well, yeah. I suppose I'd better."
Mi Soon chuckled. "Yes, it might be a wise idea." She fished a cigar out of
her pocket and lit up. "Though there *are* two versions of events going
around."
She took a couple of puffs at her cigar then continued.
"The vampires claim that they are the result of some ancient person, human
person that is, annoying some god or another. I think they claim the first
vampire was also the first murderer." She snorted. "The truth is slightly
more convoluted than that. Akira has mentioned the war that lead to the
Saotome bloodline deserting our parent Clan?"
Ranko nodded.
"Excellent. Fact is, Clan Diva  - our parent clan - and their enemies Clan
Shea were at odds for over fifteen thousand years before that war. It was
the last of thousands."
She paused again.
"At any rate, the way my mother told me was this. Apparently Clan Diva
created what we call Dopplegangers as a biological weapon against Clan Shea.
In answer to that Clan Shea's mage-engineers created a disease. I was never
told it's name, but the modern term is Vampire Sickness. Vampirekind were
created as a weapon of mass destruction against Clan Diva. They were made by
infecting humans with techno-magic nanomachines - microscopic robots - that
then converted the victim to a ki life form and changed certain parts of him
or her. You - and all other vampires - contain around two kilogramme of
solid matter, those very same nanomachines. They replicate themselves using
the iron in blood you drink. Clan Shea built in a couple of weak points in
case their weapon turned against them. Unfortunately for them not only did
some vampires turn on their creators, but Clan Diva accidentally discovered
one of those weak points, one that can only be exploited by a magus. Seven
vampires survived - the ones who simply went AWOL in transit." She shrugged
again. "They hid among human society and named themselves the Society of
Caine. After a while they grew common enough that they were accepted as just
another critter you could find running around on Homeworld, and thus spread
themselves to many other words. Each of those seven had somewhat different
traits - they were after all one-off, individually engineered prototypes."

************************************

Mortise stopped in his tracks. So did the small guy he'd just met.
"You!"
"You!"
Mortise narrowed his eyes.
"You should never have come here, Happosai."

And that's another one complete.

Chapter 24:  Go wild
"I feel a change, back to a better day
Hair stands up on the back of my neck
In wildness is the preservation of the world
So seek the wolf in thyself...
Shape shift, nose to the wind.
Shape shift, feeling I've been.
Move swift, all senses clean.
Earth's gift, back to the meaning of wolf and man"
 - Metallica, 'Of Wolf and Man'

"What did Firsting feel like? That is most explicitly none of your
business... oh, what the hell. It felt like every orgasm you've ever had,
all rolled into one then with complete and utter terror and the biggest
adrenaline rush in history on top of it. Well, that doesn't even start to
describe it. It felt good. Really good. Definitely better than sex... or
anything else I've ever experienced. Basically, if it happened to you, you
would notice... Mind you, if you went schitzo like most shapeshifters do
then so would anyone else in the area." - Saotome-Tendo Enterprises CEO
Nabiki Tendo, asked to describe the sensation of first change.

***********************************

Happosai frowned. "Hey, chill out! I heard Mum's in the area and I was
looking for her. Like, what's done is done, huh? Oops, gotta go!"
Mortise stared at the swarm of yelling women who were pounding down the
street. Maybe Happosai was right - maybe leaving *would* be a good idea.
He jumped three stories onto a nearby roof. Happosai shot off down the
street, took a turning, dived through a window and popped out the other
side.
Mortise felt his eyes stop glowing. He snorted.
"Hmm... I'll have to make sure that little turd doesn't cause us any
problems."
He turned and headed back towards the dojo.

***********************************

Ranma scratched his chin. "So, what's the bad news?"
"It could be a lot worse. Five of ours dead, all told and not counting
Ranko. Two major injuries that'll take some time to heal up. 98 of theirs
dead and another 63 captured. Oh, and twelve defected to us. We got off
extremely lightly." Mi Soon cracked a grin at him. She had returned herself
to her youthful looks during the early stages of the cleanup, and now stood
around five nine tall with long blue hair and bearing a striking resemblance
to Shampoo.
Ranma nodded. "Yeah... I guess we got lucky bigstyle."
"Well, yes. The sheer amount of wolfsbane flying around stopped most people
shapeshifting which meant very few people got shredded. Most of the enemy
dead seem to be the work of yourself, Ryoga, Mortise and  - surprise
surprise - your father. Oh, and Akira. None of the non-combatants were hurt
in the slightest - well, apart from Nabiki and she only suffered mild
injuries."
Ranma nodded. "Next time I see Cow Lone I'm gonna rip off her head an' shit
down her neck fer what she done ta Nabs. Though I guess I'm gonna have ta
beat Soun ta it - he is bigtime pissed."
Mi Soon snorted. "I think I'll have to teach Kou Loun a little lesson in
manners. Again. She can be such a handful..."
"Ya what?"
"Didn't I tell you? She's my daughter."
"Oh yeah..." He turned and started to leave. "I gotta check Shampoo's
alright - she's pretty cracked up what wiv gettin' shot up like that an' her
mate dyin'. I'll see ya later."
Mi Soon nodded. She turned and continued writing her diary.

***********************************

Mortise walked into the workshop. He glanced around.
Spotting who he had been looking for, he walked over and knelt down beside
her. "Ranko..."
The redhead glanced up from where she'd been bolting a couple of components
onto her bike. "Yeah?"
"You know what you were saying about your missing leg?"
"What likes?"
"You said it doesn't hurt any more."
Ranko nodded. "Yeah. Since my accident... every day. Every fucking day it
hurt. Nerve pain, right?" She paused then shrugged. "Ask Mum about my reform
school days. I was on coke for three years." She shrugged again.
"So why the hell didn't you tell anyone?"
Ranko heaved herself upright. She glared at him for several seconds.
"I did. Why the hell do you think I don't exactly like my mother? She told
me I should put up with it. Then when I found something that helped she
busted me."
"You what? Why the fuck didn't you tell ME? Or Ranma?"
"So what'd you have done about it? Or Ranma? I figure we found the only
available cure tonight. Whoopie do, at fucking last. My accident was six
fucking years ago, Mortise. And that damn leg hurt for six fucking years,
twenty four fucking seven. Three hundred and whatever days a year, as in
non-stop."

************************************

Ranma slouched into his bedroom.
"Hey, ya alright, Shampoo?"
She nodded. "Sort of... we bury dead tonight."
Ranma frowned. "Right... so, what's th' process o' an Amazon funeral?"
Shampoo blinked a couple of times then started to explain.

***********************************

Two hours later the extended Saotome-Tendo-Hibiki family and the collected
Amazons were standing in a clearing in the woods outside Tokyo; the same
area of woodland Kou Loun and her cronies had been camped in.
Ranma swept his eyes round the gathered Amazons then glanced back at
Shampoo.
"Ya alright?"
"Sort of."
Mi Soon gestured for silence.
"My friends, we are gathered here today to remember the passing of five of
our finest young warriors. First and finest among their number was Sang
Tsu."
Ranma listened quietly as varied Amazons praised the deceased Sang Tsu.
Someone he had never known, gone just like that. He felt sick. She was a
pretty woman now the bloodstains from where she had been ripped in half were
cleaned away. So were the other three.
The last dead Amazon was Wu Chii.
He waited while Tiger and Shampoo said their pieces then stepped forwards
himself.
"Shampoo tells me it's traditional fer men ta not say anythin' durin' an
Amazon funeral. But ta hell with that, I got stuff I gotta say."
He turned, looked at where the five corpses lay on the stacked logs of a
funeral pyre and gestured towards the dead Amazons.
"I wanna thank all o' ya folks, especially this five. It's really too late
ta thank 'em, but I gotta. If it wasn't fer ya folks a whole bunch o' people
I care about would be dead or Cow Lone's captives. It hurts, seein' those
girls dead. It hurts real bad, right here where there ain't no technique
gonna block it. But we gotta go on, there ain't no way I'm gonna let 'em
have died fer nothin'. I owe ya. I owe all o' ya a helluva lot. More than
any guy should haveta owe ta anyone. I know it ain't much consolation ta you
folks who lost friends or family, but I'll do my damnedest ta pay off that
debt. Any o' ya. Any o' ya need somethin' I can help wiv, ya just ask."
He turned away from the pyre, gritting his teeth.
"I feel like it wuz my fault that they died."
Tiger stepped forwards again. She watched Ranma as he walked back towards
the crowd.
"Saotome..."
"Call me Ranma, huh?"
"Thanks."
After everyone had finished praising the dead they lit the funeral pyres and
left.

 ************************************

Ranma glared at the freshly cleared up garden.
"Alright. Feels like party time ta me." He indicated the substantial pile of
beer Kasumi and Nodoka had gone and bought during the cleanup.
The party lasted until at least three in the morning - that being when
Ranma, Akane and Shampoo went to bed. Ranko clearly remembered discovering
that drunk werewolf blood got her pissed but never had any recollection of
the events that followed. Nabiki fished her camera out, resulting in a roll
of pictures of incredibly drunk Amazons. Kasumi, along with about a dozen
others, managed to smoke four kilos of dope before passing out face down on
the kitchen table. Soun and Genma got very pissed very fast and spent most
of the night playing the most bizarre game of almost shogi anyone had ever
come across, only for an equally pissed Nodoka to interrupt them and start
trying to get how to go invisible out of Genma. Notable events of the night
included Ryoga vomiting in Mi Soon's lap then passing out on the toilet,
Nabiki passing out from Smirnoff overload and getting one eyebrow shaved off
and  Mao Xing getting in a drunken brawl with John Kirth who was too pissed
to defend himself.

 ************************************

Ranma stared at the ceiling for several seconds after he woke up.
Akane glanced at him from his left. "Morning."
"Did we really fuck on the dinin' table last night?"
"Uh... I think so."
Shampoo grunted and opened her eyes. "Wazzup?"
"Fuckin' hell, it's half past fuckin' eleven." Ranma slid over her and
started pulling his leathers on. "Weird - I should have a minger o' a
headache after that."
Shampoo grunted again and followed him out of bed, grabbing her underwear.
She had always slept naked and had seen no reason to change this, much to
Ranma's embarrassment. "I no have hangover too..."
Akane sighed. "I wonder when I'm going to start shapeshifting."
"Sooner or later. We ain't gonna know until ya start goin' woof when ya try
ta say hello. At least that's as far as I've figured out. Hell, chances are
that Nabiki an' Kasumi are gonna start first."
The trio of youths slouched downstairs. Soun was sitting and reading a
newspaper. Nabiki was nowhere in sight. Ryoga was curled up on an old
mattress, looking very like a cat dozing in front of a fire. Ranko was
through in the kitchen helping Kasumi. Genma was sitting holding a beercan
with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Mortise was there, leaning on the
kitchen doorframe and chatting with Ranko. He glanced round and grinned
toothily at Ranma.
"Morning, man."
"Hey, Mortise! How's tricks?"
The vampire boy stretched, causing a string of pops and cracks. "Typical
crap night. I really miss sleeping... that and not having to worry about
undead politics."
"Undead politics?"
"Yeah, the local Top Leech has been giving me trouble."
Ranma sniggered. "Reckon he can handle gettin' a couple o' hundred pissed
off Chinese Amazon Werewolves with Big Fuck Off Guns upside th' head?"
"Ranma, you don't need to fight my fights for me. I can handle that decaying
bastard easily."
"Mortise, yer a friend. I happen ta like helpin' people - especially
friends."
Mortise nodded. "I'll ask if I need help."
"Ya don't hesitate ta, man. We need ya around - yer th' one guy I trust not
ta spew fuckin' bullshit if I ask fer info about all this supernatural
crap."
Mortise smiled. "Thanks... I think."
"I done a lotta things I shouldn't, man. But one thing I ain't ever done is
let down a friend. An' I ain't gonna start."
Akane rolled her eyes. "I thought you didn't care about honour."
"I don't care what society sez is th' right thing ta do. I care about what I
think's th' right thing ta do. It ain't about honour, it's about havin'
ethics. If I see some fucker do somethin' that means they deserve a kickin'
then I'm gonna give 'em one. If I see shit I don't like I'm gonna get
involved. If I see someone gettin' fucked over - well, I happen ta like
helpin' people. I'm not an honourable man but I do have fuckin' standards
an' I do know right from wrong."
Everyone nodded thoughtfully. Ranma sighed and grabbed the weetabix.
"Ahh, food! Man I'm starvin'..."
Akane snorted. "Not surprising, you puked at least four times last night."
"Yeah? I remember chuckin' twice an' you chuckin' up five times."
Akane made a face. "Don't remind me..."
"At least it's a Saturday, we won't hafta go ta fuckin' school. Talkin' o'
school reminds me..." He grabbed Genma's beer and stuffed the can down the
back of the older man's leather jacket. "When're ya gonna teach me that move
ya used ta cut that spider thing in half, Dad? An' that goin' invisible
stunt ya used?"
Genma yelped and retrieved his beer. "Ranma! Those are secret techniques!"
"An' yer point is? I could use that shit."
Genma paused. "Son, I'll teach you the Kijin Raishuu-Dan, that's the vacuum
blade attack. But remember, that move is not to be used on living creatures
under any but the most utterly dire circumstances. No way in hell am I
teaching you the Umisenken."
Ranma grabbed a beercan off the table. He opened it then emptied it over
Genma's head.
"GROWF!"
"Dad ya fuckwit! Enough with th' secrets an' shit, I ain't gonna go teachin'
just anyone it. C'mon, we've trusted each other with our lives fer years!"
Ranko idly tossed a batch of hot water over their father, who continued
waving his hands around and risking spilling his beer. "No, no, no, no!"
"If ya don't watch it I'm gonna start callin' ya a dickhead again, Dad."
Genma put his beer down and discarded the sodden cigarette. "Ranma, those
techniques are *lethal*. Half of them were designed able to kill an Amerai
with one move. And I mean literally one move. I sealed them away around nine
years ago."
"That's not th' point, Dad. I figure Cow Lone's gonna be back an' who knows
what shit Akira's plannin'? What about this 'top leech' dick Mortise said
about? Who's gonna stop him if he decides ta go after Ranko? We *need*
powerful attacks. Ya got powerful attacks, ergo yer gonna teach me 'em."
Genma stared at the table for several seconds.
"Alright, Ranma. You win."
"Dad... thanks. I knew you'd come round ta my point o' view."
Genma glared at him. "Cheeky brat."
"Right back atcha, panda-boy... Hey, how come yer curse still works?"
Genma blinked several times then palmed his forehead.
"D'OH! I clean forgot! Since you've Firsted I can get rid of this!"
He pulled a silver pendant out of the front of his shirt, unclasped it's
chain and tossed it onto the table.
"So what's th' toby, Dad?"
"Ah... a small magic artifact contrived by John Kirth. When I wear it my
Jusenkyo curse is fully active as long as I don't shift to Battle or Ursine
form."
"Sneaky."
"Somewhat. We weren't expecting any of you kids to find out until you
actually shapeshifted... which isn't what happened." He smirked. "That's the
first of Akira's orders you royally screwed up, Ranma."
"Aw, c'mon. Let's get goin' with this trainin'."
"Enough with the evil grin, Ranma."
Ryoga uncurled and sat up. "Training? Secret techniques? Where's my share?"
"Fuckin' mousie ran away wiv it."
"Then I'm just gonna have to catch the little bugger. Dad, count me in."
Genma groaned then nodded. "Okay, okay, okay. Come on, you two. Let's get
out to the training hall."

 ************************************

Ranma slumped back on the bed.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaark. Whatta day... That wuz cool!"
Akane shot him a doubtful look. "Yawhat?"
"Aw, don't worry. I'll teach ya this stuff when yer gotten good enough,
right?"
"Bleah."
Shampoo shoved her hand down the front of Ranma's boxers.
"Maybe we do what you and Akane do last night, huh?"
"Hold up, I've still got me gunbelt on."

 ************************************

Nabiki stared into the gathering darkness, trying to ignore her missing
eyebrow and the suggestive noises coming from the other bedroom.
The moon was full. Full moon madness, huh? It sounded like Ranma, Akane and
Shampoo had that down pat. She scratched her head for a while, wondering
what to do about her glaring lack of combat ability.
"That's it."
She picked up her mobile phone.
"Look out, world. Nabiki Tendo is back on form..."

************************************

Mu Tze sat and silently glared out of the back of the stolen 40 foot artic.
The twenty odd Conservative Amazons who were sharing it with him followed
suit.
One of them offered him a pack of cigarettes. He silently accepted the
offer.
Halfway through his smoke one of the women broke the silence.
"Well, waddya know?"
"Those Clanners were sure tougher than I expected."
Mu Tze snorted. "I get the feeling Ranma Saotome equals trouble."
"Who the hell was that woman who cut Elder Kou Loun's arm off?"
"Ranma Saotome's fucking mother. Demon hunter from the Moroboshi clan."
"Ah. Big trouble then. Figure there's some infighting with them Saotome's -
didn't you see, she went for Akira Saotome."
"No shit Sherlock. I spent a few days with that bunch, remember? Most of
that lot hate Akira's guts. Apparently he's messed most of them around at
least once."
"I don't really give a shit about their internal politics. I'm going to
watch that Ranma Saotome character spew his guts if it's the last thing I
do. Next time, we think before we attack. Why didn't anyone scout them out
before we went ahead with the attack? Talk about fucking suicide."
"None of you geniuses had any idea how much firepower those fuckers have."
"So how come you didn't let us know, you pillock?"
"That's not my job. I'm an Amazon male, remember? I'm supposed to leave
fighting and spying to you lot, remember? And besides, I didn't know which
side I was on at that stage."
"So why should we trust you?"
"Because I haven't got a choice any more. I kidnapped his sister-in-law,
remember? From what I heard he thinks very highly of her. That means he's
probably planning to kill me. Ergo I am not on that rat bastard's side."
"Fuckhead."
Mu Tze shrugged. "Yeah well, I don't exactly worship you either."

************************************

Matsui climbed out of his car and slammed the door. He tucked his folder
under his arm and waddled over towards the school. The snarl of motorbike
engines and the scream of a jet announced Ranma and company arriving as he
walked through the front door.
He glanced over his shoulder. No less than six bikes, followed by four old
Chinese army trucks and Kasumi's Corvette.
Matsui chuckled. Ranma had obviously been up to more weirdness.

***********************************

Ranma casually stretched, producing a string of clicks and pops. He fished a
cigarette out of his pocket then turned to scan the schoolyard.
The mob of Amazon teenagers were warily examining the place. Nabiki was
climbing out of Kasumi's car, looking slightly seasick.
He lit up then spotted the Gosunkugi brothers entering the schoolyard.
Hikaru immediately headed over to join Ranma's gang.
"Yo, man. How's tricks?"
Hikaru snorted. "Shit as usual... Hey, did you hear about that gun battle
Friday night? I heard-"
"Dude, take a close look at my leathers. These things are kevlar lined,
they'll stop anything up to and including a 7.62 assault rifle bullet."
Hikaru looked confused then spotted the bullet scars. He let out a startled
squawk when Ranma flipped the hem of his jacket aside revealing his GP35.
"We wuz one side o' that gun battle, man. Five o' our friends gotten killed
Friday night."
"What?"
"Yeah. War ain't fun."
"But... I heard there was miniguns and stuff going off! Someone blew up a
house!"
Akane snorted. "That was a spider tank. I'll show you the wrecks if you
like. Hell, about six houses got trashed. The bazooka you might have heard
about is mine."
"Er... I guess you won, right?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah. The bad guys lost over 160 people."
"What? How?"
"90 - odd dead, sixty or so captured an' twelve switched sides." He jerked
his thumb at Shampoo. "She caught a few 25mm slugs in the crotch. Mao Xing
there - Shampoo's brother - well, ya really gotta see what his bike does.
Ranko got shot up real bad. Mum nearly done th' bad guy's boss in. Nabs got
kidnapped but her dad got her back no bother."
Hikaru blinked a few times. "Er, how come Ranko and Shampoo are still moving
if they got shot up?"
"Hey, Ranko - ya wanna tell him?"
Ranko nodded. "Yeah. Gos, I'm a vampire."
"An' we're werewolves. Well, Dad's a werebear an' we don't know what sorta
beasties Akane, Ryoga an' Nabs are gonna turn inta. I'm guessin' yer human,
right?"
"Like, what makes you think I'm gonna believe-"
Ranko turned round and looked him straight in the eye. She burnt a little ki
and opened her mouth.
Hikaru Gosunkugi blinked. Ranko's eyes were glowing red and her canines had
just extended into three centimetre fangs.
"Er... forget I asked that."
"Cool, cool."
Ranma sounded somewhat deeper. Hikaru looked round then up.
Nine foot of wolfman grinned down at him then shrugged expressively. Akane
slapped Ranma's (furry) arse.
"Showoff."
Ranma snorted and returned to human form. "Yep. So, ya still want ta be
mates wiv us, Gos?"
Hikaru blinked a few times.
"Hell yeah!"
"Hey, Nabs! I just remembered - ya know how ya were talkin' about wantin' me
ta train ya? Ya still up fer it?"
Nabiki ambled over. "Yes. So, when do we start, Sensei?"
"Soon as we get home. An' don't call me that, I look fer Dad every time I
hear someone say that."
"Hey, chill out, bro. I was just trying to be polite."
"Appreciated but ya don't need ta. I like ya an' I gotten a lotta respect
fer ya. Ya know that, don't ya?"
"Yup." Nabiki paused then glanced at her watch. "Ranma, could we have a word
in private? We've got ten minutes before school starts."
"Sure. C'mon, we'll head round th' back o' th' gym hall."
They walked to said place, where Ranma casually leant against the wall.
"So, what's botherin' ya?"
"You knew about that bug I put in your jacket before your trip to China. I
figured it out last night."
Ranma nodded. "Yup. I know what a bug looks like. And?"
"Why don't you mind?"
"Because I trust ya. Ya wouldn't plant bugs unless ya had a damn good
reason. I like th' idea o' ya knowin' what's happenin'. Ya got a good head
on yer shoulders, Nabs. I figured if things went wrong ya'd be able ta sort
it out. Look, I got a bit o' a confession ta make - me an' Ryoga lifted a
shitload o' data off yer laptop a while back. I figured with th' contacts ya
got - well, ya needed ta know what wuz goin' on so ya could pull our asses
outta th' fire if everythin' went ta hell. I like, trust an' respect ya,
Nabs. Get used ta it 'cos I ain't gonna stop."
"Damnit, Ranma. I wish I hadn't let my little sister get you."
Ranma sniggered. "Aw, don't ya worry, Nabs. There's gonna be a guy fer ya
sooner or later. An' yer part o' my family, yer my sister. C'mon, let's
head."

***********************************

Tatewaki Kuno looked up with some interest on his face as Nabiki walked
briskly into the classroom.
"Good morning, Nabiki Tendo."
"Morning, Kuno. How's tricks?"
Kuno snorted. "Just the usual. Say, you are beginning to pick up vocal
habits from your brother-in-law."
"Am I? I hadn't noticed... So, anything unusual been happening in the House
of Kuno? How's Kodachi?"
"Shaken. What in the world occurred on Friday night? She refused to speak of
it to me, which is most unusual."
"Oh, we had a spot of bother with a bunch of Chinese werewolves. Guess what,
they were after Ranma. I think you can figure the result."
"A battle, correct?"
"Score one for the Blue Thunder."
"Nabiki, you know I have given up on that - er - 'name'."
"And you know I'm pulling your leg."
"So that was what the gunfire I overheard was all about. Ranma Saotome
versus the world, huh?"
"The Saotome-Tendo-Hibiki family and friends versus a psychotic old Chinese
hag and assorted lackeys, actually. Kodachi got involved when she found my
sister having a shooting match with a dozen or so enemies. She insisted on
staying to help... she's a damn good shot. Especially considering she has to
do everything one handed."
Kuno blinked. "Where in the world did she get her hands on a gun? My
twelve-bore was definitely in the-"
"That, Kuno, is classified information. I am not at liberty to discuss it
with anyone not cleared for it, and that includes you."
"Huh?"
"We - as in the extended Saotome-Tendo-Hibiki family - are working for the
government, Kuno. Special forces, in fact."
Kuno blinked. A lot.

***********************************

"An' what th' fuck d'ya think yer playin' at?"
Kato Gosunkugi froze then looked up from his meddling with Ranma's bike. The
youth in question was standing glaring at him.
Ranma pulled his GP35 out of his pocket.
"Now, yer gonna fuck off outta here an' never so much as touch my bike again
if ya know what's good fer ya. Unless ya really want me ta blow yer fuckin'
head clean off."
Kato stood up and backed away. "What the hell?"
"Yeah, it's a gun. A real live Brownin' GP35. Fully loaded ta boot." He
whipped out the Special Forces identity card Nabiki and Honda had given him
the evening before and shoved it into Kato's face.
"You're with the army? But you're only like, seventeen!"
"An'? Big deal.  I'm capable of knockin' tank turrets off wiv me bare hands.
I'm a werewolf, slugboy. Fuck with me again and yer gonna get wasted."
Kato hurriedly backed away. Ranma shook his head, pocketed his gun and ID
and turned to his bike.
He muttered a few obscenities. "Ya fuckin' psychotic bastard! Undoin' th'
nut on th' rear shock? Fer fuck sake, ya were tryin' ta get me killed? So
what th' fuck did I do so wrong? Yer th' one who came in here an' started
swearin' at my wife. Hey, Hikaru - mind if I smash yer brother's face in?"
"Go ahead, I don't give a shit."
"Aw fuck - he legged it."
"Hey, you know how you were talking about teaching Nabiki martial arts? Like
a second class member?"
"Ya wanna be able ta kick that fuckhead's ass, right?"
"And my father."
"No prob. Jump in onea th' trucks."
Ranma, having finished replacing the nut, swung onto his bike and glanced
around.
"Alright, people! Let's get th' fuck outta here!"
Nabiki swung onto the back of Akane's bike.
"Hey! Get off, you haven't got a lid!"
"Blow it, Akane. The Amazon's trucks are *full* and no way in hell do I get
yet another ride in Kasumi's car this *year*. You're giving me a lift and
that is final."
Akane blinked. She looked at the Amazon's vehicles - sure enough, they were
heavily loaded. And Nabiki did have a point about Kasumi's driving
technique.
"Oh, alright then."
The CB roared into life as Akane's foot shoved the kickstart down. The twin
headlamps came on as the engine caught, first letting out a rough clatter of
firings then settling to a steady growl.
Akane grinned as she pulled the clutch in. This... this was what it was all
about.
She nudged the gearshift down into first, the box producing a solid chunk.
The turbo was audibly starting to build up boost pressure, a slight hiss
mixed into the rattle from the bike's exhaust.
Nabiki wrapped her arms around her pregnant little sister. She felt safer
here than she had all day.
Over on the huge black Gixer Ranma pumped his fist into the air, signalling
their departure. The six bikes peeled out of the schoolyard in a loose
formation.
Akane noticed that Ranma seemed to be setting a slower pace than usual. She
smirked and gassed her bike hard. The turbo kicked in, thrusting the stud
encrusted Superdream forwards at a rapidly increasing rate.
Ranma rolled his eyes and snapped the GSXR's throttle to the endstop. It's
front wheel jumped off the ground as the rear wheel lost traction and
started spinning, a fine jet of blue smoke shooting from under it.
Shampoo crouched low over her bike's fuel tank and opened the throttle. The
bike started to accelerate, lifting it's front wheel an inch or so into the
air then the turbo kicked in and it shot up into her trademark monster
wheelie.
Ranko reacted next; she slammed her HD down a gear and gave it a healthy
handful. The big old V-twin let out a bellowing roar and lifted the front
end smoothly off the deck.
Ryoga thumbed on the afterburners.
Mao Xing smirked. He cracked his mecha bike's throttle wide open - it was
unusual in that the twistgrip was on the left handlebar - while
downshifting. His bike reared up into a wheelie as massive as Shampoo's, the
front wheel pointing skywards. Two jets of blue flame shot from it's
exhausts. The engine - being a fusion turbine - produced a doppler howl
quite unlike the jet-scream from Ryoga's bike or the bellow from the piston
engined machines. It sounded more like the scream of a passing TIE fighter.
The pack of bikes shot onto Nerima's high street at around 124 MPH.
It was at that point that a Metro turned out of a sidestreet six feet in
front of Akane's bike.
The wildly speeding CB hit the car square in the bonnet, launching both
riders in a parabola as it's rear end flipped up. The bike's forks and front
wheel exploded. One of Akane's six - guns flew out of her pocket. The bike's
frame ripped the car's wheel in half then hit the engine and stove in it's
No. 1 piston. Ranma laid his Gixer over and dodged the wrecks, his brakes on
hard enough to lock the rear wheel. Shampoo somehow managed to ramp her
wheelieing bike over the wreckage as Akane's bike cartwheeled clean over the
trashed car.
Akane came down on her back some sixty feet on. Ranma had fitted a back
protector to her trenchcoat and she was wearing a kevlar flak jacket under
it; she slid some distance before smacking her helmeted head into a parked
car. She staggered to her feet.
Nabiki, who was dressed in her school uniform, wasn't so lucky. Having been
further back on the bike she was thrown further when it bucked; she landed
on the car Akane slid into, bashing it's roof in some six inches and
smashing it's windscreen with her feet before cartwheeling off the car and
coming to a rest in a  giftshop's window display, having headbutted her way
through the window.
Mao Xing's bike piled into the wreck. Being armoured it had substantially
more luck than Akane's ride; it smashed into the car like an express train,
lifting itself off the ground and flipping the car onto it's side,
incidentally demolishing a pair of wheelie bins. Mao rammed his thumb on the
transformation trigger and fired his retro-boosters. The powersuit slid six
feet on it's knees, boiling jets of raw plasma issuing from the braking
ducts.
Finally Ryoga skidded to a halt beside Ranma.
"Oh. Shit."
Akane recovered her .44 Magnum and staggered over to what was left of her
bike. Ryoga dropped her jetbike onto it's sidestand and dashed over to where
Nabiki had landed. Ranma sprinted after her. Mao straightened up and
followed them. Shampoo sat and stared on her bike. Ranko rode after her
brother and sister.
"NABIKI!"
The middle Tendo girl was lying in the centre of a swath of shattered glass,
broken shelves, her own blood and scattered goods. She was still moving.
"NABS! STAY WHERE YA ARE!"
"Shit, shit, shit! Someone phone Doctor Tofu!"
Ranma suddenly skidded to a halt.
"We won't need ta do that." He pulled out his handgun. "She's Firstin'."
The Amazon trucks that had been following them skidded to a halt. Varied
Amazons leapt out. They assumed the worst and brought their guns.
Nabiki opened her eyes. She let out a low moan.
"Nabs? Are ya in there?"
"R...Ranma?"
Ranma shapeshifted as he walked over to her.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Ranma... what's going on?"
"Looks like ya just learnt ta shapeshift."
"I feel really weird..." Nabiki remarked, completely failing to get what he
was talking about. "And my head hurts, but I dunno why."
"Guess yer head hurts because ya just headbutted through a plate glass
window wiv it. An yer feelin' weird 'cause yer a fuckin' near ten foot tall
catwoman. Okay, people, enough wiv th' gawpin' - let's get outta here. Ya
lot - load what's left o' Akane's bike onta onea th' trucks. Shampoo,
gissahand wiv Nabs since ya regenerate any cuts. C'mon - let's move it!"

***********************************

Akira went bugeyed. "WHAT happened?!?!"
"I already told ya, dickwad."
"Hang on, hang on, hang on. How many people saw this? Any security cameras?"
"Ya weren't worried about that when me an' Shampoo went, so why now?"
"You and Xian Pu didn't First in the fucking high street during rush hour!
You went in front of the house late evening. Shampoo went mid afternoon in
an almost deserted backstreet. Nabiki? In the middle of a horde of
witnesses! And probably on fucking camera!"
"Kiss my ass, shit-for-brains. We just had a ragin' firefight in th' middle
o' town if ya forgot."
"A raging firefight that the armed forces have agreed to ignore. Not
something that will bring fucking demon hunters down on our heads!"
"Kiss my fuckin' ass! I ain't scared of demon hunters - not wiv a few
hundred trigger-happy Amazons an' th' best fuckin' demon hunter in th'
country on our side! Or have ya forgotten who my mum is?"
"You don't know what I know about those scum!"
Ranma jammed his gun into Akira's face.
"What are ya callin' Mum?"
"FOR FUCK SAKE! Get that damn thing out of my face before I rip you in two!"
"Big words, fuckwit. How about if I let Mum skewer ya?"
"LOOK HERE! The five Hunter Guilds all know our weakness. Wolfsbane, Ranma."
"An'? What's that gonna do when I rip their fuckin' heads off? Or stuff a
.44 Magnum down their fuckin' throats an' pull th' trigger? Yer forgettin'
who yer talkin' to. Ranma Saotome, hardest damn fucker on th' planet,
remember?"
Nodoka looked up from the newspaper she was reading. "Some of the Guild
types are pretty good, Ranma. They don't hesitate to fight dirty, set
ambushes and so forth. I'll see what I can do to at least keep the Guilds I
have contacts with off your back... but that's only three out of seven
Guilds."
Nabiki smirked slightly as she stepped out of the kitchen where she had been
talking to Kasumi. "I'll speak to Honda. He'll be able to clamp down on the
details. Some sort of coverup would probably be a wise move. After all, a
videotape of me shapeshifting would act as a quite effective 'shoot me'
sign. Oh, and I think I'll have a natter with my own Guild contacts. I know
several of the most respected demon hunters in Japan. They work closely with
Honda's boys and he'll be able to give us a clean bill of safety with them."
She smirked again, directing it at Akira. "There is after all more than one
way to skin a cat."
Akira shot upright.
"How dare you show your-"
He stopped, suddenly aware of the sheer quantity of firearms now levelled at
his forehead.
Ranma rolled his eyes.
"Ya really are a stupid piece of shit, Akira. Firstly, why th' fuck does
bein' chucked through a window causin' First Change strike ya as a crime?
Secondly, how th' fuck d'ya manage ta be thick enough ta *still* think ya
can get away wiv talkin' ta my sister like that?"
Nabiki smirked again. "I think I can defend myself, Ranma. Mister Akira, I
point blank refuse to take any of your bullshit. According to what I've been
told, the Tendo family are technically a Clan separate from your own.
Therefore Daddy, as head of our family, is the only person capable of
calling myself and Kasumi to task. Akane is an unusual case - she is both
the champion of our family and wed to the future Lord Packmaster of your own
clan. Therefore whose jurisdiction she falls under depends whose turf she is
on. Correct? Now, as this is the residence of the head of the Tendo clan,
meaning I somehow suspect this is Tendo territory, I believe you can go to
hell."
Akira frowned. She had a point.
"Very well. I'll speak to Tendo. Don't think your ass is out of the fire
yet..."
"Fuckmonkey, if ya get her in trouble because some myopic shit sent her an'
Akane fer an amateur flyin' lesson then screw th' consequences, I'm gonna
blast ya somewhere ya can't regenerate it. I mean, sure, we were speedin'.
But that dickhead popped out six foot in front o' Akane." Ranma turned and
jabbed a finger at Nabiki. "An' you! I know as well as ya do ya can ride a
bike. What th' fuck'd ya think ya were playin' at, not wearin' a lid? Akane,
why th' fuck didn't ya refuse? Nabiki, yer gettin' wheels. I gotten enough
spare parts ta put together a bike for ya. Go get yerself leathers an' a
lid, Dad's gotten gear in stock that should fit ya. That's th' last fuckin'
time ya play that stunt if I got anythin' ta do wiv it! Come on - we're
headin' fer th' workshop."
Akira looked confused. "I thought you said-"
"Dickwad. It ain't either o' 'em's fault they crashed. It IS both o' 'em's
fault Nabiki wuz dressed in a fuckin' school uniform an' no lid!"
Ranma slammed the door in Akira's face.

***********************************

It was a very subdued Nabiki Tendo who sat and stared at Ranma's back as he
fastened the new set of forks to the straightened frame of Akane's bike.
After finishing yelling at Akira he had frogmarched her into the workshop.
Genma had taken one look at his son and hurriedly left the building.
Ranma, Mao Xing, Ranko, Mortise and Ryoga were working on two projects at
once.
Mending Akane's bike and building a new machine. Like the bikes Ranma had
given Akane and Shampoo it was a CB500 engine in a CB250 frame.
Nabiki just sat quietly in her new leathers and watched. It took her nearly
half an hour to pluck up the courage to speak.
"Ranma..."
"Ya?"
"Um... any idea why I didn't frenzy?"
Ranma shrugged. "Guess yer part of th' 0.1 percent o' Amerai who don't when
they First. Ask Mi Soon."
Mortise glanced up from where he had just finished bolting the head onto the
CB500 engine.
"I have a different theory. 99.9 percent of teenage Amerai don't know what's
going to happen to them. You hadn't had time for it to really sink in.
Nabiki, how long have you known what species you are?"
"About seven or eight weeks."
"There you go. You were fully expecting to First Change and soon, correct?
In Ranma's case - well, it was just under a week after he knew what was
going to happen. I'm guessing he half didn't believe it. Am I right?"
Ranma nodded. "It was like, yaright. What's th' chances o' me an' both th'
girls bein' werewolves... more fool me."
"There you go. Now, Shampoo had no idea what was going to happen. It went
off in her face with absolutely no warning... lucky Ranma was there with a
gun full of Wolfsbane slugs. It's partially my fault - I should have told
you immediately instead of respecting the idiocy all the Clan Diva offshoots
call a tradition."
"Don't blame yerself, Mortise. Shit has a habit o' happenin'."
"I know, I know. But sometimes one has a chance of preventing it."
"Th' benefit o' hindsight. Ya finished wiv that wrench?"
Mortise nodded and tossed him the spanner.
Nabiki frowned. "Any idea how come I'm a werecat? Dad's a werewolf. From the
way Mum died I'd guess she was human."
"How'd yer mum go?"
Nabiki closed her eyes for a moment. "She was stabbed to death by a
burglar."
"Aw, shit..."
"She did manage to kill him before she drowned. Punctured lung... she
drowned on her own blood. After cutting him in half with a sashami knife."
"Musta been one tough lady."
Nabiki sighed. "Where do you think Akane got it from? Sure wasn't Dad."
Kasumi looked up from where she was adjusting her car's carbs. "You didn't
like, see how Dad went when we figured you'd been like, kidnapped. He went
like he was before Mum died."
"I was seven when Mum died, remember? From seven to nearly eighteen is a
hell of a long time."
"Hey, when's yer birthday, Nabs?"
"Just over six weeks. Twelfth of October."
Ranma nodded. "Gotcha."
Kasumi giggled. "It's like, funny how our birthdays are all like, within a
month of each other. Maybe there was something in the like, air during like,
January."
"Yer twenty in October, right?"|
"Second of like, November, man. Akane's the fifth of October."
"We've got completely sidetracked. Anyone got any clues why I'm a werecat?"
Mortise snorted. "It's really very simple. Nine out of ten Amerai born as
humans turn out to be werewolves. You're part of the other one in ten. It
seems to be pretty random. If you procreated with another tiger then the
result would be born as a tiger, First Change at around eighteen months.
With a human or another Amerai you'd probably end up giving birth to a
werewolf, unless the other Amerai was also a weretiger in which case it
would rise to a 50-50 chance of getting a weretiger. Confused yet? Let me
tell you, Amerai genetics is the most utterly *fucked* subject I've ever
come across. You people have at least sixteen sets of DNA. One set defines
your natural forms. With training you can learn to modify these forms. The
other sets seem to give rise to the possibility of producing other types of
shapeshifter. Thus Genma and Nodoka producing what will probably turn out to
be werewolves. Oh, by the way, Ranko - you aren't off the First Change hook.
Vampirised Amerai keep their powers of shapeshifting, even if if they
haven't First Changed yet. This gives you what has to be one of the toughest
hyperimmune systems ever to exist. Oh, and believe it or not you can
reproduce fairly normally. Amerai reproductive systems are *incredibly*
tough. They need to be so a pregnancy can survive what Amerai are 'built'
for - combat. A human woman's reproductive system does not survive the
transformation to vampiric form. A female werewolf's does."
Ranma glanced up. "What about yer nuts?"
"Them? They work. I don't know, maybe vampirism is sexist. It'd be my guess
that whoever created the original vampires was male and didn't like the idea
of sterilising guys. You know how much shame is connected to being
impotent."
Ranko scratched her head. "What do you mean, 'fairly normally'?"
"Fairly normally in that you can get pregnant and carry a child to term. I
do know such a child will mature normally, but whether you'll end up
producing a straight vampire, a straight werecreature or a cross is anyone's
guess. An Amerai woman's reproductive system is the last thing to go if she
dies. Hell, it's been known for a several weeks beheaded corpse to give
birth."
"Gross."
"Yes. Very. Akira found that out the hard way when he had his mother
executed. Two weeks later out popped Mi Soon."
"So how the fuckd'ya find that 'un out?"
"Red Hanovan. It's amazing what gems of information someone who's over five
thousand years old remembers."
"Let me get this straight. Mi Soon's mum had been dead for two weeks when
she gave birth to Mi Soon?"
"Yup. Longest ever known was one month, six days and around eighteen hours."
Ranko stood up.
"Mortise, next time I want to know gross facts I'll let you know, OK?"

And another one bites the dust!

Chapter 25: And one for the road.
"Cars are crashin' every night, I drink n' drive everything's in sight, I
make the fire but I miss the firefight. I hit the bullseye every night" -
Guns 'N' Roses, 'It's So Easy'

"Ya ever had that feelin' where ya just know somethin's gonna happen,
somethin' bad, but ya dunno what an' dunno when? I got used ta it years ago,
back durin' th' trouble we had wiv Kou Loun's Amazons." - Ranma Saotome.

***********************************

Ranma set his spanner down.
"Well, that's th' engineerin' finished. Onta th' artistic bit! Okay, Nabs -
what way d'ya want this thing ta look?"
Nabiki scratched her head. "Um - like something you really don't want to
have a crash with?"
"Right. Spikes an' lurid paint." Ranma grabbed a handful of sheet steel
offcuts. "Pass us that angle-grinder. Nabs, see if ya can find any nails.
Hey, Mao - fetch a  machine gun, huh? Onea th' 7.62's." He grinned at
Nabiki. "We gotten permission ta carry loaded guns. So we might as well be
as blatant as possible about it. Now, how can I rig th' gun so it can only
fire when th' ignition's on... servo trigger."
Nabiki blinked. "Spikes and a live machine gun? I like it already!"
"Great. How about that blue camo pattern? It looks rattish but it's still
very visible. Or we could paint her flat black then splatter dayglo paint
all over th' place. Waddya think?"
Nabiki scratched her head. "Um - how about a wasp stripes pattern?"
"That's it! Th' Stinger!"
"Look, I've got to go and finalise a couple of deals for weaponry. So I'll
see you later, okay?"
"Gotcha. We'll get this thing finished while yer away. Ya goin' far?"
"Only as far as my computer."
"Right. So what's th' kit?"
"REAL firepower. It's a surprise."
"Alright, alright. Have yer little secrets."
Nabiki grinned. "I guarantee you're gonna love the kit I'm organising."
"Hey, Mortise - a while back ya said this Hanovan person's five hundred, now
yer sayin' she's over five thousand."
"I said she was over five hundred. I didn't say by how much."

***********************************

Mi Soon shook her head as she watched Mao Xing dash back into the workshop
with an M60 machine gun slung over his shoulder. So Nabiki had got herself
into trouble with Akira. Well, time would tell the reaction. She slung her
AK over her shoulder and ambled into the Saotome-Tendo house.
Soun and Genma looked up from their bike building as she entered the living
room - they were putting the final touches to Soun's new bike. It was an
impressive looking machine, short and slightly squat looking with an
incredible German-style 'ducks arse' rear end poking up to level with where
the rider's armpits would be, and a oval mini handlebar fairing with twin
headlamps. The classic streetfighter look. It's four exhausts were polished
titanium - incredibly expensive and downright beautiful - and there was a
near photo real painting of an attractive twentysomething Japanese woman on
the fuel tank. The rest of the bodywork was painted a lurid snot green.
Genma grinned at her. "Evening."
"Hello, Genma. What the hell are the kids up to in the workshop?"
Genma shrugged. "I saw the look on Ranma's face and left."
Soun snorted. "As far as I gathered they're repairing Akane's bike and
building one for Nabiki. Ranma's pretty pissed about that crash."
"So has Akira vented his spleen?"
Soun snorted. "Actually, it reminds me of Dad's description of why we split
with Clan Saotome. Akira ranted for over half an hour about Nabiki being
insolent, incompetent and endangering the secrecy of the entire Amerai race.
Essentially, fuck him I'm not going to even wag a finger at my daughter over
a genuine accident. Though I think I will talk to Ranma and Akane about
speeding."
Genma laughed. "If I know my son he normally takes the lead, and considering
the sheer level of skill he rides with he is perfectly safe riding down the
high street during rush hour at well over the ton. Hell, he's been riding
daily since he was six. Akane just doesn't have his level of skill. From
what I heard she took the lead - Ranma said he was riding slower to try to
stop any chance of Nabiki getting hurt. I guess Akane didn't twig."
Mi Soon shook her head. "That Akira... if it was up to him he'd probably
have Nabiki killed. I must admit I think less of my brother every day. And
as I already thought he was an idiot..."
Genma growled. "He is not an idiot. He is a sick fuckhead who think's he's
God. That brute deserves a slow and extremely horrible death."
Mi Soon blinked. The level of vitriol in Genma's voice was... unusual to say
the least. "Okay..."

***********************************

Mortise stood up.
"Well, that's that done."
Ranma snorted. "Yeah, apart from th' yellow. Fag break."
Ryoga casually stretched. "Man, I'm gaspin'."
Mao Xing rolled his eyes. "You smokers all same."
"Bite me, fanboy."
Mortise groaned.
"Don't talk about biting people. It makes me thirsty."
Ranma stuck his tongue out. "Okay, in that case kiss my ass." He paused.
"Nah, don't have th' same ring ta it."
"Why 'fanboy'?"
"Pass. It's a quote from somewhere - everyone uses it. Hey, I've been
wondering about something. Where's all that extra bulk come from when yer
bike transforms? I mean, it's fuckin' massive at any rate but th' battle
armour form is nearly twice th' size."
Mao shrugged. "How the hell would I know? I know how the bike form works -
well, apart from the engine, it's some kind of fusion reactor crossed with a
gas turbine - but apart from that I don't have a clue. I do know that the
bike sort of morphs into the armour's basic frame - it's got all the
actuators. Where the plating comes from and where the wheels go is past
me... Maybe Mi Soon would have some idea."
"Right, think I'll go check out wiv her."
"Ya, ya. Whatever."

***********************************

Mi Soon was smoking when Ranma found her. She glanced up as he swung himself
into the back of the truck
"Hello, Ranma, What's up?"
"Aw, not much. Just wanted ta ask somethin' about Mao Xing's bike."
"Oh? What about it?"
"Where th' fuck's all th' extra bulk come from when he transforms it?"
"Ah. An interesting question. That machine is a five thousand year old
example of ancient Amerai technology, designed by the same people as the
infantry tanks Kou Loun used... by the time it was built they had been in
production for nearly six hundred years. Decidedly out of date."
"Th' point bein'?"
"Magus Kirth described the Stew to you, correct?"
"Yup."
"Well, the theory that bike is built on is that there is a similar dimension
filled with inanimate matter. That model of power armour is supposedly able
to tap into it, or that was the manufacturer's blurb. Personally I think
they actually store the alternate form's armour panels at 90 degrees on the
seventh dimension. Those machines used to be very popular with youth packs
and lone wolf types - what you'd call motorbike gangs and solo adventurers.
High speed transport and hellacious amounts of punch in the one package.
Shapeshift ready to boot. Dad used to ride one when he was a teenager. So
did I - hell, Mao Xing's got my old bike. Beautiful machine, isn't it? I was
delighted when Mao dug her out of the ruins at Landing. Even more so when he
got her running again."
Ranma nodded. "Was that yer first bike?"
"Yeah."
He grinned. "I still gotten a soft spot fer my old CB500 - ain't got a clue
where she is now. Funny how yer first bike sticks in yer head, innit."
"Yeah. Imagine how pleased I was when the humans reinvented the motorcycle.
It was like, at last. You and Ryoga own the only modern bikes that I'd call
half decent... pity they adopted such a peculiar control system."
"I'd call th' controls on Mao's bike weird, but then I'm used ta a modern
setup."
"You would be."
"So what sorta engine does she use?"
"Ah... fusion turbine. I think that's how it translates. It uses a tomahawk
reactor to drive a turbine. The vanes are monomolecular semineutronium -
that's why the bike's so heavy. Each vane weighs around 250 kilos and
there's fifty of them in there. It would take around fifteen thousand of
them to equal the thickness of a banknote."
"So how th' fuck d'ya manufacture that?"
"The engine is assembled and maintained by nanites. All Mao had to replace
to get her running was the capacitor discharge unit on the starter. He had
to charge the powerpack and that took three days plugged into a 240 volt
generator. It took him ages to figure out the fuel - raw hydrogen."
"Hydrogen? Ya can run a piston motor on that shit but I wouldn't advise it.
Means sittin' wiv a bomb between yer legs."
"Yes, but a hydrogen fusion reactor is a much more efficient way to derive
power from the gas. You use nearly 100 percent of the available power. Plus
you need to carry much less, and since it's so heavily shielded and armoured
there's scant chance of the fuel detonating in the event of a crash. Witness
the comparative damage to Akane's bike and Mao's bike in the accident which
heralded Nabiki's First Change. Akane's human tech bike was almost
completely destroyed by the force of the collision. Mao's Amerai tech
machine wrecked the car and escaped with no more damage than scrapes in the
knee plates."
"Er - just one thing..."
"What's that?"
"How th' fuck d'ya get Mao's bike upright if ya drop it?"
Mi Soon facefaulted violently.

***********************************

It was a pleasant enough evening. The day which came before had been hot and
sunny to the point of being stifling. Now half of Tokyo had the same idea -
getting out in the cool evening air and unwinding from the stresses of a
hot, stuffy day at work or school. Vampires filtered through the crowd,
their distorted ki clearly visible to the supernatural eye.
A certain group of youths, two vampires among their number, were discussing
where to go and what to do.
Ranko popped a fresh cigarette into her mouth and lit up, earning her a
glare from Akane. She shot Mortise a cheerful grin.
"So, what are we gonna do?"
"I dunno. How about dropping by one of the nightclubs and finding a bite to
drink?"
Ranma snorted. "Reckon we're gonna go for a slightly different drink. That
place called Rage." The rock club they had properly met Shampoo in.
"Coming?"
Mortise made a face. "I don't know if that's a good idea. The place I was
thinking of - one of Tokyo's best rock clubs - is owned by an undead pal of
mine. Nobody bats a fucking eyelid if you have a quick bite."
"Well, I never been ta th' place. What's it called?"
"Lester's World of Rock. The owner's an Irish expat."
Akane nodded. "I know the place, they play excellent industrial on Fridays.
I've only been there twice, it's a bit of a trek when you don't have
wheels."
"Mortise, I think you can guess what Ryoga would do if someone tried to bite
her neck."
"Ryoga smells of werewolf. Werewolves don't taste too good, they'll go for
the humans. No offence, but werewolf blood is fucking bitter."
Nabiki scratched her head. "Reckon we should borrow a truck off Mi Soon? I
plan on getting completely smashed."
"Might be a good idea. I can ride when I'm ratarsed, so can Ryoga. But I
doubt you lot can handle it."
"Right." Mortise smirked. "I'll drive since I'm not planning on getting
wasted."
"I'd figure whoever owns the truck would drive."
"Alright, whoever's going by truck go with Mortise. Hey, Nabiki - did that
deal you were talking about come off?"
"Give me some credit, Ranma. The... goods will be delivered within 24 hours,
payment on receipt and cleared by Honda. I learnt to use this gear a couple
of years ago... you really do not want to know how. Oh, Akane - I've managed
to arrange for the JSDF to supply ammo to us."
Akane punched one fist triumphantly into the air. "Excellent! Decent quality
cases at last! Thanks, Nabiki!"
"Come on, let's get mobile."

***********************************

Jude Lester sat back in the DJ's booth and swept her eyes over the crowd.
The nightclub was packed - the Friday night industrial set always drew a
horde. She noticed several Amerai; their distinctive aura patterns were
highly visible. A couple of vampires with them?
She glanced at one of her lackeys.
"I need to speak to someone. Cover things here."
He nodded; the digital mixing decks were basically a giant MP3 player. Once
set running they would do their job perfectly and seamlessly.
Jude affected a rolling swagger as she headed down to the bar. She slid
easily through the crowd; people recognised her and squeezed out the way.
She arrived in the middle of an involved conversation.
"... old bitch. I figure we ain't seen th' last o' that pickled fuckin'
monkey, not by a long shot."
Shampoo nodded her agreement. "Is so. Kou Loun not give up easy."
Mortise groaned. "Look, we've got a supply of full power ammunition. Akane
can fix up hot-loads and we can get John Kirth to sort us a supply of those
weird slugs he uses. I mean, from the quality of work on the cases I looked
at someone's got to be manufacturing them."
Nabiki rubbed her chin. "I could give Honda the specifications. The boys who
make gear for the JSDF keep their mouths shut, and we can trust Honda. Sure,
he knows exactly who we are. He also knows we're on his side."
Ryoga smirked. "How about I get on to Herb? I saw he practising - I mean,
wow. Talk about serious fuckloads of ki. I'd figure he's packing about
fifty, maybe sixty times the power of us lot. He claims to be part fucking
dragon."
Mortise nodded. "You mean Prince Herb of the Musk, right? He's half human.
The other half is a native supernat, nobody seems to know what. He's a
complete one-off and damn is he powerful. I've seen him take on an entire
tank division. It was like someone shooting bunny rabbits with an elephant
gun."
Ranma smirked. "Mi Soon taught me a couple o' tricks that'll come in handy.
I'll teach Ryoga, don't figure anyone else can handle it yet."
"A couple of tricks?"
"Yeah. Th' Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken an' what's called the Hadoken. She sez
there's a more powerful version but I ain't got enough ki ta use it yet, an'
she sez I gotten more than any o' you lot. Dad's secret techniques should
turn out handy - I've been figuring how ta expand on 'em usin' th'
techniques Mi Soon gave me."
"Werewolf busting is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and you guys
have. It's Joketsuzo's allies I'm worried about."
"Allies?"
"Yeah. Believe it or not, Kou Loun actually has friends. Some of them are
pretty goddamn dangerous... it's the ones who don't give a shit about
pissing off Clan Saotome that I'm worried about."
Ryoga frowned. "Hey, Nabs - gissashot of your phone, huh? I'm gonna buzz
Herb, he gave me his phone number."
"You mean the Musk are actually on the network?"
Shampoo nodded. "Hell yeah. Them have whole works. Hydroelectricity,
telephones, Internet, the lot. Even trailbike factory."
"Where the fuck do they get decent computer hardware out in the sticks?"
"I not know, but them have."
"Herb's gotten the same model of laptop as you, Nabs. Top-end Mac, isn't
it?"
"A G3 laptop? I guess he gets his kit overseas then. They only started
selling Macs in China a couple of months ago."
Jude decided to interrupt the group's conversation.
"Hello, Mortise."
"Jude! I didn't see you there. How's tricks?"
"Just the usual crap. What's going on?"
"I suppose I'd better introduce everyone. Guys, this is Jude Lester. Jude,
this horrible lot are the movers and shakers from the latest generation of
Clan Saotome. This is Ranma Saotome, heir to their Packmastery and heir to
the Moroboshi line. This is Akane Saotome, firearms expert and heir to the
Tendo line. This is Xian Pu, Champion of the Reformist faction of Joketsuzo.
This is my bloodchild, Ranma's twin sister Ranko Saotome. This is Prince
Herb's almost girlfriend and Ranma's half-sister, Ryoga Hibiki. This is Xian
Pu's elder brother Mao Xing, don't piss him off he drives an Am-built mecha
bike. And last but definitely not least, this is Nabiki Tendo, Akane's elder
sister and all-round ace fixer. We're presently trying to work out what to
do about Kou Loun, leader of the Joketsuzo Conservatives."
"Clan Saotome, the Tendo bloodline, the Hibiki bloodline, both Joketsuzo
factions *and* the Moroboshi line? Jesus fucking Christ, what have you got
yourself involved in this time, Mortise?"
Mortise smirked. "I don't know, but damn is it fun!"

***********************************

Ranma swaggered out of the nightclub. They had sat and talked to Jude for
several hours.
The vampiress was several millennia old and talking to her was
*fascinating*. Well, more like listening to her. She had told them three
stories. All three spanned a minimum of sixteen worlds and seven hundred
sentient species.
"Hey, Ranma."
Ranma looked back. Jude was standing in the doorway.
"What?"
She handed him a small spherical object. It had a deep groove round the
middle and both halves were heavily knurled.
"If you're ever in really big trouble, twist the two halves of that in
opposite directions. I guarantee it'll help."
"What is it?"
"Let's just call it a deus ex machinia."
"Whatever." Ranma pocketed the thing. "Thanks."
Jude chuckled and went back inside. Ranma snorted and fished his ignition
keys out of his pocket.
Before he could insert them into his bike's ignition someone grabbed them.
"Whatthefuck?" Ranma turned round.
He instantly recognised the girl who was rollerskating away from him with
his keys in her hand.
"GODDAMNIT! THAT BITCH AGAIN?"
Akane swore and sprinted after the girl. Shampoo let out an angry snarl and
drew her Makarov. "Stop or I shoot!"
Ranma ripped the ignition panel off his bike. He crossed two wires thus
turning the ignition on, then touched a third to them, firing the starter
motor. The GSXR came to life with it's familiar bellowing roar. He had
intentionally made the bike easy to hot wire - if you knew which wire did
what.
As his foot was intercepting the gearshift another skater intercepted his
target and grabbed the keys off her.

***********************************

Mi Soon took a draw on her cigarette and leant back against her truck's
bonnet. She shot Lin-Lin a wry grin.
"Ahh, it's great to have a chance to relax, huh?"
"Yeah. Figure we won't have long before Kou Loun comes back."
Mi Soon nodded. "Not if I know her."
"HEY! GETOFF!"
That was Kasumi's voice. Mi Soon and Lin-Lin grabbed their guns and sprinted
towards where the enraged stoned yell had come from.
The sight that met their eyes brought back a lot of old memories. A withered
looking little old man was jumping around dodging varied tools that Kasumi
was lobbing at him. He was wearing her underpants on his head.
Mi Soon blinked. "Happosai? I thought you were dead!"
Happosai grinned at her from behind Kasumi's knickers.
"Hi, Mum! Cool, you don't look pickled any more!"

***********************************

Akane blinked repeatedly as Ranma's ignition keys were waved around in front
of her by the snobbish looking youth who had grabbed them back.
"Excuse me, are these yours?"
Akane jerked her thumb at Ranma.
"No, those are his. Get out the way, I'm-"
"Oh well." The youth tossed the keys back to the skater girl and started
moving to land a kiss on Akane. She reflexively drew her .44 and shoved it
into his mouth.
Ranma shot past and kicked the skater girl in the back of the head, sending
her sprawling. He recovered his keys and pocketed them.
"What the fuck's going on here, Akane?"
"This dickhead tried to kiss me."
Ranma slammed his ticking over Gixer's sidestand down and marched up to the
youth. "Listen here ya fuckhead! That's my job, get it?"
The youth pulled back enough to get Akane's six-gun out of his mouth.
"Excuse me? Since when does kissing become the task of an oaf like you?"
Ranma growled. "Since I married this chick. Now get the fuck out if ya know
what's good fer ya."
"Hey, bro! What the fuck's going on?"
"A goddamn bike thief and some fuckhead who don't know th' meanin' o'
married."
Ryoga rolled her eyes and pulled her spanner out of it's sheath. "Bike
thief? Reckon we should castrate the little fucker?"
"No can do, it's female."
"What, the one with the bootprint in the back of it's head?"
"Yup. I told ya about how Shampoo firsted, right? That's the bitch that set
her off. Wanna help me hospitalise it?"
The skater guy interrupted. "Excuse me, but I cannot permit you to injure my
partner."
"Permit don't come inta it, fuckhead."
"Oh well, it seems I have to get violent." He threw a shuriken at Ranma. The
throwing star stuck into his left eye socket.
Ranma let out an angry yell and pulled it out.
"YA FUCKHEAD! THAT DOES IT!"
He shapeshifted. Thirteen seconds later the skater guy was lying in a bloody
huddle against the wall.
Ranma returned to human form.
"Let's get the hell out of here."

End - part 25.

Chapter 26: Here we go again.
"Things are coming down on me, they never seem to let it be. It seems like
everything I say just starts another fight" - The Offspring, 'Nothing from
Something'

"It was like, Oh Lord. Not that crap again. I mean, wasn't once enough?
Obviously not - some people just can't seem to get enough in the way of
death and destruction." - Saotome-Tendo Enterprise CEO Nabiki Tendo on Kou
Loun.

***********************************

Kasumi looked from Mi Soon to Happosai and back.
"You mean this geek's like, your son? Ah well, I need to get new Y-fronts at
any rate, man. Nabiki borrowed them last week when she like, got a lift with
me and they still kinda smell of shite."
Happosai removed the underpants from his head. "Oh yeah, shit stains." He
peered at Kasumi's car. "Wow, cool! I see I am in the presence of a
hot-rodder! Awesome! Say, how's Soun doing? This is his place, isn't it?"
"Like, Dad? He's kinda like, fucked up, man. But then he has been for yonks.
Hmm, I figure he could really do with some like, spliff."
"Happosai, how many times must I tell you? Ask before you bags people's
undies!"
"Problem with that, Mum. They NEVER say yes."
"You never do change, do you?"
"Nah. Hey, does this mean we're allowed to stop looking old? That would make
it so much easier to SCORE!"
"Well, I figured since your sister invented that crap and we're not taking
orders from her any more..." Mi Soon shrugged. "Like you said, it makes
pulling a fuckload easier."
"AWESOME! Thanks, Mum!"
Mi Soon grabbed him in a bearhug. "You old rat! Goddamn, it's good to see
you again! Damn have I missed you!"
Happosai did something very unusual. He blushed.
"It's good to see you too, Mum." He hugged her back, being careful not to
grope her in the process. Groping his own mother was too perverted for even
Happosai. He might be a pervert and proud of it, but he had his limits.
Motorbike engines and a truck announced the return of Ranma and company.

***********************************

Genma sat back, glancing out the window and taking a massive swig of his
beer as he did so. First light was just beginning to show on the horizon. He
and Soun had just put in a long night of motorcycle modification.
"Well, Tendo. That's it finished."
Soun grinned. "Damn, makes me feel young." He swung onto the gleaming
streetfighter they were contemplating and fired the engine.
A deranged grin last seen on Kasumi while she was holding a steering wheel
appeared on his face.
"Blat time?"
Genma nodded. "Blat time."
Soun rode out of the workshop; Genma sprinted to his Dodge rat. Ranma was
already up and quietly fiddling with his bike.
Genma blinked. Ranma was lubeing his Gixer's chain? As a rule the boy only
did that on Saturday. Or... or when he was upset.
"Anything wrong, son?"
Ranma sighed. "Is it that fuckin' obvious?"
"Hang on, Tendo. I think me and Ranma need some privacy."
"Family stuff? I'll go for a spin round the block while you two talk."
Soun crammed his helmet on and roared off. Genma lowered his overweight
frame to the ground beside his son.
"What's wrong?"
"This punkin' out crap."
"That again? I thought Shampoo-"
"Nah, not my Firstin'. I nearly went schizoid on some schmuck who was
gettin' touchy-feely at Akane last night."
Genma snorted. "That all? Ranma, of course you did. Someone started hitting
on one of your girls? I'm surprised he ain't dead."
"Huh?"
"Your instincts told you to rip his throat out, didn't they."
"Well - yeah."
"Then you've got one damn strong will, son. Put me and Ai in you and Akane's
place. That guy would have been ripped to shreds by me personally. We Ams
have extremely strong instincts - and those instincts tell us to tear anyone
who tries to take our ladies offa us into a thousand splatty bits,
preferably having the fucker for dinner in the process. You're a mix of wolf
and man, Ranma. To your lupine side your family are your pack and you are
pack alpha. Anyone who tries to take that away from you - especially an
outsider - is in deep shit. The wolf side of you kicks in and it takes a
fuckload of willpower to stop that wolf. One third of your mind thinks
you're a man. Another third think's you're a wolf. The final third know's
you're both, and tries to balance the two out. In my case the part of me
that think's I'm a bear is considerably stronger than the rest of me...
Something I guess I should tell you. My mother was an ordinary bear."
"Ya what?"
Genma nodded. "You are a man turned wolf. I am a large black bear turned
man." He shot Ranma a sly wink. "Why do you think I was always more
comfortable in my curse form? Dad was a werebear and a mountain ranger by
employment. He spent a lot of time in the mountains behind Tokyo, in bear
form. And that's where he met my mother. I firsted about sixteen months
after I was born, according to Dad. It took me a while to learn about
humaning, but after getting a shot with Dad's bike I decided it was probably
fun. Dad did some sneakiness and got me legally a citizen of Japan,
officially sixteen years old. The rest is history."
Ranma shook his head. "Weird."
"Life *is*, especially if you're supernatural."
"You mean you're not actually 54, you're actually only 39?"
"Yup. I'm fifteen years younger than everyone thinks I am."
"Well, damn." Ranma shook his head. "So that's why I kept seeing a bear
whenever you weren't about!"
"You really think I'd be able to make eleven goddamn years without spending
time in my proper form? Not. Don't worry about your instincts, son. They are
a part of you, for better or worse. It's just part and parcel of being a
shapeshifter."
"Er... Dad, how did you make yourself look older than sixteen?"
Genma snorted. "Same way Mi Soon did, only less extreme. I guess I'd better
see about getting you taught how to use your Talents."
"Huh?"
"Watch and learn." Genma pulled one of his gloves off. His fingers morphed
into a bear's paw then back. "That's a little example. We Amerai have more
supernatural abilities than you think. I, for example, have two of these...
powers. Firstly the one I just showed you; it is my strongest Talent. It's
known as... oh, how the hell does it translate... body sculpting. That's the
closest translation. The actual name is A'karga. Our entire Clan shares at
least some vestige of this power; what others you develop are up to you and
whoever is willing to teach you."
"So how th' fuck d'ya do it?"
"I am not able to teach that; ask Tendo."
"Why not you?"
"Because Soun Tendo is one of about five people I have ever met who's
capable of describing how to do it in Japanese."

***********************************

Genma shot Soun a thoughtful look.
"So, you've got Ranma, Shampoo and Nabiki doing those exercises you worked
out?"
"Yup. It'll take then weeks to get the basics."
"Well, it's better than years. How about that blat?"
"An excellent idea."

***********************************

Ranma sat back against the wall and started repeatedly willing his
fingernails to grow then shorten.
"God damn. This is strange."
Shampoo nodded. She was doing the same thing. "Lots weird."
Akane frowned. She was cleaning her .44 Magnum.
"Er, Ranma... is it just me or do your fingernails keep changing length?"
"Neither. I'm makin' 'em change length. Yer dad sez it's good practise."
"Er - how?"
Ranma rolled his eyes. "I'm still not sure how ya describe this. Ask yer dad
after ya First Change. It's kinda... like making th' same feelin' as when ya
shapeshift, which I fer one can't describe an' I think no human language has
th' right words."
He scratched his head. "Um - ya can feel th' various bit o' ya changin'
shape an' growin' an' damn does it feel good. Ya get this massive headrush
an' a bigger adrenaline buzz than ya ever felt before an' I guarantee it.
It's really, really strange. It knocks ya full o' energy an' makes ya feel
hyper."
"Oh."

***********************************

Genma and Soun rounded the corner onto the high street, both bikes
travelling at somewhere in the region of sixty miles per hour.
Genma shot his old friend a wicked grin and opened the throttle.
Soun smirked and replied in sort.
Genma did a rolling burnout. Soun wheelied.
The only warning Nerima got was a dual - voiced cry of "YEEEEEEEEE-HA!"
before the two bikes - one long and black, the other short, stubby and an
incredible virulent puke green - exploded into the middle of the midmorning
traffic like a pair of 200 kilo stoned blowflies.
Kasumi looked up from where she was just getting into her car having
finished shopping. "Oh wow, man! It's like, Dad and Genma..."
A maniac gleam appeared in her eyes. Nearby drivers who recognised this
expression abandoned road as the blood red V8 with seats came to life.
And the self-propelled road hazard rode again.

***********************************

Elsewhere - eg back at the house - more motorbikes were roaring into life.
Nabiki still wasn't very sure of what she was doing riding a bike with five
times the brake horsepower of the only other bike she'd ridden - her
father's old CB250. Shampoo had a 'need to wheelie' expression on her face,
this expression being hard to distinguish from Kasumi's 'about to drive'
crazed look. Nabiki saw this and started to worry.
All the same, she turned on the ignition and kicked the wasp-striped bike
over. It's exhausts lacked silencers, therefore despite being only a 500 it
produced a hellish racket fairly similar to Ranma's Gixer, if only about
half the volume.
Ranko waggled her eyebrows at Nabiki as she fired her H-D. She and Mortise
had done a lot of work on the old WD 45 and it was now something close to
road legal condition. Even if all the unnecessary bits had been ripped off -
things like indicators, silencers and the front mudguard. And it still
didn't have a front brake. Or an effective back one for that matter.
Mortise shoved his H-D's kickstart smoothly down. The original bike had
lacked a kickstart but he had added one after the electric starter had
started failing to start the motorcycle five out of ten times. After all,
he'd had the bits in his saddlebag and - being a vampire capable of bench
pressing fifty metric tons - he was plenty strong enough to kick over that
monster 1350cc V-twin.
Akane thumbed her bike's newly fitted electric start. The engine came to
life with a meaty snort and a couple of backfires before it caught properly
- some bugs had got into the timing after the crash and Ranma was still
ironing them out.
Ryoga nodded and hit the start button on her jetbike's handlebars. The bike
started is familiar yet crazed fireup cycle; first the whine as the turbine
spun up, then a series of sharp clicks as the igniter fired, then a thud and
roar as the fuel caught and bought the engine up to tickover speed.
Mao Xing returned his sister's loony grin. His bike had a more complex
series of operations involved in starting it; first you had to release the
capacitor safety which was down the left side of the fuel cells on top of
the engine, then you flipped the kill switch - mounted on the left handlebar
- to 'run' which introduced raw hydrogen fuel into the reactor, producing an
almost subliminal hum as the pump came on line. Then, the system being
primed, you hit the starter button and all hell broke loose beneath you.
First there was a massive 'Whump' as the capacitor discharge unit started
the the reaction, followed by a growing rumble-howl as the turbine spun up
to speed.
Mao wiggled an eyebrow at Ranma, who was sitting back on his still silent
Gixer. Ranma smirked and hit the starter.
The GSXR-1100 was much more conventional than jet or fusion turbine bikes;
it simple let out a meaty grunt then started. A faint wisp of blue smoke
spat backwards out of one exhaust. The supercharger sprang into life with a
slight whine as it sucked air in through the two huge aircleaners.
Ranma grinned. "LET'S ROCK!"
He, Mao and Ryoga were the first to pull away, their bikes spinning up their
rear wheels and spitting a cloud of blue rubber smoke up. Shampoo went next,
no fucking around she just pulled away and let her bike rear up to her
typical wheelie. Mortise, Akane and Ranko were hard behind her.
Nabiki dropped the clutch and pulled away at a comparatively leisurely pace.
Realising she was being left behind she gave the throttle a meaty twist.
The front wheel immediately jumped off the ground. Then the turbo kicked in.
Nabiki gritted her teeth, struggling to remain in control. This was a
machine, it couldn't frighten her.
She slammed the gearshift into second, snorting at herself as she did so.
Who the hell did she think she was kidding? This particular machine was
producing five times the power of anything she'd ever been in control of
before, and she'd had enough trouble with that 250 Superdream.
Ranma glanced back at her and shot her a cheerful 'thumbs up'. It was about
the only encouragement he could give her over the sonic barrage coming from
the exhausts of the tight pack of bikes.

***********************************

In yet another location - this time the arterial freeway between Osaka and
Tokyo - another insanely powerful vehicle was in motion, this one being a
certain blue and chrome Kenworth driven by a certain Nodoka Saotome. Sixty
tons of Mitsubishi car engines were travelling first class.
A slight haze of good ol' tyre smoke was lifting from the straining bigrig's
wheels as it careened through the traffic at the fast end of 160 miles per
hour. Those engines HAD to be in the Tokyo warehouse within sixteen minutes.
Nodoka had every intention of making that deadline.
She was as concentrated on her driving as Kasumi ever was. One arm braced
across the huge steering wheel, the other poised on the gear selector.
Ranma's home - made airshifter was up to his usual high standards; it had a
bank of buttons, one for each forwards gear. The truck's box had no less
than twenty forwards gears and three reverse.
In this world as well as the business of killing rampaging supernaturals
Nodoka was an ace. The truck's vast chrome bumper was designed to obliterate
obstructions out of the way. Obstructions such as the centre of the
roundabout that was rapidly coming up.
She changed down to eighteenth and rammed the loud pedal straight to the
floor. The truck's six driven wheels bit down hard. The whole rig juddered
slightly as it's armoured bumper pulverised the concrete guardrail into it's
component atoms, ploughed the shrubbery out of the way, smashed the opposite
guardrail and shot out the other side of the roundabout without the roaring
monster behind it losing one mile per hour of speed.
Nodoka's attention was yanked away from her route by the sight of another
careening big rig. This machine was Mack based, painted blood red and
festooned with lights. It too was doing well over the ton.
She recognised it; it belonged to a friend.
And it had been stolen - in Nerima - four nights previously.
She let go of the airshifter and grabbed the radio handset.
"Hey, people! I've spotted Omo's waggon!"
Yamazaki's voice answered. "Good on ya, Butch! Whereabouts?"
"The main arterial from Osaka, headed for Tokyo."
The Japanese express haulage business was a tight-knit community; unlike in
conventional trucking individuals ruled the roost as opposed to companies.
The conventional truckers were regular employees. Express truckers were
either the elite or outcasts from normal society depending on how you looked
at it. To get into express haulage you only needed three things; a complete
lack of respect for the law, complete disregard for your and anyone else's
safety and a truck capable of breaking the ten second standing quarter. To
flourish you needed a lot more than that; you needed to be hard enough that
the Yakuza wouldn't try to make you the victim of a protection racket, fast
enough that the traffic police couldn't catch up with you and mean enough to
wipe them off the road if they did.
Nodoka had all that in spades. Plus, being born a Moroboshi, she had the
little advantage of being part of a family whom even the government were
scared of.
The other express truckers had at first treated her with disdain; they were
like, what the hell was a woman doing trying to knuckle in to their world.
Then she started shaving vital seconds off the fastest trips other express
truckers had made, and they learnt to respect the diminutive but incredibly
hard Nodoka. Drivers who thought she was in it for the same reason as they -
cash - called her Meatgrinder because of the number of fatal accidents she
had got away with causing. The tiny minority who knew the real reason she
drove the fastest big-rig in Japan just called her Butch.
Yamazaki was one of them. Actually a renegade werewolf, he had been the only
express trucker who didn't laugh at her when she was starting out. Instead
he respected her for what she was capable of.
All of which is besides the point. Express truckers stuck together like
glue. Especially when someone had stolen a truck from one of them, or - God
forbid - dared injure an express trucker.
Kato Omo had been climbing out of his rig at a transportcafe on the
outskirts of Nerima when someone attacked him and stole his empty rig. He
had been badly injured - the attacker had nearly clubbed him to death and it
was a toss up whether he was going to survive. They all carried weapons in
their truck cabs, but Kato hadn't had a chance to use his Uzi.
>From all over Japan, express truckers who happened to be between jobs
started to close in on the location she had reported, minds set on forcing
the stolen truck to stop. Nodoka's hot-rodding cop distraction dropped in
behind the target big-rig and started tailing it from six cars back,
constantly passing on updates of the vehicle's position to the vengeful
truckers.
Nodoka smiled and shifted back up to nineteenth. She could rely on the
others to get what was badly needed - payback. Or so she thought.

***********************************

Ryoga sighed to herself as she cruised aimlessly along. She had yet again
gone and won a race, this time with Mao Xing and Ranma.
"Goddamnit, now how the hell will Herb find me?"
A horn beeped from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, preparing to
flip the car driving git off.
Instead of a car there was a trio of bulky Land-Rover engined motocross
bikes. One blue, one black, one tiger striped.
The trio of Musk shot her a rocker's salute. Ryoga hastily pulled over.
"Herb!"
"Hey, Ryoga! Where you heading?"
"Er - where the hell am I?"
"Just outside Shinjuku."
"Goddamnit! I've gotta get back to Japan fast-"
"Er - Ryoga - Shinjuku is part of Tokyo, remember."
Ryoga gaped for several seconds. "Huh - whug - unf... D'OH! For some reason
I thought you said Shanghai..."

***********************************

Ranma sighed as he climbed off his bike. He started adjusting the carb that
was causing smoke from one exhaust; the others went inside.
The schoolday was finally over and he could get back to more important
things like planning defences for the house with Mi Soon, Nabiki and Akane.
Once he'd sorted the damn carb, that was.
A familiar rumble from down the street announced that they had a visitor -
his mother. He watched as the Kenworth pulled up.
Nodoka leant out of the driver's window; she was completely dwarfed by the
humungous rig. "Hi, Ranma. I was passing through this way and I thought I'd
drop by to say hello."
"Hey, come on down where I can talk ta ya proper, Mum!"
Nodoka laughed and clambered out of her truck. Just as she reached the
ground her CB radio crackled into life.
"Butch, this is Yamazaki... Hey Nodoka, answer me goddamnit!"
She rolled her eyes and clambered back into the cab, Yamazaki's voice
chivvying at her the whole way.
"Yo, Yama. Wazzup?"
"Um... I got some bad news for you... I'm afraid Amachi crashed."
Nodoka went white. She sat back with her eyes closed.
"Nodoka?"
"Whack it to me, Yamazaki. How bad?"
"He's dead. They shot out his tyres... whoever ripped off Omo's rig had
fucking assault rifles. We're still searching for the bastards; last we
heard they were on the outskirts of Shinjuku."
Nodoka murmured something.
"Nodoka? Look, I'm sorry to break it to you like this, but I thought you'd
rather hear it from me than anyone else."
"I'll be alright, Yama. Just... just leave me alone for a bit, huh?"
Ranma stared up at her. "Mum?"
"He was... a good friend. I need some time on my own, Ranma."
Ranma jumped up onto the cabside steps and gave her a quick hug.
"Look, Mum... I'll be around if ya need me, okay?"
The remaining energy suddenly went out of Nodoka's body and she burst into
tears.
"Oh, God, I'm gonna miss him..." She suddenly reactivated.
"I'm going up there to have a look around. See if I can find any clues."
Ranma frowned. "Hang on a mo, Mum. I wanna come wiv ya an' bring my M60. The
shitheads who shot yer friend might still be around an' ya heard that guy -
they got fuckin' automatic weapons."
Nodoka sniffed then nodded. "Might be a good idea."
Ranma dithered for a moment then made another decision. "I'm gonna come in
th' truck if it's okay wiv ya."
She gave him a surprised look. "Well, sure, but... why?"
"Because I don't feel like becomin' roadkill if these folks turn up an' have
a go at us wiv that truck. I'll be back in a sec - I just gotta go get my
shooters."
"I'll wait for you." Nodoka grabbed the radio handset.
"Yama, this is Butch. Where exactly did Godo get it?"

***********************************

The blue Kenworth rumbled up to the police line. They were immediately
flagged down by a cop.
Ranma smirked and pulled out his Special Forces ID. He had been given the
rank of Colonel since nobody wanted to try telling him what to do.
"Yo! I'm th' one in command. We need a look at th' wreck." He waved the card
at the cop.
The man walked over and gave him a funny look. He examined the card then
smirked. "I'll just need to check this out."
He was back a moment later with a shellshocked look on his face. "Sorry
about the delay, sir."
"That's alright - I know I'm a bit young ta be a Colonel. C'mon, Mum."
He slung the M60 across his shoulders and climbed out of the truck. Nodoka
climbed down the other side. Her only visible armament was her katana, which
was likewise slung across her shoulders.
They followed the cop across to the wreck of Godo Amachi's car. The car -
which had been a Ford Mustang - was on it's roof. Both front tyres were
blown out.
Ranma walked round the car a couple of times. Varied cops were photographing
it and digging slugs out of it. A police detective was standing nearby with
a disgusted look on his face.
Ranma walked over to him.
"Any luck identifyin' th' slugs?"
The man nodded. "Yup, they're AK47 rounds. We got one nearly intact one out
of the verge. And a whole mess of brass."
"AK?" He glanced at Nodoka. "Any witnesses stepped forwards?"
"Two so far. Get this - the killer was an itty bitty girl. Apparently she
was in back of one of those speed maniac trucker's rigs - canvas sided
trailer."
"We already know which vehicle it is, Detective. Mum, ya wanna give him it's
plates an' a description?" He turned back. "May help ya. Thinkin' about it,
I need a quick look at th' best condition slug ya got."
"Sure, Shinohara's got them. Ask the young guy in the van."
"Thanks." Ranma dashed over to the van. He had a nasty suspicion he knew who
- or rather what - killed Amachi.

***********************************

Mi Soon looked up from the book she was studying as Ranma swung into the
back of her truck.
"Evening."
"Cut th' cackle. Cow Lone's back. Apparently she came this way from over
Osaka direction. Her people already killed onea Mum's friends."
Mi Soon put down the book. "What?"
"It's easy ta work out. Ya just gotta put two an' two together. Truck what
wuz stolen th' night after th' battle. It belonged ta onea Mum's mates an'
they hurt him bad when they nicked it. Mum spotted it today an' sicced a
hot-rodder pal of her's onta it. He followed it an' used a CB radio ta
direct th' other truckies so they could find it. Before they gotten there a
teenage girl leans outta th' back an' shoots out his front tyres. Usin - get
this - an AK47 loaded wiv wolfsbane tipped ammo. We use AK's wiv wolfsbane,
so do Cow Lone's goons. I know it weren't our people. Ergo it's gotta be Cow
Lone an' company. We start th' preparations right fuckin' now."

Da end ov dis part.

NOTES
Next - Here comes MAYHEM!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HA!!!!!!!!!!! My writer's block has
finally VANISHED! Two entire chapters written in three days!
FUCKING A-1!
Ahem, sorry about the rant. We're getting very close to the end of book 1
(at last) so before long I'll be able to have a break from this
monstrosity... or maybe not, the next book is one massive adventure story.
Which is probably going to prove easier to write.
Something I think I'd better say; if at any stage during this story you
don't understand some of my terminology (I'd expect this to be technical
details about bikes and guns or obscure Scottish slang) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
email me  so I can put an explanation in the next chapter. After all, if one
person doesn't understand thing like chatter about carb jets then there's
sure to be a hundred who can't make head or tail of it...
Now, I must once again publicly thank/attempt to embarrass two people (ya,
this is copy-paste from a whole rake of other chapters...)
Firstly, thanks must go to my wonderful pre reader Paula Gray. Thankyou,
Paula. Your suggestions have been a great help since I am shite at plotting
battle scenes.

Biker 1/2 has been given a home on the web! Go to
http://www.kistunesden.com
to find the archive; it's in the 'hosted' section of the site (in fact last
time I looked it *was* the Hosted section!)
Thanks must go to the lovely Carrie for her good work HTMLising Biker 1/2
and setting up the web page; she requested my permission to host the fic.
This request was gratefully received since I know nothing about HTML...
Thankyou, Carrie. Without you Biker 1/2 would have probably been relegated
to the bottom of the TASS archive for years.

Finally, I've been told I misspelled two names in Biker 1/2 - Nodoko (should
be Nodoka) and Jusenkyu (should be Jusenkyo). All I can say is D'OH! I'll
stick with the spellings I've used previously for future chapters of this
fic; other fics will contain the correct spelling. Eh - oops. My dyslexia
shows once again - man I love spellcheckers, but why couldn't Apple make the
AppleWorks spell checker understand Ranma 1/2 terms? Whine whine.
I plan to compile Book 1 when I finish it and post the compilation as one
fic; I will correct aforesaid names when I do so.
Please send any C&C to doghead@ratbike.org - my phone line is down once more
thus I can only access the virgin.net email address once a week at most.
Thanks.
Calum.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Ratbike - A motorbike made to look as fucked up and unroadworthy as possible
while still being street legal. Normally painted flat black.
Honda CG125 - Small single - cylinder 4-stroke road bike. Not very much of
anything but supremely reliable and dirt cheap. It's reliability stems from
having very little to go wrong and a low - revving 4-stroke engine.
Honda Fireblade - Insane Honda sportsbike. Mad but beginning to show it's
age.
Supercharger - A pump driven off the crank that forces more air into the
engine thus forcing it to run faster.
Nitrous oxide - Laughing gas. A petrol - nitrous mix burns faster than a
petrol - air mix therefore produces more horsepower and more wear in the
engine.
Top yoke - The yokes are two pieces of metal that hold the front forks
together and  to the bike. The top yoke is the upper one. Known as triple
clamps in the US.
Gixer - Slang for a Suzuki GSXR (one of the craziest bikes built).
Chain lube - Motorbike chain lubrication oil.
Header tank - Tank that contains the spare water for the radiator on a
sealed cooling system as found in most cars.
Gasflowing - trimming off excess metal from inside the cylinder heads to aid
the burn rate of fuel within the engine. Gives a small horsepower boost.
Final drive - the drive chain that goes from the gearbox to the back wheel
and the cogs (final drive sprockets) that it runs on.
Conrod - The bit of metal that connects the piston to the crankshaft.
Alternator - Higher tech version of a generator.
Kill switch - The engine's 'off' switch. Turns off power to the ignition.
Lid / skidlid - Slang for a crash helmet.
250 Superdream - CB250. The next up the Honda model range from the CG125 and
just a bigger version of the same.
500 Superdream - CB500. A CB250 with a bigger bore and heavier frame.
Engine clicking - An internal combustion engine heats up when run. Run it
hard and it heats up more, then when you switch off the engine will start
emitting a series of sharp clicks as the metal cools and contracts.
Stocker - unmodified factory - built vehicle.
Binned - crashed. Normally means written off.
Steering damper - a long, thin shock absorber that fits between the forks
and the frame. Helps steady the steering.
JSDF - Japanese Self Defence Force. The collective Japanese armed forces.
JGSDF - Japanese Ground Self Defence Force. The ground forces arm of the
Japanese military.
JASDF - Japanese Air Self Defence Force. The Japanese air force.
What likes - Slack Scottish grammar. Means something along the lines of
'please could you explain that'. Only considerably less posh.
Toby - An Inverness Collegeism; slang meaning something along the lines of
widget, gizmo or thingy. Derived from angling parlarance (toby = a small
wooden fish used as a lure.) May be related to the epithet 'Toby Tishbein'
and can be said 'Tobyracho' for no apparent reason. (I'm not making this up!
Honest!)