Superboy½?!
The room was heavily shaded, lit mostly by the cigar that the craggy and stout man that sat behind the office's desk. In front of him, sitting nervously attentive, was a much slighter man.
"We still haven't found any sign of that lost subject. It was like he disappeared into thin air when he went to China. He likely either died, or was just a null."
"Recall our agents then. I'd hoped to make sure there was no one within Japan that could stand up against us, but even so, he is but one boy. When Japan rises from the ashes of our defeat and humiliation from World War II, nothing will stop us." An evil smile broke his bleak features, sending chills up his underlings back.
"Of course, sir." The littler man stood up and exited the room.
The shadow shifted to look out over the dark city. "Damn those vagrants and damn Dr. Kasugi for taking that boy in when he was hurt." And damn him for having killed Dr. Kasugi then.
-
Ranma lay on the roof of the Tendo's home, snoozing quietly. It had been a slow couple of days and he didn't have anything to do for a while. His mother had dragged his father off and everyone else was just hanging out relaxing.
"Ranma! I lost P-chan again!" Akane called out from the ground below.
The boy on top of the room sat up and looked around sleepily. "He's behind the dojo," he called out drowsily. He lay back down, preparing to snooze a bit more.
"What?" she called out. "This is probably some sort of wild goose chase." She trotted around the corner of the dojo, seeing her little pet sitting in front of a fire that was heating up a kettle. "P-chan!" Akane swept up her pet piglet and upended the kettle over the little fire.
A sudden thought occurred to her. She stomped back towards Ranma. "What were you trying to do to P-chan?" she called out angrily.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Why were you boiling water? Were you trying to hurt him?"
"If you hadn't noticed, I'm a guy right now and don't need hot water."
"So you expect me to believe P-chan did that on his own?"
"In a word? Yes, you dummy!" Ranma laid back down. Ranma couldn't believe how dense Akane could be sometimes. How could she dismiss every single clue about Ryoga's curse?
"Grrr." Akane put her pet down and picked up a small boulder. With all of her might, she tossed it at her snoozing fiancé. "Don't you dare pick on P- chan again!"
Ranma rolled the boulder off of his face, shaking his head. "I didn't do anything! You are so dorky, you dumb tomboy!"
"Just dry up and blow away, jerk!"
The pig-tailed boy rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. He must be getting tougher. He'd hardly felt that. He picked it up and hopped to the ground, sinking six inches into the ground, almost stumbling. He set the stone back in place.
Ranma gave the ground an accusing glare. "Stupid dirt." He reached down and crumbled it. It felt fairly dry, but it was still pretty soft in his grasp.
"Ranma! I warned you that you needed to not hurt Akane's feelings!" Ryoga shouted. Somehow in just the last few moments he'd reversed his curse and managed to find some clothing.
"What are you talking about, Piggy? I ain't done nothing!"
"I can't believe you! Die, Ranma!" Ryoga shouted, lunging forward to attack.
Ranma dodged the slower boy, seesawing between the punches and kicks as if they were thrown in slow motion. "If you're gonna fight, at least put some effort into it!" Ranma catcalled.
"I'll show you! You don't deserve a girl as nice as Akane!" Ryoga shouted again. He suddenly expelled all of his breath as the slightly smaller boy tagged him lightly.
"Uh, yeah... right." Ranma couldn't put his heart into it the jibe. It mirrored too closely to what he felt at times. A fierce determination welled up in him. "But I ain't gonna let some jerk like you put the moves on to her! At least I don't sneak into her bed!"
"Ranma! Die!" The Lost Boy let himself be tripped to the ground. With a tap, it exploded flinging him at his surprised foe. "I've got you now!" And with that he imbedded his fist in Ranma's stomach, fully expecting him to at least leave himself open.
"Heh. I've been eating my Wheaties. You need to practice more!" Ranma quipped, hardly feeling the blow and dodging in between the others.
From the shadowed recesses of the house, Akane watched the fight absently. Why were those two always fighting? It just didn't make sense. Why did Ranma have to be such a jerk to Ryoga. Sighing, she put it aside until a different day.
Ryoga hated to admit it, but Ranma did seem to have improved the most out of the two. He would just have to try harder!
Ranma, on the other hand, wasn't putting as much effort into the fight as it appeared. It had only been a few weeks since the failed wedding. The sun was beating down on this summer morning and it was just too good to waste sitting around all day inside.
-
Deep within his body, changes necessitated by growing up were taking place. His body was only a few short weeks away from his seventeenth birthday. Chemicals and RNA interacted, lighting a spark deep within his brain. That spark jumped from cell to cell, setting off a storm of changes in just a few short moments.
Within each cell, useless seeming DNA and RNA started to process in strange and unusual ways. Little changes were swept up in the storm, energizing everything in its path.
-
Ranma felt something happening. It was like a warmth suffusing his entire body. "Uh..." he moaned, sinking unsteadily to one knee.
His opponent stopped, too chivalrous too beat him down in a moment of weakness. Twinges within his heart told him that he was over reacting. Ranma and Akane always acted this way. It was almost as if they didn't know how to act differently. Though he had seen the stolen glances, the looks of longing that they wouldn't admit to each other.
Ranma shook his head. "Whoa. I don't know what that was, but it was kind of weird."
"Are you ready yet? I haven't finished beating you down!"
"Jeeze, don't get yer knickers in a bunch." Ranma was still a bit woozy, even if he didn't show it externally.
"Your funeral!" he cried out, smashing a punishing, full strength punch into Ranma's face.
Ranma fell over, bouncing once. He grabbed his face in shock. He'd barely felt that! "What was that? I thought you were finished playing?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I hardly felt that." Ranma bounced to his feet.
Ryoga blinked in astonishment. "You're lying!" he said loudly, positive that Ranma must be trying to trick him or something. He launched a jumping leap kick at Ranma's head.
"You had this coming," Ranma crowed, twisting just so to let the blow slide along side of him. He lashed out with a powerful punch, expecting to double over his opponent for another attack.
He was shocked as Ryoga seemed to rocket away as if hit by a train, smashing thru the wall of the compound. "Ryoga?"
The lost boy groaned and curled up into a ball. When could Ranma hit so hard?
"Quit joking around. Ryoga, that isn't funny!" Ranma cried out. He trotted over to him, seeing blood dribble out of Ryoga's mouth. "Oh, damn. I'd better get you some help." Ranma picked up the Lost Boy, not even noticing how light he felt. With a bound, he ran off with his hurt friend. With a single bounce, he was bounding over the roofs at record speed.
"Ranma? Ryoga!" Akane called out, just seeing Ranma take off with the injured boy. She knew something like this was going to happen. She hurried off in the direction after them.
Ranma felt the air hammer against him as he rushed to the nearest hospital. The ground and buildings blurred beneath him, as if he was using his greatest speed. In what seemed just a couple of seconds, he was at the hospital, explaining what had happened.
The doctor prognosis was that Ryoga had internal bleeding, brought about by their fighting. Ranma just couldn't believe that Ryoga could be hurt so much from one punch from himself. He sat alone in the emergency room, all by himself until Akane showed up minutes later.
His fiancée, for her part, couldn't believe how wounded Ranma looked, sitting alone in the sterile room. His face lit up when he saw her, the dark and gloomy cloud almost entirely disappearing. But she could still see that something was wrong.
-
"Yes?"
"Our satellite detected a momentary use of Class III powers within Tokyo." It was the thinner, small man, holding an officious looking folder.
The burly figure behind the desk didn't seem to take note for a long moment. "And this concerns me how?"
"It is from an unknown entity. You wanted to be appraised of..."
"I know what I said. I thought you would know enough to bring only important issues to me. A Class III is relatively unimportant." His eyes seemed to glow red for just a second. "My plan is too far along to stop now."
"Should I send out some recruiters to that area?"
"Send Rei. Tell her that she is to be ready to depart for the parliament at a moments notice if needed." He turned to look at the row of windows that turned into a large screen, showing a mob of people protesting somewhere. The people seemed to be shouting and threatening the police. "I have more pressing concerns."
"Yes, Sir."
-
Akane turned to look at Ranma as they walked home, hours later. The doctors had said that Ryoga was going to be fine. Considering how quickly he and Ranma healed, she expected to visit sometime in the next week. She frowned as she saw how withdrawn Ranma was. It seemed to out of character for him for him to be so upset.
Although... Ranma had been pretty upset when he had thought she had died. Could it mean that Ranma really did like Ryoga? They always fought, but she did have to admit that if Ryoga was really having a problem, Ranma was usually the first one there to help. "Ranma? Are you alright?"
"Hmm? Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking. I really hurt Ryoga. That shouldn't have happened. I need to go on a training trip to retrain myself."
"It has been a while since we've been on a training trip, hasn't it?"
"Huh? Oh... yeah. As long as you promise to make curry!"
"Are you insinuating something?"
"No!" Ranma said truthfully. He was desperately trying to not to say something unkind about her cooking. It had improved, that he had to admit. But that was the only thing that had improved recently.
"Good!"
They were suddenly buffeted by a powerful gust of wind, nearly knocking them over. Ranma was left clinging to the side of the fence while Akane desperately trying to keep her modesty, holding her dress down with both hands.
"What the heck was that?" they exclaimed to each other.
There answer arrived with another gust of wind. The young woman floated casually above them, holding a small computerized instrument of some sort. "Hmm. Not you," she said, pointing the device at Akane. She turned to point it towards Ranma. It pinged audibly. "Hey! Not too shabby if I say so myself." She was garbed in an extremely tight one piece body suit, colored lime and forest green, a stylized kanji of power on her upper right breast.
"Um, who are you?" Akane asked.
"You may call me Power Woman. And you, fellow, are the person I was told to find." She smirked superiorly. This kid was no threat.
Far away, a uniformed man frowned as he looked at the screen which was showing her view to him. "Rei, do the pitch. If he starts to talk about being a hero, take him out and bring him back." Where had he seen that kid before, he thought to himself. He put his hand over the headset's microphone. "Hey, Hiro. Does this guy seem familiar?"
Hiro looked up from his identical computer setup, which had a different view on it. "Shit! That's Ranma Saotome. The boys upstairs have been looking for him for almost a year, Kujo."
"Saotome? Wasn't he exposed to the K virus?"
"Yeah. Last I'd heard, he was probably some sort of null, no effect was apparent."
"He's showed up as Class III. Pretty minor, really." Kujo started to tap onto his screen. Why were these readings so skewed and unstable?
"How did he hide for so long? The Eye Sat can usually spot superhuman power use across the entire eastern hemisphere!"
"I don't know and don't really care. What is up with these readings?"
From behind him, another uniformed figure stepped up to take a look. The woman, pretty despite wearing green fatigues, frowned as she read the same information.
"I'm here to make you a job offer that you can't refuse. We could use your help. It pays extremely well!" Power Woman smiled disarmingly. "I'd like you to come along, so that I can explain it in more detail."
Ranma shrugged. "Sorry, not interested."
Power Woman blinked in surprise. "Not even slightly?"
"Nah. I need to..."
Whatever he said was suddenly interrupted by his father landing on his head. This had the effect of smashing Ranma into the ground, face first. "Fool! I raised you to be better than that!" Genma turned, grinding Ranma's face into the ground. "Ignore my foolish son. Of course he accepts."
The green clad super-powered individual looked at him in amazement. "Uh, really?"
"Old man, you've pissed me off! Get off of me!" Ranma shouted, flinging his father high into the air. He shook off the dust on his face.
"Aren't you worried about hurting him by throwing him like that?" Power Woman asked, staring off into the air after Genma.
Akane snorted derisively. "Are you kidding? Happosai has thrown him further."
"Who is... Happosai?" she asked. Was this some sort of superhuman that she wasn't aware of?
Ranma started to appear nervous while he looked around. "Now you've gone and done it! You shouldn't have mentioned him..."
"Hotcha! Woo hoo baby! Love the look!" a voice suddenly called out. The small, wizened figure attached itself to Power Woman's breasts, snuggling fiercely. "Oh, I'm in heaven."
"Get off!" she shouted, grabbing the letch by his scruff. A furious scowl adorned her fair features. She flung him off in the same general direction as the other man. "I should have killed him for that!"
Her attention was brought back to the pair on the ground in front of her when Akane punched Ranma into the ground. "Quit looking, you pervert!" Akane then turned back to her. "Um, you might want to close your top." She shook her smarting hand. Ouch.
The woman blinked and then checked herself out. Now that it had been brought to her attention, her skin tight outfit had been unzipped. Blushing, she zipped it back up. "That was Happosai, I take it." Where had her sports bra gone?
Akane nodded as she let Ranma up.
Ranma, for his part was starting to wonder what was going on. He kept getting knocked around, but he really wasn't feeling the blows anymore.
Power Woman smiled winsomely. "So what do you say, Ranma? It can't hurt to hear us out, can it?"
"Look, I've got more important things right now. Maybe next week, okay?" Ranma was already thinking about what he needed for his training trip.
She looked at him for one long second. "Sorry to hear that. I thought you were kind of cute. Now I'm going to have to smash in that pretty face." She suddenly zoomed in, throwing a high speed punch at Ranma's head, missing horribly.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Ranma asked, still dodging her punches.
"I was told not to take no for an answer. Sorry. I kind of liked you. It's nothing personal." Damn, he was one slippery little bastard. He's got a lot more martial arts training than she'd expected. Her eyes started to glow, beams of pulsing blue-white light that slammed into Ranma like a freight train.
"Oh..." Ranma mumbled, barely conscious.
"Hey! You leave him alone!" his fiancée shouted, spinning a kick at her unprotected head. It smacked into it with little effect except to hurt her leg.
Power Woman turned towards Akane, a smirk on her face. "You aren't any sort of threat, girl. Go home, before I hurt you."
"Don't you dare hurt her!" Ranma shouted, pulling himself out of the wreckage of the stone wall that he'd collided with earlier. His earlier grogginess was suddenly gone in a surge of adrenaline. His Chinese shirt was totally shredded, leaving him in his sleeveless under shirt.
"Still up, kid? Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't have to worry about anything." Her eyes pulsed again, sending out another wide concussive blast at him. She stopped blasting when she realized that he wasn't there.
"Hiya!" Ranma cried out, slamming into her while throwing a whirling series of kicks and punches. His first few seemed to have no effect, but the last one sent her spinning, blood dripping from her split lip.
She stood back up, shaking her head. Who was this kid? "Control, I might need some help here."
Kujo, on the far side of the link, replied to her, "We hear you. If you can not subdue the target, you are to break off." He turned to look at the other controller. "Hiro, we've got a situation."
"What now?" Hiro replied.
Ranma stood at ease, his eyes alert and alive. Power Woman stomped her foot, transferring shockwaves across the ground and sending the boy sprawling. In a blink, she flew at him, swinging an even stronger punch at his face. At the last moment, he twisted and spun in the air, the blow missing by millimeters. Ranma's foot lashed out in a kick, shooting the older fighter high into the air.
Holding her stomach, she stopped her flight. "Control, I thought you said he was a Class III? He certainly kicks like a Class II. With his training, I don't know how I'll be able to subdue him before someone shows up."
She listened for a second. "I'll be back, Ranma Saotome." She flew off, becoming a green blur that disappeared in a thundering boom.
"And I'll be ready for you!" Ranma yelled out bravely.
"Ranma, what is going on?" Akane asked as she finally regained her feet. She had scrapes and cuts on her knees and hands.
"I really don't know. Say, how did she know who I was?"
A cute little pouty frown showed on her mouth. "I don't know."
-
Rei wiped the blood from her chin. "What the heck happened there? He was supposed to be some Class III punk, not a Class II." She shook her shoulder length black hair into place.
"I don't know. The sensors are showing him as a Class II now. It doesn't make much sense. I'll have to inform the commander..."
She snatched him up as easily as if he were a baby. "Don't you dare. I don't want to look the fool. We'll plan a different strategy and take him out tomorrow."
"I don't know..." Kujo started to say,
"Obviously. That's my job, now."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied stiffly. This wasn't good, but he wouldn't be the one getting in trouble.
-
Ranma stretched at the breakfast table. "Thanks for the breakfast, Kasumi."
"That's no problem, Ranma." Kasumi smiled brightly from her seat at the table.
"What happened to you last night, Saotome?" Soun asked, looking over his battered old friend.
"The boy got a lucky shot in. I'll be in tip top shape in a day or two," Genma pontificated.
"Yeah, well, I'm not waiting for you, old man. I've got some serious retraining to do and don't have time to wait on your flabby behind to get better."
"Flabby!?" Outraged, Genma reached over and grabbed Ranma, smoothly tossing Ranma across the yard into the koi pond.
Ranma sputtered as she surfaced. "Now why did you go and do that for?"
"Ranma, didn't you want to catch that train?" Akane spoke up suddenly, clad in her white gi with her own backpack on.
"Is it time already?" she asked, looking over at the clock. "Yup! Time to go! I'll get you back for that later, old man!"
The two disappeared thru the door in an eye blink.
"It's so good to see them spending time with each other!" Nodoka said happily, walking in from the kitchen with more bowls of food.
"She's right, you know!" Soun said. "Hmm. Hadn't somebody better go and watch over them?"
"Hmm. You are correct, Tendo."
"Actually, I think it is quite romantic of the two being off on their lonesome. It gives Ranma such an opportunity to prove his manliness to Akane!" Nodoka sighed, her heart a flutter at the thought.
Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun and Genma all sweat dropped in sudden nervousness. How come they had a bad feeling about that?
A thin, balding man in a suit stepped to the side as two girls ran down the road, heavy backs and martial arts gi's proclaiming their dedication. "Kids these days." He turned the street to walk over to a parked car. He tapped on the window, which promptly rolled down. "So, any sign of the boy?"
"Not yet. I'm sure he'll show."
-
Ranma looked up at Akane, who was sleeping while leaning against the smaller girl. The run to the train station had worn her out, so she'd napped out for the hour or so it would take to leave the city. The announcement of their stop roused Ranma from her reverie.
"Come on, sleepy head. This is our stop." She took a moment to shake the other girl and then grabbed both back packs, hefting them lightly.
Akane followed, rubbing her eyes. They left the train station in the little town and headed off into the mountains.
She found it hard, struggling to keep up, the red headed figure up ahead of her seemingly infatigable. By mid morning, they had finally reached Terror Peak again. This was one of Ranma's more favored training area, with rugged mountains and large forests. Yet it was also close enough to civilization so that it would take too long to get back if needed.
Akane groaned and flopped on the ground. "Finally. I don't remember it being so rough to get here."
"You're getting soft is all. You need to practice more!" Ranma said cheerfully. She put a thoughtful expression on. "Hmm. I need to figure out some way to regain control."
"Well, why don't you first find out how hard you can punch and hit things?"
"That's... not a bad idea!" Putting words into action, she walked up to a large boulder. "Hiya!" she cried out, smashing the boulder with all of her strength.
The results, to say the least, were spectacular. Ranma stood with her fist outstretched at the center of a five foot crater, a swath of destruction all around her except for where her own body had shielded Akane behind her in a large 'V'. "Whoa. That was way more powerful than I expected."
"Ranma! Are you alright?" Akane cried out from where she sat. She looked around in amazement.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Can't say the same for my clothes." She pulled at the remnants of her shirt and pants. About the only things that were left were her muscle shirt, the ragged remains of her boxers and her gi's belt.
"Not even a scratch," Akane exclaimed in amazement. "How's that possible?"
"I don't know. That's really... odd. Even by my standards." Ranma stood there for a moment, scratching her head in bewilderment.
"So you're amazingly tough and incredibly strong. Can you think of anything else to test?"
"Uh... yeah! Speed!" she proudly exclaimed.
"Why don't you see how fast you can run. I can barely see you throwing punches most of the time anyways!"
"Righty-o!" With that, she took off going up the mountain. As before, the ground started to blur beneath her feet. Concentrating harder, things began to be come clear, if still insanely fast. It was exhilarating.
Akane watched Ranma's trail up the mountain, a dust plume easily visible. "...three, four! Wow! I didn't know anybody but the Flash that could run that fast!" She quit counting when she lost sight, the runner zipping around a trail at the top.
Ranma wished she hadn't taken that curve at quite that speed, as she was now in freefall, headed towards the ground hundreds of feet below! "Oh, crud-crud-crud! I'm gonna splat!" she cried out, waving her arms frantically. Miraculously, she started to slow and then stop. Ranma blink- blinked at the ground a mere ten feet below her. "I'm flying?" she inquired, quite perplexed.
With a slight thought, she nudged herself forward. In just a few moments, she was swooping and zooming around, gleefully smiling. Ranma had always dreamed of flying, instilled from the tenants of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.
She didn't even notice when she shattered the sound barrier. It was such an amazing thing to actually fly!
Left behind, Akane waited a few minutes and then decided that if Ranma wasn't coming back soon, she'd prepare lunch. Starting a fire, she started working on the one credible dish that she could make, curried fish and rice.
She finally finished it, twenty painstaking minutes later, when a breeze almost overturned her dishes. "No!"
"No what?" Ranma asked from behind her.
"Nothing, really. Back finally? Where did you go?" she asked, handing her fiancé a bowl of food.
"Uh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me!"
"Hokkaido."
"Really? But you aren't wet!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"I, uh, didn't swim." She felt quite foolish. How do you tell someone you seem to have sprouted super powers?
"Wow! You can run across water like the Flash?"
"No, you dummy! I flew!"
"You flew?"
"That's what I said, didn't I?" Ranma blew a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"There isn't a martial arts for that, is there?"
"Not that I've heard of."
They both chewed for a second. "You weren't bit by a radioactive bird were you?"
"Huh? No!"
"Your family isn't secretly mutants are they?" Akane asked seriously.
"Not that anyone has told me. Pop is kind of ugly though."
"I don't think that proves anything. You weren't secretly adopted and you're actually an alien from another world are you?"
"What? Hell no!"
"So what's left?"
"Government conspiracy? Magic?" Something tried to impinge itself Ranma, some memory.
"You didn't drink another potion from Shampoo did you?"
The thought was disrupted. "What? Do you think I'm insane?"
Akane glared back at the smaller girl. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Hey!"
Akane smiled sunnily. She loved it when she zinged Ranma. "So you can't remember anything that you've done recently that could have caused this?"
"Nope. I was just laying out before Ryoga showed up wanting to kick my butt."
"Well, you helped me find P-chan and tried to scald him with the hot water." Akane folded her arms, chin thrown out aggressively. She hadn't quite forgiven him for that.
"I did not! You asked where he was, I told you!"
"You had to know where he was! You told me without even searching!"
"He was right behind the dojo, right where I... saw... him." Ranma's voice drifted off.
Akane blinked. "You saw him?"
"Yeah. Right thru the dojo, like it wasn't even there." How could she have spaced that?
She snorted in response. "Yeah, right. Next you'll be telling me you really do have x-ray vision, just like Superman."
"Well, what else could it be?"
Akane rolled her eyes. "Why don't you prove it? Then maybe I'll believe that you didn't try to hurt my P-chan!"
Ranma furrowed her brow in thought. "Ha! I know, I'll..." She blinked for a long moment. "You're still wearing those pink pokadotted panties?"
"You pervert! How dare you use your x-ray vision to peep on me!" Akane cried out, jumping to her feet. She reached into her backpack and retrieved her trusty mallet. She'd thought she might need it! "Ranma, you dummy!"
Ranma, for her part, winced and braced herself for the hit, expecting to be in quite a bit of pain. She felt the hit, but no pain. She cracked open one eye to see Akane drop her implement of retribution.
"Owie! That hurts!" she cried out. The mallet lay on the ground, the head of it quite dented.
"Oops. Forgot about that. Are you all right?" Ranma asked, standing up to gently take her hands and turn them over.
Akane for her part let Ranma act. A blush started to creep up on her. This was so... intimate for them. The only thing that marred it was her stinging hands. "It's... nothing. I'm sure it'll fade."
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! I couldn't have taken you getting hurt... again or anything."
Akane glared for a moment, the reminder of Jusendo and the wedding stabbing at her heart. "Well, don't you dare even think about peeping on me again!" A thought occurred to her suddenly. "Say, Ranma, do you think you have heat vision like Superman, too?"
"How would I know?"
"Well, duh, you have to try, lame brain."
Ranma shot her a nasty glare and then moved the glare to a rock. Nothing happened for a long moment and then a beam of light shot out and pushed the rock away. "Wow!"
"That wasn't right! It's supposed to melt, not bounce!"
"Hey! This isn't easy, you know!" She tried again, imagining it melting, not being hit. Twice more her vision blasted it with little flickering beams. Finally, her vision turned red and warmed up a spot on the rock, causing it to glow. "Ha!"
"So... does this mean you're Superman's son?"
"I suppose it could be. Doesn't seem quite right." She shrugged and took a moment to grab the kettle out of the fire and tip it over her head. Her figure blurred, leaving him behind.
"You don't think your mom would do that?"
"Nah, I don't think Superman would do that! It just doesn't seem like something he would ever do."
"Hmm. Good point."
-
The rioters had finally broken through the police barricade around the parliament building. Cries for freedom from western slavery were chanted on everyone's lips. The wind was blowing on a new political direction, new leadership.
A sudden wind blew over them, almost sending people tumbling. In front of the main doors, a group of distinctive and highly recognizable figures appeared.
Martian Manhunter.
Plastic Man.
Wonder Woman.
Aquaman.
Green Lantern.
The Flash.
And Superman.
Merely being in their presence slowed the mob to a halt. Superman took a step forward. "Please, this riot is not solving anything with its violence." His earnestness touched the heart of many.
A tall, slightly stocky figure suddenly stepped up. He was wearing ornate robes of archaic Japanese style. "So the lackeys of the Americans show up finally! Take you foreign filth out of our proud country!"
"We do not answer to..."
"They call themselves the Justice League of America! Where is the Justice League of Asia? Why must we always bow to western imperialism?" he shouted loudly. "What gives them the right to interfere with our internal problems when they ignore true despots across the world?"
"What?" Superman was truly flabbergasted. Behind him, the rest of the Justice League looked on in surprise.
"I'll tell you why! It's because they are the Justice... League... of America! Looking down upon us from on high! Their American President tells them what to do! They want a compliant, corrupt Japan, not a pure, strong Japan!"
Superman looked on, a stern expression on his visage.
"JLA go home! JLA go home!" the crowd started to chant.
From a nearby shadow, eyes narrowed in thought. His thinking was suddenly disrupted when his darkness was dispelled.
"Don't think that we forgot you, Batman," a woman's voice called out from overhead, where she'd bent a spotlight to point at him. Power Woman radiated strength, power and a cocky grin.
"Who are you?" the dark knight asked.
"Who we are doesn't concern you, but you may call us the Japanese Elite! We bring Japan back to its true glory, wrestling it from the grasp of greedy Americans. I've sworn my undying loyalty to that promise!" she cried out, her voice wholly into what she spoke.
"So what will you do now, Justice League? Why don't you listen to the voice of the people? Or are you too high and mighty to follow what you preach?" the spokesman for the mob called out. Behind him the mob had kept up the chant.
Superman glared at the man for a second. "We'll be watching you for anything unusual. We won't interfere with the politics here, but we won't stand for such basic criminal acts such as murder or robbery."
"That is all we ask. We are not barbarians, after all. We just wish to change our corrupt government."
With that, the JLA took to the air, Green Lantern assisting those who couldn't fly by themselves. Plastic Man was the first to speak up, his head turning into a question mark. "So, Supes, what are we going to do?"
"We are going to watch. That's all we can do."
Batman had an intense frown on his face. "I don't like this. Something doesn't make sense."
Wonder Woman grinned mirthlessly. "At least the Prime Minister and his cabinet were already evacuated."
Superman nodded, gazing across the city. "The JSDF is on its way. We'll just have to see what happens."
-
Ranma leaned up against a log, idly flicking pebbles across the campsite. He'd found this the easiest way to help regain some of his control. Akane was running thru her own exercises, fists pounding on a large tree.
"Heh, heh. It took me long enough to find you, fem-boy. You'd think you were running away," a familiar sarcastic figure said, stepping out from the forest. His green, scaled shirt and loose pantaloons were unmistakable. As was his attitude. He held one hand behind him, hidden away.
Ranma rolled his eyes up, as if asking, 'why me?' "What do you want, Pantyhose?"
Taro's mouth twisted into a snarl. How could that one comment from this sex- changing freak anger him so? "I'm here to beat you up."
"Again? Can't you get another tune?" Ranma bounced to his feet, worries forgotten in the face a known adversary.
"Nobody here to save you this time. And this time, I'll get my name changed for sure!"
Ranma suddenly remembered his boosted strength. "Uh... Like that has ever worked. Pantyhose, I don't really want to fight you."
"I don't care what you want. Happosai wrote me a contract. I deliver you to him trussed up and dressed up... as a girl... and he'll change my name to whatever I want."
"And you're actually going along with this? I thought you were a moron before, but this takes the cake."
Taro produced a bucket of water, slopping some of it onto himself. "Heh. Heh."
"Pantyhose, this is a big mistake. I don't want to hurt you."
"Ranma!" Akane finally cried out from the sidelines of the confrontation.
Taro stepped forward one huge step, his monstrous hooves crushing twigs beneath him. His wing and tentacle writhed in anticipation. The Jusenkyo monster lashed with a punch, his whole body flowing with the attack.
Ranma let himself be slammed backwards, ripping right through some bushes and snapping tree limbs. He had felt that a bit more than Akane's hammer, but not greatly more. "Hey! Why aren't you listening to me?"
"Heh. Heh." Without pausing, the minotaur-hybred creature snatched Ranma up with his four octopus tentacles. Without pause, he started to squeeze while his too small crane wings lifted him into the air.
Ranma felt a momentary flash of panic. He didn't have to worry about being dropped. So far, this was a bit like wrestling with his dad.
Down below, Happosai chortled loudly. "Bwahaha! I'll get my revenge for a pittance! And I'll finally get to see Ranma in this teddy that I bought!" As if by magic, he procured a very sheer little black negligee.
"Ranma would rather die than wear that!" Akane exclaimed, blushing at the proffered underwear.
"I'll crush his ego so he can finally learn what it means to be my student!"
Far up in the sky, Ranma was starting to get bored. "Are you done yet, Pantyhose?" He showed no signs of discomfort to his foe. To be quite truthful, he seemed to be getting stronger by the hour. It worried him a bit. How was he supposed to be a martial artist if he could be hurt and any punch would lay his foe down?
"Heh. Heh?" Taro narrowed his eyes in thought. His off hand splashed Ranma with the remainder of the water from the pail, releasing it to fall to the ground far below.
"Hey! Why'd you do that, you jerk?"
Ranma got her answer a moment later, as both gigantic hands clapped together on her head, even as the tentacles squeezed tighter. In response, Ranma shook her head to shake off the momentary daze. Even as she did, she was flung at the ground hundreds of feet below.
"Whoa! Aaah! Why am I screaming?" The girl stopped in an instant, the large creature zooming past her.
Taro turned to look over her shoulder, banking to head back towards the incongruously floating martial artists. He poured on the speed, attempting to slam into the much smaller target. As easily a hummingbird, Ranma flew backwards, right in front of the fist. The older boy started to get an odd feeling of worry. Where had this ability come from?
Ranma glanced down a second to check on Akane. The red-head suddenly stopped abruptly, the Jusenkyo Terror bouncing off of her like a bug slamming into a windshield. "Akane!" she cried, suddenly rocketing towards the ground.
"Stay back!" Akane commanded bravely, trying to hide her terror at the diminutive master of the Anything Goes School. He had backed her up against a tree.
"Why, Akane, I just want to get to know you better! Please, let an old man comfort himself in his last dying days!" Happosai was radiating lust even as he rubbed his hands together, his stubby legs slowly advancing him towards his victim. He suddenly looked into the air, surprised to see a rapidly approaching martial artist heading towards him.
Ranma slammed into the ground with the force of a grenade. "Stay away from her, you creep!" Happosai had ducked at the last moment and the force of the blast had been directed away from Akane.
"Ranma, how dare you interrupt me! I've taken enough abuse from you!" Happosai cried out with a righteously indignant voice.
"I'll dare more if you lay a finger on Akane!" Ranma had always held a bit of fear for the old man. Not enough to stop her, by any means. But Happosai had hit her with the weakness moxibustion, stealing all of her strength. Even with the new powers, Happosai might still do something like that.
A large firecracker appeared in his hand, the fuse already lit. "I won't let you stop me this time."
Ranma ignored the bomb as it was thrown at her, letting it detonate.
BOOM!
"Wa ha ha! I got 'em! Now there's nobody to stop me!"
Faster than his eyes could follow, a hand emerged from the blast, grabbing him about the neck. "Wrong, I've got you!"
That wasn't supposed to happen. He brandished he iron pipe suddenly, spinning it like a baton. With stunning force, he brought it down on the weak wrists that were holding him.
"That actually stung, you know," Ranma said conversationally.
"Ranma, you've become a true paragon of the Art now. You've surpassed my expectations of you," Happi said cheerfully, his eyes becoming large and innocent.
She looked at the ancient martial artist in suspicion. "You're just trying to distract me, aren't you?"
Happosai nodded. "Yup."
"Ranma! Behind you!" Akane called out. Ranma was doing uncommonly well.
Ranma turned to see Taro rocketing towards her, prepared to skewer her on sharpened horns. With her head turned, Happosai attempted to break free. He had no desire to get caught up in the impact! His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as Ranma held up her other hand, palm first even as her iron grip on him didn't weaken in the slightest.
With all of the power of a runaway truck, Taro hit slammed into the immovable object known as Ranma's hand. Arms, legs, tentacles and wings snapped past Ranma, trying to continue on the momentous passage, only stopping because Taro's head stayed attached to his body, both stopped by the fragile seeming red haired girl in the ruined rags of a gi. Taro slumped to the ground in a resounding thud.
"I have got to admit, that's rather impressive. He's totally out of it," Happosai said in that infuriatingly calm tone that teachers use on their students.
"That's... right." Ranma's blue eyes shifted back to Happosai, who suddenly started sweating nervously. "I don't want you coming back this time, Happosai."
"What are you going to do, kill me?"
"Nah." She released her captive to fall to the ground. Even as Happosai prepared to touch down, her forward foot pivoting, the hind leg building up a massive side kick. "I'm just gonna kick you all the way to China!"
"Wha...?" Happi was silenced by Ranma's kick breaking the sound barrier. He barely felt anything as he was rocketed away, high into the stratosphere.
"Heh. I shouldn't have to deal with him for a while." Ranma brushed the dust off of her hands.
Akane trotted up, looking at the bruised pile of odd creature parts. "What are you going to do with him?"
"He's probably already awake. His cursed form is really resilient."
As if in answer to that statement, Taro cracked an eye open to peek at the two girls. He blinked in surprise when Ranma blurred away faster than he could follow and reappeared with a steaming bucket of water.
"Yow! That's hot!" Taro glared at Ranma, even as she poured the rest of the water over her head. "Okay, how did you pull this stunt off?"
"Don't know. I just got real powerful, yesterday. I could have really hurt you, you know."
"I kind of figured. Don't worry, I'll find some way to negate your new strength and defeat you like normal."
"How come you're always unconscious first then?" Ranma quipped.
"Shut up!" Taro shouted, even as he stormed off.
-
Akane watched as the angry young man walked off. She waited to turn to talk until he was far out of sight. "Do you think you've trained enough?"
"Yeah, well, I didn't really hurt Taro much, did I?" Ranma sighed even as he plunked down on the ground next to the remains of the fire.
Akane asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"It isn't right. It wasn't me that defeated those two, it was these stupid powers!" Ranma snapped out. "How can I be a martial artist if no one is a challenge anymore?"
"I don't know. I'm sure you'll figure something out! You always do!" Akane giggled suddenly. "At least you don't have to be worried about being bullied by anyone."
From farther away than the two teenagers could believe, a pair of blue eyes watched them intently. There were definite signs of some sort of genetic alteration, but from who and for what purposes, he could not determine. Superman had been worried for a second, afraid that this young boy had become a murderer with an incredible mental ease that worried him.
But both of his attackers had already mostly recovered, the old man in mid air, already planning some sort of revenge, hardly concerned about such petty matters as his ballistic trajectory took him into China.
"I am going to make contact with this new metahuman now, J'onn."
'I hear you. The rest of the JLA will continue our own investigations.' An incredibly ordinary looking Japanese boy walked down the road just a few blocks away from the rioting going on. He was in the process of following the charismatic leader of the rioting.
Ranma turned when he felt a powerful presence approaching at high speeds. It didn't feel threatening, but it was always safe to be sure. Ranma blinked in surprise, Akane following suit as they both took in the appearance of the world's premiere superhero.
"Excuse me, but I think you might be able to help me, young man." Superman looked over them at close quarters. Just teenagers, at least outwards appearing.
"Superman? Ah, sure! No problem!" Ranma babbled out. Wow, he was much more imposing in real life than on TV.
"Thank you. I appreciate your cooperation. If you'll follow me? It should only take a few hours at the most."
"Right. Akane?" he asked his fiancée with just his tone.
"Unlike you, I've still got some training to do. Nobody's interested in me, so why don't you go on ahead?"
"Follow me, kid!" With that, Superman flew off into the air. He turned to see the younger man following his lead easily. "What is your name?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome! Pleased to meet you! This is really neat! I've always dreamed of flying!"
Talking became impossible as they flew off faster than the speed of sound, still accelerating. Minutes later, they were landing in a large metropolitan area. The large complex spoke of the military and scientist, Ranma thought to himself. Now, why did it feel so familiar?
Superman led him into a large secured room, a strange tube that glowed with green light dominating the entire area.
A technician walked up and said something in English that the boy couldn't follow. Superman gestured towards the tube. "The teleporter is set, please step on through."
Ranma shrugged and stepped through. He blinked in surprise at the ultramodern room. The teleporter flashed behind him again. Superman stepped thru lightly.
"Welcome to the Watchtower. Please, follow me." Superman turned and walked off.
"You said you needed my help with something?" Ranma asked.
"Yes. We ran into a 'Power Woman' that had signs of genetic alteration, similar to yours. We were curious were you had gotten them."
"I, uh, really don't know. I just started getting these powers the other day. I don't remember doing anything different." The young man paused to look at the Earth in the sky. "Wow!"
"Nothing at all?"
"Nope. I was just laying out, getting some sun and I saw through the dojo. Then I got into a fight and in the middle of it, I suddenly tingled and almost collapsed. That's when I started to find out how tough and strong I'd gotten." Ranma shuddered a second. "I hurt Ryoga pretty bad. Luckily, he's tough and he's going to get better."
Superman looked at him, checking his heartbeat with his hearing. He wasn't lying. "That's very... odd, to say the least. That was almost identical to how I found out about my powers."
"Huh? I thought you always had super powers?"
"No. But I don't dispel that common misconception either. I had a normal childhood. I didn't develop powers until I was your age, maybe just a bit older."
"Really? But I'd heard you were an alien?"
"That's true."
"So what about me? I'm human, aren't I?"
"As far as I can tell. Your genetics is human, but altered." Superman opened the door in front of him, leading them into a laboratory.
Ranma looked around. "Altered?" That made him think. Where had he heard that before.
Superman shrugged. He motioned Ranma to lay down on the table, which Ranma did automatically.
"That's it! I remember something now! I got hurt a year or two ago, during the training trip. Pop took me to some military base in Hokkaido. There was some weird nutso there talking about fixing me up better than before."
"Hokkaido? Anything else?"
"Nah. The only other thing I remember is that Pop had to spring me and it wasn't long before we had to get out of the country."
Superman stared at the screens for a moment. Something about that pattern tugged at his memory. That couldn't be, could it? He'd have to check it personally, later. "Do you mind if we check out your powers a bit more thoroughly?"
"No problem! How do we do that?"
"We'll spar and the Watchtower sensors will do the rest."
"Aren't you afraid of breaking things?"
"Outside?"
-
This had to be insane, Ranma thought to himself. He just couldn't be standing on the Moon's surface, holding his breath! But Superman had said they were going to fight and Ranma Saotome never backed down from a fight.
Superman stood over three hundred feet, holding up his hand. With a chopping motion, he signaled the start of the fight. He'd try to push the boy as hard as possible without hurting him. Superman snapped toward him with a burst of super speed, launching a light punch at his jaw.
For his efforts, he nearly got his head handed to him as Ranma dodged the blow effortlessly. His movements were smooth, deadly and fast! Superman hadn't had the chance to slow down from his burst of super speed, a speed this boy was matching easily.
Time to up the ante, he thought to himself. He blasted Ranma with a burst of heat vision, sending him staggering. Not letting up, Superman through a double-handed blow that slammed into the younger man, sending him skidding along the ground and thru a few boulders.
Ranma barely recovered in time to block the next few attacks. He tried to blast Superman with his own heat vision, but missed horribly, the older fighter seeming to know where it was going to strike. His own head was suddenly engulfed in a block of ice as Superman puffed a breath of super cold air at him.
Ranma rolled with the next punch that struck his head, letting it shatter the ice and spinning to the side. Superman had the advantage, knowing how to use his powers in this sort of fight. He'd have to do something different to win! With a burst of even faster speed, he dodged backwards while cupping his hands.
Superman blinked as Ranma started to glow a bright blue, an incandescent light forming in his hands. What sort of super power was this? He barely dodged to the side as the young man threw a beam of force at him. Even at the edges of it, it still slammed him hard.
Ranma gaped at the divot he'd made in the mountainside. That cost him, as Superman's fist rattled him hard, ending the fight.
"Dang," Ranma muttered moments later in the airlock.
"Actually, you did very well. I'm quite impressed. You'll be quite the fighter once you get the hang of your powers. That blast you did with your hands nearly caught me by surprise."
"Huh? Oh, that. Just a ki blast. I've been able to do that for a while. Tho' it wasn't that powerful before I got these powers."
"You could do that before? So that was a martial arts move?" Superman thought aloud.
"Yep."
"Superman. The Japanese Elite want to speak to Ranma," a guttural said from the shadows.
"What?"
Batman stepped out of the shadows, his mere presence setting Ranma on edge. There was something dark and scary about that man. "Follow me."
"Ah, Superman. Ranma Saotome. We have been looking for you for a long time now. It is good to see you blossom into a true warrior of this day and age." The face looking down from the screen was the same as from the riots yesterday. He was still wearing the archaic robes.
"Who are you?" Superman demanded. Behind him, Batman stuck to the shadows, watching intently.
"I am the Spirit of Japan, Superman. I am the leader of the Japanese Elite. And we are the precursor to the new future of Japan. No longer must we cater to corrupt politicians and greedy businessmen. We shall become the warriors that the world fears."
"What do you want with this boy?"
"I wish to see if Ranma is a true Japanese." With a rough movement, the Spirit of Japan pulled a young woman into the camera's view. "Join us Ranma, as we lead Japan into a new future of greatness."
"Ranma!" Akane cried out just before the camera shut off.
"Akane!" he cried out it in response. His expression turned grim as he spun about.
"It's a trap," Batman said suddenly.
"It don't matter. I've gotta go."
"I can't let you leave yet!" the Dark Knight replied coldly. "I've already shut off the teleporter."
Ranma's expression matched his intensity. "Get outta my way."
"I didn't want to do this-ooof!" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a powerful blow to his chest, robbing him of breath and stunning him.
Ranma disappeared in a blur, going so fast that he left afterimages of himself behind. On his way out the building, he tore through the airlock like it didn't exist.
"Great Scott!" Superman cried out, even as the Watchtower sealed up behind him.
"Damn. He's fast. I didn't even have time to try the Green Kryptonite." Batman stared off into space through the monitors.
"What?" Superman cried out in surprise.
"Jon reported to me that the laboratory has records concerning modifying the human genome to mimic Kryptonian powers.
"So what does that really mean?"
"We could be facing a group of Supermen."
-
Ranma screamed through the void at an unchecked pace. He hit the outer atmosphere hard, the air screaming like the sun on fire to get out of his way. His eyes narrowed, looking past the blazing ball of superheated gasses around him.
The new shooting star stopped over Tokyo, awing those who viewed it. "Where are you?" Ranma screamed out. In front of him rose up a red star.
"Ranma Saotome! If you wish to see your fiancée, come with me!" said the red garbed man. With that abrupt pronouncement, he turned and rocketed towards the parliament building. The two of them lightly landed and entered.
"Ah. Ranma Saotome. Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. It is good to meet you. I am Kaji, the Spirit of Japan as I call myself."
"Uh, okay."
"Will you join us in liberating Japan from under the heel of foreign oppression?"
"I guess so." Ranma was looking around the building, sighing in relief when he spotted Akane fuming in a locked room.
"Good. You, go bring the girl here." Kaji stood up, walking outside onto a balcony. "Japan has become weak in this day and age, Ranma. We need all of our warriors to wrest her back on the path of righteousness and power."
"Yeah, I heard Mr. Tendo bemoaning the state of things one day. Didn't really seem too important to me, but I'm just a kid.
"You are far more than that now, my young friend." Kaji waved to the crowd behind him of costumed Japanese people. "Each of these men and women share in my dream and are willing to die for it. Are you?"
"Well, I care about Japan, but I'm not too sure about anything else. Heck, I just got these stupid powers."
"Ranma! You're here!" Akane cried out.
"Of course, dummy!"
"Will you join us, Ranma Saotome?"
A panicked look crossed his face. There was no way that he could protect Akane right now. "Uh, sure."
"Good! Let the world tremble!"
"Spirit! China has just declared war on us!" Power Woman called out as she stepped into the room. "They just told the UN Assembly that they fear what we'll become under your leadership."
Kaji turned to look to the far west. "Already they send their planes against us." His face tightened, tense and angry all at the same time. "They dare? They dare?! They dare send their nuclear bombs against us?" He spun around to tell his subordinates to deal with the attackers when a thundering boom shook the whole room. He turned around just in time to see shards of glass and steel from the windows arc into the sky. "Who?"
"That was Saotome!"
Kaji's face became bleak. He himself was a Class I metahuman and could barely succeed at that sort of speed. His vision turned to look through the walls, to see the ragged clothed figure already among the jets that were flying escort among the bombers. "Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible for Ranma!" Akane declared.
"Really?" the leader of the Japanese Elite said sardonically.
"He's the greatest martial artist that's ever lived."
"A true martial artist? Hardly, I think."
"He is! He can't even bring himself to fight those that are too weak!"
Kuja's face clouded. "That is... too bad. I have no need or place for such a weak fool."
"What? Ranma weak? You idiot! You don't know him in the slightest!" Akane stated loudly, a touch of pride for Ranma in her voice.
He stared at her for a second, trying to see something deep within her eyes. "And he would do anything, for you, wouldn't he?"
The young girl's face flushed bright scarlet, irritation and embarrassment evident in equal shares. "No! That dummy can't get anything right!"
"Terrible, that." His hand lashed out, slapping her with amazing force. Her body flung through the air to smash into a wall and land in a heap, dribbles of blood starting to seep through her clothing from her shattered body. "Terrible."
-
Ranma ducked and weaved in between missiles and MiG's, a dangerous dance. He suddenly zipped through a hole in their defensive line. Before him flew two bombers, their doors already swinging open. He smashed into the first one, breaking the plane right at its main wings. A scant moment later, it exploded fierily. He was swinging around to smash the second one when it launched a large missile.
"NO!" Ranma screamed, smashing the second bomber. Hardly even noting the planes destruction, he suddenly flew faster than he ever had before after the cruise missile.
His eyes suddenly glowed red, sending out beams of crimson energy against he missile. He was shocked when it merely started to glow, the tiles on it shielding it from the heat. Without a pause, he pushed himself even faster.
When he reached out to grab it, he was startled to feel some sort of field stopping him. With a snarl of concentration, he pushed against the barrier, up and higher. Slowly the missile changed its course, heading up into the air. With a massive heave, he threw it out of the atmosphere, just moments before it exploded.
From the ground, the eyes of Tokyo looked upward to see a short lived star in the daylight sky. The crowd murmured, even as car and lights flickered out, plunging Tokyo into a short dark age.
"He survived! Even being that close, he still survived!" the Crimson Sun shouted, looking up into the sky. His red and white costume was emblazoned with the true symbol of Japan, the rising sun.
"I can see that. He is wounded, ripe for the pickings." The Spirit of Japan smiled mirthlessly. Just as he'd planned.
High up in the air, Ranma shook his head and looked back to where the Japanese Elite were. His face went slack in shock, unable to believe what he saw. "NOOOOOO!" he screamed, so loud that all of Tokyo heard him.
"Here he comes," Crimson Sun shouted in alarm.
With a snap, he appeared in front of the wrecked windows. "How... Why... What had she ever done to you?" Ranma cried out.
"Kill him!" Kaji shouted out, following his own command with his heat vision.
The assembled superhumans struck as one, slamming differing attacks into the stunned martial artist. After a moment, they stopped their attack, leaving a smoking figure laying on the ground.
"So ends the threat of the 'martial artist'." The Spirit of Japan spat on the ground and turned to walk off.
The figure groaned and pulled itself upright. "I-I'm not dead yet, bastard," Ranma snarled, anger and adrenaline surging past the pain of his burns and bruises. His aura lit into the visible spectrum, his hand cupping next to his midsection, a particle of pure sunlight growing within its space.
"Impossible!" the leader of the Japanese Elite shouted.
"I'll see you in hell!" Ranma screamed, lashing out with a flattened ki blast and heat vision. Four of the Japanese Elite were cut in half by the ki attack, barely slowing the blast before it disintegrated the walls behind them. Shards of glass were found as far away as the waterfront. Six more were almost atomized by the blast of heat vision. A heat so intense, that the concrete behind them caught fire.
The Japanese Elite struck back futilely; punches, kicks and beams of energy missing by the barest margins.
-
High up in the JLA, the gathered superheroes turned to a newly activated screen. All except Superman, who was looking directly on the scene.
"What's going on down there? It's looking like World War III!" the Flash exclaimed.
"My God, I've never seen such a vicious fight. He's killing them. He's killing all of them!" Superman exclaimed.
"Who?" Wonder Woman asked intently.
"Saotome. They killed his girl friend and he's killing all of them!"
"All of them? I thought they were all just about as powerful as you?" Green Lantern exclaimed. He looked down at his power ring, thinking about how it was a good thing he just recharged it.
"He's adapting to his super powers and increased fighting ability at an incredible pace. I can barely go that fast myself!" Superman declared.
"We need to get down there and take control of the situation. Superman, stay here until we need you. Green Lantern, your in charge of getting us there now!" Batman commanded, even as he slipped out a small, lead box.
-
Power Woman cried in pain, holding her shattered left arm carefully. She was the last Class II left alive, all of the others were dead already. That left the three Class I's. Whitefire, another successful survivor of the K Serum and Voltais, a man with the power to disintegrate mountains with his violet hand blasts were all that was left of the Japanese Elite, other than their leader.
"You fool! You've destroyed Japan's last chance at greatness!" the Spirit of Japan shouted, his heat vision melting a path behind the blurring martial artist.
"He's too fast!" Whitefire shouted, just before his jaw was shattered, the blow smashing him into the stratosphere.
"This ends, now!" commanded a voice that spoke of the darkness of the coldest shadows. Behind Batman, the rest of the JLA spread out. On his finger, a glowing green ring set an odd counterpart to the Green Lantern's ring.
Waves of weakness beamed from the ring of kryptonite, sending all but one of the Japanese to their knees.
Kaji snarled out, "Voltais, kill Saotome! Now!" With great determination, he tried to struggle to his feet.
Blindly obedient, the purple and black clad Voltais raised his hands, electric purple lightning flying towards the weakly struggling Ranma.
"Oh, no you don't!" Green Lantern called out, blasting with his ring.
Voltais shrugged of the emerald attack, focusing even more on destroying the young man in front of him. "Die for the glory of Japan!"
The blinding lightning grew to an intolerable brilliance. With a shattering boom, the entire building shook.
Aquaman slammed into Voltais, his deep sea muscles striking as hard as diesel trucks. A moment later, twin Amazonian fists crushed his nose flat. The Martian Manhunter finished the fight with a massive uppercut that flung the unconscious body into the sky.
"It's over, Kaji. Your insanity ends here, before it can destroy the world." The Batman walked up to the semiconscious mastermind.
"I'll never give up! Never!" he spat out weakly in response.
With a single blow, Batman knocked him into unconsciousness. Behind him, Plastic Man looked over the many crushed bodies, many burnt beyond recognition. His face looked almost comically sad. "I... it's sad, you know?"
"We know, Plas. So many lives destroyed. More lives than should ever have been ruined in the name of pride," the Flash said.
With a crack of thunder, the skies let loose a torrent of rain that drowned the city in sorrow.
-
"Ranma!" she cried. A green aura encompassed him.
Ranma reflexively inhaled as air became available. It had been such a long time. With air, came coughing. Who was that, trying to talk to him?"
Akane threw off her mask. "Oh, Gods, I thought he'd killed you!" The mask dissolved into the void.
"Huh? Akane?" She was alive? But he'd thought that... His thinking was interrupted by her throwing herself into a tight hug. Ranma smiled, his heart relaxing. He must have been mistaken. He started to blink, his eyes starting to come into focus. His regenerative powers had also increased, so even now, his burns were fading.
"Yes, you silly. Now we have to get out of here. Wherever here is, anyways." Great. How?
Ranma glanced around, seeing absolutely nothing for as far as he could see. "Where are we? All I remember is getting blasted and thinking I was going to die!"
"I've got it!" Akane crowed suddenly. 'Ring, take me to Japan by the fastest means possible!' Her willpower surged, green energy flaring in response. Someplace Ranma and I can be happy, she hoped. Where we can fit in.
"Huh? Where did you get...?" Ranma started to ask, when the void around them turned into a rainbow of coruscating colors, seemingly traveling around them like they were in an immense tunnel. With a burst of light, they appeared above a forest.
"Where are we?" Akane asked, spinning around in the air, trying to see a familiar sight. Ranma tumbled to the ground lightly, five feet below.
"Say, what are you doing in that Green Lantern getup?" Ranma asked, turning his head to look at her closely.
"Dummy! I am Green Lantern, now!"
The room was heavily shaded, lit mostly by the cigar that the craggy and stout man that sat behind the office's desk. In front of him, sitting nervously attentive, was a much slighter man.
"We still haven't found any sign of that lost subject. It was like he disappeared into thin air when he went to China. He likely either died, or was just a null."
"Recall our agents then. I'd hoped to make sure there was no one within Japan that could stand up against us, but even so, he is but one boy. When Japan rises from the ashes of our defeat and humiliation from World War II, nothing will stop us." An evil smile broke his bleak features, sending chills up his underlings back.
"Of course, sir." The littler man stood up and exited the room.
The shadow shifted to look out over the dark city. "Damn those vagrants and damn Dr. Kasugi for taking that boy in when he was hurt." And damn him for having killed Dr. Kasugi then.
-
Ranma lay on the roof of the Tendo's home, snoozing quietly. It had been a slow couple of days and he didn't have anything to do for a while. His mother had dragged his father off and everyone else was just hanging out relaxing.
"Ranma! I lost P-chan again!" Akane called out from the ground below.
The boy on top of the room sat up and looked around sleepily. "He's behind the dojo," he called out drowsily. He lay back down, preparing to snooze a bit more.
"What?" she called out. "This is probably some sort of wild goose chase." She trotted around the corner of the dojo, seeing her little pet sitting in front of a fire that was heating up a kettle. "P-chan!" Akane swept up her pet piglet and upended the kettle over the little fire.
A sudden thought occurred to her. She stomped back towards Ranma. "What were you trying to do to P-chan?" she called out angrily.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Why were you boiling water? Were you trying to hurt him?"
"If you hadn't noticed, I'm a guy right now and don't need hot water."
"So you expect me to believe P-chan did that on his own?"
"In a word? Yes, you dummy!" Ranma laid back down. Ranma couldn't believe how dense Akane could be sometimes. How could she dismiss every single clue about Ryoga's curse?
"Grrr." Akane put her pet down and picked up a small boulder. With all of her might, she tossed it at her snoozing fiancé. "Don't you dare pick on P- chan again!"
Ranma rolled the boulder off of his face, shaking his head. "I didn't do anything! You are so dorky, you dumb tomboy!"
"Just dry up and blow away, jerk!"
The pig-tailed boy rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. He must be getting tougher. He'd hardly felt that. He picked it up and hopped to the ground, sinking six inches into the ground, almost stumbling. He set the stone back in place.
Ranma gave the ground an accusing glare. "Stupid dirt." He reached down and crumbled it. It felt fairly dry, but it was still pretty soft in his grasp.
"Ranma! I warned you that you needed to not hurt Akane's feelings!" Ryoga shouted. Somehow in just the last few moments he'd reversed his curse and managed to find some clothing.
"What are you talking about, Piggy? I ain't done nothing!"
"I can't believe you! Die, Ranma!" Ryoga shouted, lunging forward to attack.
Ranma dodged the slower boy, seesawing between the punches and kicks as if they were thrown in slow motion. "If you're gonna fight, at least put some effort into it!" Ranma catcalled.
"I'll show you! You don't deserve a girl as nice as Akane!" Ryoga shouted again. He suddenly expelled all of his breath as the slightly smaller boy tagged him lightly.
"Uh, yeah... right." Ranma couldn't put his heart into it the jibe. It mirrored too closely to what he felt at times. A fierce determination welled up in him. "But I ain't gonna let some jerk like you put the moves on to her! At least I don't sneak into her bed!"
"Ranma! Die!" The Lost Boy let himself be tripped to the ground. With a tap, it exploded flinging him at his surprised foe. "I've got you now!" And with that he imbedded his fist in Ranma's stomach, fully expecting him to at least leave himself open.
"Heh. I've been eating my Wheaties. You need to practice more!" Ranma quipped, hardly feeling the blow and dodging in between the others.
From the shadowed recesses of the house, Akane watched the fight absently. Why were those two always fighting? It just didn't make sense. Why did Ranma have to be such a jerk to Ryoga. Sighing, she put it aside until a different day.
Ryoga hated to admit it, but Ranma did seem to have improved the most out of the two. He would just have to try harder!
Ranma, on the other hand, wasn't putting as much effort into the fight as it appeared. It had only been a few weeks since the failed wedding. The sun was beating down on this summer morning and it was just too good to waste sitting around all day inside.
-
Deep within his body, changes necessitated by growing up were taking place. His body was only a few short weeks away from his seventeenth birthday. Chemicals and RNA interacted, lighting a spark deep within his brain. That spark jumped from cell to cell, setting off a storm of changes in just a few short moments.
Within each cell, useless seeming DNA and RNA started to process in strange and unusual ways. Little changes were swept up in the storm, energizing everything in its path.
-
Ranma felt something happening. It was like a warmth suffusing his entire body. "Uh..." he moaned, sinking unsteadily to one knee.
His opponent stopped, too chivalrous too beat him down in a moment of weakness. Twinges within his heart told him that he was over reacting. Ranma and Akane always acted this way. It was almost as if they didn't know how to act differently. Though he had seen the stolen glances, the looks of longing that they wouldn't admit to each other.
Ranma shook his head. "Whoa. I don't know what that was, but it was kind of weird."
"Are you ready yet? I haven't finished beating you down!"
"Jeeze, don't get yer knickers in a bunch." Ranma was still a bit woozy, even if he didn't show it externally.
"Your funeral!" he cried out, smashing a punishing, full strength punch into Ranma's face.
Ranma fell over, bouncing once. He grabbed his face in shock. He'd barely felt that! "What was that? I thought you were finished playing?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I hardly felt that." Ranma bounced to his feet.
Ryoga blinked in astonishment. "You're lying!" he said loudly, positive that Ranma must be trying to trick him or something. He launched a jumping leap kick at Ranma's head.
"You had this coming," Ranma crowed, twisting just so to let the blow slide along side of him. He lashed out with a powerful punch, expecting to double over his opponent for another attack.
He was shocked as Ryoga seemed to rocket away as if hit by a train, smashing thru the wall of the compound. "Ryoga?"
The lost boy groaned and curled up into a ball. When could Ranma hit so hard?
"Quit joking around. Ryoga, that isn't funny!" Ranma cried out. He trotted over to him, seeing blood dribble out of Ryoga's mouth. "Oh, damn. I'd better get you some help." Ranma picked up the Lost Boy, not even noticing how light he felt. With a bound, he ran off with his hurt friend. With a single bounce, he was bounding over the roofs at record speed.
"Ranma? Ryoga!" Akane called out, just seeing Ranma take off with the injured boy. She knew something like this was going to happen. She hurried off in the direction after them.
Ranma felt the air hammer against him as he rushed to the nearest hospital. The ground and buildings blurred beneath him, as if he was using his greatest speed. In what seemed just a couple of seconds, he was at the hospital, explaining what had happened.
The doctor prognosis was that Ryoga had internal bleeding, brought about by their fighting. Ranma just couldn't believe that Ryoga could be hurt so much from one punch from himself. He sat alone in the emergency room, all by himself until Akane showed up minutes later.
His fiancée, for her part, couldn't believe how wounded Ranma looked, sitting alone in the sterile room. His face lit up when he saw her, the dark and gloomy cloud almost entirely disappearing. But she could still see that something was wrong.
-
"Yes?"
"Our satellite detected a momentary use of Class III powers within Tokyo." It was the thinner, small man, holding an officious looking folder.
The burly figure behind the desk didn't seem to take note for a long moment. "And this concerns me how?"
"It is from an unknown entity. You wanted to be appraised of..."
"I know what I said. I thought you would know enough to bring only important issues to me. A Class III is relatively unimportant." His eyes seemed to glow red for just a second. "My plan is too far along to stop now."
"Should I send out some recruiters to that area?"
"Send Rei. Tell her that she is to be ready to depart for the parliament at a moments notice if needed." He turned to look at the row of windows that turned into a large screen, showing a mob of people protesting somewhere. The people seemed to be shouting and threatening the police. "I have more pressing concerns."
"Yes, Sir."
-
Akane turned to look at Ranma as they walked home, hours later. The doctors had said that Ryoga was going to be fine. Considering how quickly he and Ranma healed, she expected to visit sometime in the next week. She frowned as she saw how withdrawn Ranma was. It seemed to out of character for him for him to be so upset.
Although... Ranma had been pretty upset when he had thought she had died. Could it mean that Ranma really did like Ryoga? They always fought, but she did have to admit that if Ryoga was really having a problem, Ranma was usually the first one there to help. "Ranma? Are you alright?"
"Hmm? Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking. I really hurt Ryoga. That shouldn't have happened. I need to go on a training trip to retrain myself."
"It has been a while since we've been on a training trip, hasn't it?"
"Huh? Oh... yeah. As long as you promise to make curry!"
"Are you insinuating something?"
"No!" Ranma said truthfully. He was desperately trying to not to say something unkind about her cooking. It had improved, that he had to admit. But that was the only thing that had improved recently.
"Good!"
They were suddenly buffeted by a powerful gust of wind, nearly knocking them over. Ranma was left clinging to the side of the fence while Akane desperately trying to keep her modesty, holding her dress down with both hands.
"What the heck was that?" they exclaimed to each other.
There answer arrived with another gust of wind. The young woman floated casually above them, holding a small computerized instrument of some sort. "Hmm. Not you," she said, pointing the device at Akane. She turned to point it towards Ranma. It pinged audibly. "Hey! Not too shabby if I say so myself." She was garbed in an extremely tight one piece body suit, colored lime and forest green, a stylized kanji of power on her upper right breast.
"Um, who are you?" Akane asked.
"You may call me Power Woman. And you, fellow, are the person I was told to find." She smirked superiorly. This kid was no threat.
Far away, a uniformed man frowned as he looked at the screen which was showing her view to him. "Rei, do the pitch. If he starts to talk about being a hero, take him out and bring him back." Where had he seen that kid before, he thought to himself. He put his hand over the headset's microphone. "Hey, Hiro. Does this guy seem familiar?"
Hiro looked up from his identical computer setup, which had a different view on it. "Shit! That's Ranma Saotome. The boys upstairs have been looking for him for almost a year, Kujo."
"Saotome? Wasn't he exposed to the K virus?"
"Yeah. Last I'd heard, he was probably some sort of null, no effect was apparent."
"He's showed up as Class III. Pretty minor, really." Kujo started to tap onto his screen. Why were these readings so skewed and unstable?
"How did he hide for so long? The Eye Sat can usually spot superhuman power use across the entire eastern hemisphere!"
"I don't know and don't really care. What is up with these readings?"
From behind him, another uniformed figure stepped up to take a look. The woman, pretty despite wearing green fatigues, frowned as she read the same information.
"I'm here to make you a job offer that you can't refuse. We could use your help. It pays extremely well!" Power Woman smiled disarmingly. "I'd like you to come along, so that I can explain it in more detail."
Ranma shrugged. "Sorry, not interested."
Power Woman blinked in surprise. "Not even slightly?"
"Nah. I need to..."
Whatever he said was suddenly interrupted by his father landing on his head. This had the effect of smashing Ranma into the ground, face first. "Fool! I raised you to be better than that!" Genma turned, grinding Ranma's face into the ground. "Ignore my foolish son. Of course he accepts."
The green clad super-powered individual looked at him in amazement. "Uh, really?"
"Old man, you've pissed me off! Get off of me!" Ranma shouted, flinging his father high into the air. He shook off the dust on his face.
"Aren't you worried about hurting him by throwing him like that?" Power Woman asked, staring off into the air after Genma.
Akane snorted derisively. "Are you kidding? Happosai has thrown him further."
"Who is... Happosai?" she asked. Was this some sort of superhuman that she wasn't aware of?
Ranma started to appear nervous while he looked around. "Now you've gone and done it! You shouldn't have mentioned him..."
"Hotcha! Woo hoo baby! Love the look!" a voice suddenly called out. The small, wizened figure attached itself to Power Woman's breasts, snuggling fiercely. "Oh, I'm in heaven."
"Get off!" she shouted, grabbing the letch by his scruff. A furious scowl adorned her fair features. She flung him off in the same general direction as the other man. "I should have killed him for that!"
Her attention was brought back to the pair on the ground in front of her when Akane punched Ranma into the ground. "Quit looking, you pervert!" Akane then turned back to her. "Um, you might want to close your top." She shook her smarting hand. Ouch.
The woman blinked and then checked herself out. Now that it had been brought to her attention, her skin tight outfit had been unzipped. Blushing, she zipped it back up. "That was Happosai, I take it." Where had her sports bra gone?
Akane nodded as she let Ranma up.
Ranma, for his part was starting to wonder what was going on. He kept getting knocked around, but he really wasn't feeling the blows anymore.
Power Woman smiled winsomely. "So what do you say, Ranma? It can't hurt to hear us out, can it?"
"Look, I've got more important things right now. Maybe next week, okay?" Ranma was already thinking about what he needed for his training trip.
She looked at him for one long second. "Sorry to hear that. I thought you were kind of cute. Now I'm going to have to smash in that pretty face." She suddenly zoomed in, throwing a high speed punch at Ranma's head, missing horribly.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Ranma asked, still dodging her punches.
"I was told not to take no for an answer. Sorry. I kind of liked you. It's nothing personal." Damn, he was one slippery little bastard. He's got a lot more martial arts training than she'd expected. Her eyes started to glow, beams of pulsing blue-white light that slammed into Ranma like a freight train.
"Oh..." Ranma mumbled, barely conscious.
"Hey! You leave him alone!" his fiancée shouted, spinning a kick at her unprotected head. It smacked into it with little effect except to hurt her leg.
Power Woman turned towards Akane, a smirk on her face. "You aren't any sort of threat, girl. Go home, before I hurt you."
"Don't you dare hurt her!" Ranma shouted, pulling himself out of the wreckage of the stone wall that he'd collided with earlier. His earlier grogginess was suddenly gone in a surge of adrenaline. His Chinese shirt was totally shredded, leaving him in his sleeveless under shirt.
"Still up, kid? Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't have to worry about anything." Her eyes pulsed again, sending out another wide concussive blast at him. She stopped blasting when she realized that he wasn't there.
"Hiya!" Ranma cried out, slamming into her while throwing a whirling series of kicks and punches. His first few seemed to have no effect, but the last one sent her spinning, blood dripping from her split lip.
She stood back up, shaking her head. Who was this kid? "Control, I might need some help here."
Kujo, on the far side of the link, replied to her, "We hear you. If you can not subdue the target, you are to break off." He turned to look at the other controller. "Hiro, we've got a situation."
"What now?" Hiro replied.
Ranma stood at ease, his eyes alert and alive. Power Woman stomped her foot, transferring shockwaves across the ground and sending the boy sprawling. In a blink, she flew at him, swinging an even stronger punch at his face. At the last moment, he twisted and spun in the air, the blow missing by millimeters. Ranma's foot lashed out in a kick, shooting the older fighter high into the air.
Holding her stomach, she stopped her flight. "Control, I thought you said he was a Class III? He certainly kicks like a Class II. With his training, I don't know how I'll be able to subdue him before someone shows up."
She listened for a second. "I'll be back, Ranma Saotome." She flew off, becoming a green blur that disappeared in a thundering boom.
"And I'll be ready for you!" Ranma yelled out bravely.
"Ranma, what is going on?" Akane asked as she finally regained her feet. She had scrapes and cuts on her knees and hands.
"I really don't know. Say, how did she know who I was?"
A cute little pouty frown showed on her mouth. "I don't know."
-
Rei wiped the blood from her chin. "What the heck happened there? He was supposed to be some Class III punk, not a Class II." She shook her shoulder length black hair into place.
"I don't know. The sensors are showing him as a Class II now. It doesn't make much sense. I'll have to inform the commander..."
She snatched him up as easily as if he were a baby. "Don't you dare. I don't want to look the fool. We'll plan a different strategy and take him out tomorrow."
"I don't know..." Kujo started to say,
"Obviously. That's my job, now."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied stiffly. This wasn't good, but he wouldn't be the one getting in trouble.
-
Ranma stretched at the breakfast table. "Thanks for the breakfast, Kasumi."
"That's no problem, Ranma." Kasumi smiled brightly from her seat at the table.
"What happened to you last night, Saotome?" Soun asked, looking over his battered old friend.
"The boy got a lucky shot in. I'll be in tip top shape in a day or two," Genma pontificated.
"Yeah, well, I'm not waiting for you, old man. I've got some serious retraining to do and don't have time to wait on your flabby behind to get better."
"Flabby!?" Outraged, Genma reached over and grabbed Ranma, smoothly tossing Ranma across the yard into the koi pond.
Ranma sputtered as she surfaced. "Now why did you go and do that for?"
"Ranma, didn't you want to catch that train?" Akane spoke up suddenly, clad in her white gi with her own backpack on.
"Is it time already?" she asked, looking over at the clock. "Yup! Time to go! I'll get you back for that later, old man!"
The two disappeared thru the door in an eye blink.
"It's so good to see them spending time with each other!" Nodoka said happily, walking in from the kitchen with more bowls of food.
"She's right, you know!" Soun said. "Hmm. Hadn't somebody better go and watch over them?"
"Hmm. You are correct, Tendo."
"Actually, I think it is quite romantic of the two being off on their lonesome. It gives Ranma such an opportunity to prove his manliness to Akane!" Nodoka sighed, her heart a flutter at the thought.
Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun and Genma all sweat dropped in sudden nervousness. How come they had a bad feeling about that?
A thin, balding man in a suit stepped to the side as two girls ran down the road, heavy backs and martial arts gi's proclaiming their dedication. "Kids these days." He turned the street to walk over to a parked car. He tapped on the window, which promptly rolled down. "So, any sign of the boy?"
"Not yet. I'm sure he'll show."
-
Ranma looked up at Akane, who was sleeping while leaning against the smaller girl. The run to the train station had worn her out, so she'd napped out for the hour or so it would take to leave the city. The announcement of their stop roused Ranma from her reverie.
"Come on, sleepy head. This is our stop." She took a moment to shake the other girl and then grabbed both back packs, hefting them lightly.
Akane followed, rubbing her eyes. They left the train station in the little town and headed off into the mountains.
She found it hard, struggling to keep up, the red headed figure up ahead of her seemingly infatigable. By mid morning, they had finally reached Terror Peak again. This was one of Ranma's more favored training area, with rugged mountains and large forests. Yet it was also close enough to civilization so that it would take too long to get back if needed.
Akane groaned and flopped on the ground. "Finally. I don't remember it being so rough to get here."
"You're getting soft is all. You need to practice more!" Ranma said cheerfully. She put a thoughtful expression on. "Hmm. I need to figure out some way to regain control."
"Well, why don't you first find out how hard you can punch and hit things?"
"That's... not a bad idea!" Putting words into action, she walked up to a large boulder. "Hiya!" she cried out, smashing the boulder with all of her strength.
The results, to say the least, were spectacular. Ranma stood with her fist outstretched at the center of a five foot crater, a swath of destruction all around her except for where her own body had shielded Akane behind her in a large 'V'. "Whoa. That was way more powerful than I expected."
"Ranma! Are you alright?" Akane cried out from where she sat. She looked around in amazement.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Can't say the same for my clothes." She pulled at the remnants of her shirt and pants. About the only things that were left were her muscle shirt, the ragged remains of her boxers and her gi's belt.
"Not even a scratch," Akane exclaimed in amazement. "How's that possible?"
"I don't know. That's really... odd. Even by my standards." Ranma stood there for a moment, scratching her head in bewilderment.
"So you're amazingly tough and incredibly strong. Can you think of anything else to test?"
"Uh... yeah! Speed!" she proudly exclaimed.
"Why don't you see how fast you can run. I can barely see you throwing punches most of the time anyways!"
"Righty-o!" With that, she took off going up the mountain. As before, the ground started to blur beneath her feet. Concentrating harder, things began to be come clear, if still insanely fast. It was exhilarating.
Akane watched Ranma's trail up the mountain, a dust plume easily visible. "...three, four! Wow! I didn't know anybody but the Flash that could run that fast!" She quit counting when she lost sight, the runner zipping around a trail at the top.
Ranma wished she hadn't taken that curve at quite that speed, as she was now in freefall, headed towards the ground hundreds of feet below! "Oh, crud-crud-crud! I'm gonna splat!" she cried out, waving her arms frantically. Miraculously, she started to slow and then stop. Ranma blink- blinked at the ground a mere ten feet below her. "I'm flying?" she inquired, quite perplexed.
With a slight thought, she nudged herself forward. In just a few moments, she was swooping and zooming around, gleefully smiling. Ranma had always dreamed of flying, instilled from the tenants of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.
She didn't even notice when she shattered the sound barrier. It was such an amazing thing to actually fly!
Left behind, Akane waited a few minutes and then decided that if Ranma wasn't coming back soon, she'd prepare lunch. Starting a fire, she started working on the one credible dish that she could make, curried fish and rice.
She finally finished it, twenty painstaking minutes later, when a breeze almost overturned her dishes. "No!"
"No what?" Ranma asked from behind her.
"Nothing, really. Back finally? Where did you go?" she asked, handing her fiancé a bowl of food.
"Uh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me!"
"Hokkaido."
"Really? But you aren't wet!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"I, uh, didn't swim." She felt quite foolish. How do you tell someone you seem to have sprouted super powers?
"Wow! You can run across water like the Flash?"
"No, you dummy! I flew!"
"You flew?"
"That's what I said, didn't I?" Ranma blew a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"There isn't a martial arts for that, is there?"
"Not that I've heard of."
They both chewed for a second. "You weren't bit by a radioactive bird were you?"
"Huh? No!"
"Your family isn't secretly mutants are they?" Akane asked seriously.
"Not that anyone has told me. Pop is kind of ugly though."
"I don't think that proves anything. You weren't secretly adopted and you're actually an alien from another world are you?"
"What? Hell no!"
"So what's left?"
"Government conspiracy? Magic?" Something tried to impinge itself Ranma, some memory.
"You didn't drink another potion from Shampoo did you?"
The thought was disrupted. "What? Do you think I'm insane?"
Akane glared back at the smaller girl. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Hey!"
Akane smiled sunnily. She loved it when she zinged Ranma. "So you can't remember anything that you've done recently that could have caused this?"
"Nope. I was just laying out before Ryoga showed up wanting to kick my butt."
"Well, you helped me find P-chan and tried to scald him with the hot water." Akane folded her arms, chin thrown out aggressively. She hadn't quite forgiven him for that.
"I did not! You asked where he was, I told you!"
"You had to know where he was! You told me without even searching!"
"He was right behind the dojo, right where I... saw... him." Ranma's voice drifted off.
Akane blinked. "You saw him?"
"Yeah. Right thru the dojo, like it wasn't even there." How could she have spaced that?
She snorted in response. "Yeah, right. Next you'll be telling me you really do have x-ray vision, just like Superman."
"Well, what else could it be?"
Akane rolled her eyes. "Why don't you prove it? Then maybe I'll believe that you didn't try to hurt my P-chan!"
Ranma furrowed her brow in thought. "Ha! I know, I'll..." She blinked for a long moment. "You're still wearing those pink pokadotted panties?"
"You pervert! How dare you use your x-ray vision to peep on me!" Akane cried out, jumping to her feet. She reached into her backpack and retrieved her trusty mallet. She'd thought she might need it! "Ranma, you dummy!"
Ranma, for her part, winced and braced herself for the hit, expecting to be in quite a bit of pain. She felt the hit, but no pain. She cracked open one eye to see Akane drop her implement of retribution.
"Owie! That hurts!" she cried out. The mallet lay on the ground, the head of it quite dented.
"Oops. Forgot about that. Are you all right?" Ranma asked, standing up to gently take her hands and turn them over.
Akane for her part let Ranma act. A blush started to creep up on her. This was so... intimate for them. The only thing that marred it was her stinging hands. "It's... nothing. I'm sure it'll fade."
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! I couldn't have taken you getting hurt... again or anything."
Akane glared for a moment, the reminder of Jusendo and the wedding stabbing at her heart. "Well, don't you dare even think about peeping on me again!" A thought occurred to her suddenly. "Say, Ranma, do you think you have heat vision like Superman, too?"
"How would I know?"
"Well, duh, you have to try, lame brain."
Ranma shot her a nasty glare and then moved the glare to a rock. Nothing happened for a long moment and then a beam of light shot out and pushed the rock away. "Wow!"
"That wasn't right! It's supposed to melt, not bounce!"
"Hey! This isn't easy, you know!" She tried again, imagining it melting, not being hit. Twice more her vision blasted it with little flickering beams. Finally, her vision turned red and warmed up a spot on the rock, causing it to glow. "Ha!"
"So... does this mean you're Superman's son?"
"I suppose it could be. Doesn't seem quite right." She shrugged and took a moment to grab the kettle out of the fire and tip it over her head. Her figure blurred, leaving him behind.
"You don't think your mom would do that?"
"Nah, I don't think Superman would do that! It just doesn't seem like something he would ever do."
"Hmm. Good point."
-
The rioters had finally broken through the police barricade around the parliament building. Cries for freedom from western slavery were chanted on everyone's lips. The wind was blowing on a new political direction, new leadership.
A sudden wind blew over them, almost sending people tumbling. In front of the main doors, a group of distinctive and highly recognizable figures appeared.
Martian Manhunter.
Plastic Man.
Wonder Woman.
Aquaman.
Green Lantern.
The Flash.
And Superman.
Merely being in their presence slowed the mob to a halt. Superman took a step forward. "Please, this riot is not solving anything with its violence." His earnestness touched the heart of many.
A tall, slightly stocky figure suddenly stepped up. He was wearing ornate robes of archaic Japanese style. "So the lackeys of the Americans show up finally! Take you foreign filth out of our proud country!"
"We do not answer to..."
"They call themselves the Justice League of America! Where is the Justice League of Asia? Why must we always bow to western imperialism?" he shouted loudly. "What gives them the right to interfere with our internal problems when they ignore true despots across the world?"
"What?" Superman was truly flabbergasted. Behind him, the rest of the Justice League looked on in surprise.
"I'll tell you why! It's because they are the Justice... League... of America! Looking down upon us from on high! Their American President tells them what to do! They want a compliant, corrupt Japan, not a pure, strong Japan!"
Superman looked on, a stern expression on his visage.
"JLA go home! JLA go home!" the crowd started to chant.
From a nearby shadow, eyes narrowed in thought. His thinking was suddenly disrupted when his darkness was dispelled.
"Don't think that we forgot you, Batman," a woman's voice called out from overhead, where she'd bent a spotlight to point at him. Power Woman radiated strength, power and a cocky grin.
"Who are you?" the dark knight asked.
"Who we are doesn't concern you, but you may call us the Japanese Elite! We bring Japan back to its true glory, wrestling it from the grasp of greedy Americans. I've sworn my undying loyalty to that promise!" she cried out, her voice wholly into what she spoke.
"So what will you do now, Justice League? Why don't you listen to the voice of the people? Or are you too high and mighty to follow what you preach?" the spokesman for the mob called out. Behind him the mob had kept up the chant.
Superman glared at the man for a second. "We'll be watching you for anything unusual. We won't interfere with the politics here, but we won't stand for such basic criminal acts such as murder or robbery."
"That is all we ask. We are not barbarians, after all. We just wish to change our corrupt government."
With that, the JLA took to the air, Green Lantern assisting those who couldn't fly by themselves. Plastic Man was the first to speak up, his head turning into a question mark. "So, Supes, what are we going to do?"
"We are going to watch. That's all we can do."
Batman had an intense frown on his face. "I don't like this. Something doesn't make sense."
Wonder Woman grinned mirthlessly. "At least the Prime Minister and his cabinet were already evacuated."
Superman nodded, gazing across the city. "The JSDF is on its way. We'll just have to see what happens."
-
Ranma leaned up against a log, idly flicking pebbles across the campsite. He'd found this the easiest way to help regain some of his control. Akane was running thru her own exercises, fists pounding on a large tree.
"Heh, heh. It took me long enough to find you, fem-boy. You'd think you were running away," a familiar sarcastic figure said, stepping out from the forest. His green, scaled shirt and loose pantaloons were unmistakable. As was his attitude. He held one hand behind him, hidden away.
Ranma rolled his eyes up, as if asking, 'why me?' "What do you want, Pantyhose?"
Taro's mouth twisted into a snarl. How could that one comment from this sex- changing freak anger him so? "I'm here to beat you up."
"Again? Can't you get another tune?" Ranma bounced to his feet, worries forgotten in the face a known adversary.
"Nobody here to save you this time. And this time, I'll get my name changed for sure!"
Ranma suddenly remembered his boosted strength. "Uh... Like that has ever worked. Pantyhose, I don't really want to fight you."
"I don't care what you want. Happosai wrote me a contract. I deliver you to him trussed up and dressed up... as a girl... and he'll change my name to whatever I want."
"And you're actually going along with this? I thought you were a moron before, but this takes the cake."
Taro produced a bucket of water, slopping some of it onto himself. "Heh. Heh."
"Pantyhose, this is a big mistake. I don't want to hurt you."
"Ranma!" Akane finally cried out from the sidelines of the confrontation.
Taro stepped forward one huge step, his monstrous hooves crushing twigs beneath him. His wing and tentacle writhed in anticipation. The Jusenkyo monster lashed with a punch, his whole body flowing with the attack.
Ranma let himself be slammed backwards, ripping right through some bushes and snapping tree limbs. He had felt that a bit more than Akane's hammer, but not greatly more. "Hey! Why aren't you listening to me?"
"Heh. Heh." Without pausing, the minotaur-hybred creature snatched Ranma up with his four octopus tentacles. Without pause, he started to squeeze while his too small crane wings lifted him into the air.
Ranma felt a momentary flash of panic. He didn't have to worry about being dropped. So far, this was a bit like wrestling with his dad.
Down below, Happosai chortled loudly. "Bwahaha! I'll get my revenge for a pittance! And I'll finally get to see Ranma in this teddy that I bought!" As if by magic, he procured a very sheer little black negligee.
"Ranma would rather die than wear that!" Akane exclaimed, blushing at the proffered underwear.
"I'll crush his ego so he can finally learn what it means to be my student!"
Far up in the sky, Ranma was starting to get bored. "Are you done yet, Pantyhose?" He showed no signs of discomfort to his foe. To be quite truthful, he seemed to be getting stronger by the hour. It worried him a bit. How was he supposed to be a martial artist if he could be hurt and any punch would lay his foe down?
"Heh. Heh?" Taro narrowed his eyes in thought. His off hand splashed Ranma with the remainder of the water from the pail, releasing it to fall to the ground far below.
"Hey! Why'd you do that, you jerk?"
Ranma got her answer a moment later, as both gigantic hands clapped together on her head, even as the tentacles squeezed tighter. In response, Ranma shook her head to shake off the momentary daze. Even as she did, she was flung at the ground hundreds of feet below.
"Whoa! Aaah! Why am I screaming?" The girl stopped in an instant, the large creature zooming past her.
Taro turned to look over her shoulder, banking to head back towards the incongruously floating martial artists. He poured on the speed, attempting to slam into the much smaller target. As easily a hummingbird, Ranma flew backwards, right in front of the fist. The older boy started to get an odd feeling of worry. Where had this ability come from?
Ranma glanced down a second to check on Akane. The red-head suddenly stopped abruptly, the Jusenkyo Terror bouncing off of her like a bug slamming into a windshield. "Akane!" she cried, suddenly rocketing towards the ground.
"Stay back!" Akane commanded bravely, trying to hide her terror at the diminutive master of the Anything Goes School. He had backed her up against a tree.
"Why, Akane, I just want to get to know you better! Please, let an old man comfort himself in his last dying days!" Happosai was radiating lust even as he rubbed his hands together, his stubby legs slowly advancing him towards his victim. He suddenly looked into the air, surprised to see a rapidly approaching martial artist heading towards him.
Ranma slammed into the ground with the force of a grenade. "Stay away from her, you creep!" Happosai had ducked at the last moment and the force of the blast had been directed away from Akane.
"Ranma, how dare you interrupt me! I've taken enough abuse from you!" Happosai cried out with a righteously indignant voice.
"I'll dare more if you lay a finger on Akane!" Ranma had always held a bit of fear for the old man. Not enough to stop her, by any means. But Happosai had hit her with the weakness moxibustion, stealing all of her strength. Even with the new powers, Happosai might still do something like that.
A large firecracker appeared in his hand, the fuse already lit. "I won't let you stop me this time."
Ranma ignored the bomb as it was thrown at her, letting it detonate.
BOOM!
"Wa ha ha! I got 'em! Now there's nobody to stop me!"
Faster than his eyes could follow, a hand emerged from the blast, grabbing him about the neck. "Wrong, I've got you!"
That wasn't supposed to happen. He brandished he iron pipe suddenly, spinning it like a baton. With stunning force, he brought it down on the weak wrists that were holding him.
"That actually stung, you know," Ranma said conversationally.
"Ranma, you've become a true paragon of the Art now. You've surpassed my expectations of you," Happi said cheerfully, his eyes becoming large and innocent.
She looked at the ancient martial artist in suspicion. "You're just trying to distract me, aren't you?"
Happosai nodded. "Yup."
"Ranma! Behind you!" Akane called out. Ranma was doing uncommonly well.
Ranma turned to see Taro rocketing towards her, prepared to skewer her on sharpened horns. With her head turned, Happosai attempted to break free. He had no desire to get caught up in the impact! His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as Ranma held up her other hand, palm first even as her iron grip on him didn't weaken in the slightest.
With all of the power of a runaway truck, Taro hit slammed into the immovable object known as Ranma's hand. Arms, legs, tentacles and wings snapped past Ranma, trying to continue on the momentous passage, only stopping because Taro's head stayed attached to his body, both stopped by the fragile seeming red haired girl in the ruined rags of a gi. Taro slumped to the ground in a resounding thud.
"I have got to admit, that's rather impressive. He's totally out of it," Happosai said in that infuriatingly calm tone that teachers use on their students.
"That's... right." Ranma's blue eyes shifted back to Happosai, who suddenly started sweating nervously. "I don't want you coming back this time, Happosai."
"What are you going to do, kill me?"
"Nah." She released her captive to fall to the ground. Even as Happosai prepared to touch down, her forward foot pivoting, the hind leg building up a massive side kick. "I'm just gonna kick you all the way to China!"
"Wha...?" Happi was silenced by Ranma's kick breaking the sound barrier. He barely felt anything as he was rocketed away, high into the stratosphere.
"Heh. I shouldn't have to deal with him for a while." Ranma brushed the dust off of her hands.
Akane trotted up, looking at the bruised pile of odd creature parts. "What are you going to do with him?"
"He's probably already awake. His cursed form is really resilient."
As if in answer to that statement, Taro cracked an eye open to peek at the two girls. He blinked in surprise when Ranma blurred away faster than he could follow and reappeared with a steaming bucket of water.
"Yow! That's hot!" Taro glared at Ranma, even as she poured the rest of the water over her head. "Okay, how did you pull this stunt off?"
"Don't know. I just got real powerful, yesterday. I could have really hurt you, you know."
"I kind of figured. Don't worry, I'll find some way to negate your new strength and defeat you like normal."
"How come you're always unconscious first then?" Ranma quipped.
"Shut up!" Taro shouted, even as he stormed off.
-
Akane watched as the angry young man walked off. She waited to turn to talk until he was far out of sight. "Do you think you've trained enough?"
"Yeah, well, I didn't really hurt Taro much, did I?" Ranma sighed even as he plunked down on the ground next to the remains of the fire.
Akane asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"It isn't right. It wasn't me that defeated those two, it was these stupid powers!" Ranma snapped out. "How can I be a martial artist if no one is a challenge anymore?"
"I don't know. I'm sure you'll figure something out! You always do!" Akane giggled suddenly. "At least you don't have to be worried about being bullied by anyone."
From farther away than the two teenagers could believe, a pair of blue eyes watched them intently. There were definite signs of some sort of genetic alteration, but from who and for what purposes, he could not determine. Superman had been worried for a second, afraid that this young boy had become a murderer with an incredible mental ease that worried him.
But both of his attackers had already mostly recovered, the old man in mid air, already planning some sort of revenge, hardly concerned about such petty matters as his ballistic trajectory took him into China.
"I am going to make contact with this new metahuman now, J'onn."
'I hear you. The rest of the JLA will continue our own investigations.' An incredibly ordinary looking Japanese boy walked down the road just a few blocks away from the rioting going on. He was in the process of following the charismatic leader of the rioting.
Ranma turned when he felt a powerful presence approaching at high speeds. It didn't feel threatening, but it was always safe to be sure. Ranma blinked in surprise, Akane following suit as they both took in the appearance of the world's premiere superhero.
"Excuse me, but I think you might be able to help me, young man." Superman looked over them at close quarters. Just teenagers, at least outwards appearing.
"Superman? Ah, sure! No problem!" Ranma babbled out. Wow, he was much more imposing in real life than on TV.
"Thank you. I appreciate your cooperation. If you'll follow me? It should only take a few hours at the most."
"Right. Akane?" he asked his fiancée with just his tone.
"Unlike you, I've still got some training to do. Nobody's interested in me, so why don't you go on ahead?"
"Follow me, kid!" With that, Superman flew off into the air. He turned to see the younger man following his lead easily. "What is your name?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome! Pleased to meet you! This is really neat! I've always dreamed of flying!"
Talking became impossible as they flew off faster than the speed of sound, still accelerating. Minutes later, they were landing in a large metropolitan area. The large complex spoke of the military and scientist, Ranma thought to himself. Now, why did it feel so familiar?
Superman led him into a large secured room, a strange tube that glowed with green light dominating the entire area.
A technician walked up and said something in English that the boy couldn't follow. Superman gestured towards the tube. "The teleporter is set, please step on through."
Ranma shrugged and stepped through. He blinked in surprise at the ultramodern room. The teleporter flashed behind him again. Superman stepped thru lightly.
"Welcome to the Watchtower. Please, follow me." Superman turned and walked off.
"You said you needed my help with something?" Ranma asked.
"Yes. We ran into a 'Power Woman' that had signs of genetic alteration, similar to yours. We were curious were you had gotten them."
"I, uh, really don't know. I just started getting these powers the other day. I don't remember doing anything different." The young man paused to look at the Earth in the sky. "Wow!"
"Nothing at all?"
"Nope. I was just laying out, getting some sun and I saw through the dojo. Then I got into a fight and in the middle of it, I suddenly tingled and almost collapsed. That's when I started to find out how tough and strong I'd gotten." Ranma shuddered a second. "I hurt Ryoga pretty bad. Luckily, he's tough and he's going to get better."
Superman looked at him, checking his heartbeat with his hearing. He wasn't lying. "That's very... odd, to say the least. That was almost identical to how I found out about my powers."
"Huh? I thought you always had super powers?"
"No. But I don't dispel that common misconception either. I had a normal childhood. I didn't develop powers until I was your age, maybe just a bit older."
"Really? But I'd heard you were an alien?"
"That's true."
"So what about me? I'm human, aren't I?"
"As far as I can tell. Your genetics is human, but altered." Superman opened the door in front of him, leading them into a laboratory.
Ranma looked around. "Altered?" That made him think. Where had he heard that before.
Superman shrugged. He motioned Ranma to lay down on the table, which Ranma did automatically.
"That's it! I remember something now! I got hurt a year or two ago, during the training trip. Pop took me to some military base in Hokkaido. There was some weird nutso there talking about fixing me up better than before."
"Hokkaido? Anything else?"
"Nah. The only other thing I remember is that Pop had to spring me and it wasn't long before we had to get out of the country."
Superman stared at the screens for a moment. Something about that pattern tugged at his memory. That couldn't be, could it? He'd have to check it personally, later. "Do you mind if we check out your powers a bit more thoroughly?"
"No problem! How do we do that?"
"We'll spar and the Watchtower sensors will do the rest."
"Aren't you afraid of breaking things?"
"Outside?"
-
This had to be insane, Ranma thought to himself. He just couldn't be standing on the Moon's surface, holding his breath! But Superman had said they were going to fight and Ranma Saotome never backed down from a fight.
Superman stood over three hundred feet, holding up his hand. With a chopping motion, he signaled the start of the fight. He'd try to push the boy as hard as possible without hurting him. Superman snapped toward him with a burst of super speed, launching a light punch at his jaw.
For his efforts, he nearly got his head handed to him as Ranma dodged the blow effortlessly. His movements were smooth, deadly and fast! Superman hadn't had the chance to slow down from his burst of super speed, a speed this boy was matching easily.
Time to up the ante, he thought to himself. He blasted Ranma with a burst of heat vision, sending him staggering. Not letting up, Superman through a double-handed blow that slammed into the younger man, sending him skidding along the ground and thru a few boulders.
Ranma barely recovered in time to block the next few attacks. He tried to blast Superman with his own heat vision, but missed horribly, the older fighter seeming to know where it was going to strike. His own head was suddenly engulfed in a block of ice as Superman puffed a breath of super cold air at him.
Ranma rolled with the next punch that struck his head, letting it shatter the ice and spinning to the side. Superman had the advantage, knowing how to use his powers in this sort of fight. He'd have to do something different to win! With a burst of even faster speed, he dodged backwards while cupping his hands.
Superman blinked as Ranma started to glow a bright blue, an incandescent light forming in his hands. What sort of super power was this? He barely dodged to the side as the young man threw a beam of force at him. Even at the edges of it, it still slammed him hard.
Ranma gaped at the divot he'd made in the mountainside. That cost him, as Superman's fist rattled him hard, ending the fight.
"Dang," Ranma muttered moments later in the airlock.
"Actually, you did very well. I'm quite impressed. You'll be quite the fighter once you get the hang of your powers. That blast you did with your hands nearly caught me by surprise."
"Huh? Oh, that. Just a ki blast. I've been able to do that for a while. Tho' it wasn't that powerful before I got these powers."
"You could do that before? So that was a martial arts move?" Superman thought aloud.
"Yep."
"Superman. The Japanese Elite want to speak to Ranma," a guttural said from the shadows.
"What?"
Batman stepped out of the shadows, his mere presence setting Ranma on edge. There was something dark and scary about that man. "Follow me."
"Ah, Superman. Ranma Saotome. We have been looking for you for a long time now. It is good to see you blossom into a true warrior of this day and age." The face looking down from the screen was the same as from the riots yesterday. He was still wearing the archaic robes.
"Who are you?" Superman demanded. Behind him, Batman stuck to the shadows, watching intently.
"I am the Spirit of Japan, Superman. I am the leader of the Japanese Elite. And we are the precursor to the new future of Japan. No longer must we cater to corrupt politicians and greedy businessmen. We shall become the warriors that the world fears."
"What do you want with this boy?"
"I wish to see if Ranma is a true Japanese." With a rough movement, the Spirit of Japan pulled a young woman into the camera's view. "Join us Ranma, as we lead Japan into a new future of greatness."
"Ranma!" Akane cried out just before the camera shut off.
"Akane!" he cried out it in response. His expression turned grim as he spun about.
"It's a trap," Batman said suddenly.
"It don't matter. I've gotta go."
"I can't let you leave yet!" the Dark Knight replied coldly. "I've already shut off the teleporter."
Ranma's expression matched his intensity. "Get outta my way."
"I didn't want to do this-ooof!" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a powerful blow to his chest, robbing him of breath and stunning him.
Ranma disappeared in a blur, going so fast that he left afterimages of himself behind. On his way out the building, he tore through the airlock like it didn't exist.
"Great Scott!" Superman cried out, even as the Watchtower sealed up behind him.
"Damn. He's fast. I didn't even have time to try the Green Kryptonite." Batman stared off into space through the monitors.
"What?" Superman cried out in surprise.
"Jon reported to me that the laboratory has records concerning modifying the human genome to mimic Kryptonian powers.
"So what does that really mean?"
"We could be facing a group of Supermen."
-
Ranma screamed through the void at an unchecked pace. He hit the outer atmosphere hard, the air screaming like the sun on fire to get out of his way. His eyes narrowed, looking past the blazing ball of superheated gasses around him.
The new shooting star stopped over Tokyo, awing those who viewed it. "Where are you?" Ranma screamed out. In front of him rose up a red star.
"Ranma Saotome! If you wish to see your fiancée, come with me!" said the red garbed man. With that abrupt pronouncement, he turned and rocketed towards the parliament building. The two of them lightly landed and entered.
"Ah. Ranma Saotome. Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. It is good to meet you. I am Kaji, the Spirit of Japan as I call myself."
"Uh, okay."
"Will you join us in liberating Japan from under the heel of foreign oppression?"
"I guess so." Ranma was looking around the building, sighing in relief when he spotted Akane fuming in a locked room.
"Good. You, go bring the girl here." Kaji stood up, walking outside onto a balcony. "Japan has become weak in this day and age, Ranma. We need all of our warriors to wrest her back on the path of righteousness and power."
"Yeah, I heard Mr. Tendo bemoaning the state of things one day. Didn't really seem too important to me, but I'm just a kid.
"You are far more than that now, my young friend." Kaji waved to the crowd behind him of costumed Japanese people. "Each of these men and women share in my dream and are willing to die for it. Are you?"
"Well, I care about Japan, but I'm not too sure about anything else. Heck, I just got these stupid powers."
"Ranma! You're here!" Akane cried out.
"Of course, dummy!"
"Will you join us, Ranma Saotome?"
A panicked look crossed his face. There was no way that he could protect Akane right now. "Uh, sure."
"Good! Let the world tremble!"
"Spirit! China has just declared war on us!" Power Woman called out as she stepped into the room. "They just told the UN Assembly that they fear what we'll become under your leadership."
Kaji turned to look to the far west. "Already they send their planes against us." His face tightened, tense and angry all at the same time. "They dare? They dare?! They dare send their nuclear bombs against us?" He spun around to tell his subordinates to deal with the attackers when a thundering boom shook the whole room. He turned around just in time to see shards of glass and steel from the windows arc into the sky. "Who?"
"That was Saotome!"
Kaji's face became bleak. He himself was a Class I metahuman and could barely succeed at that sort of speed. His vision turned to look through the walls, to see the ragged clothed figure already among the jets that were flying escort among the bombers. "Impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible for Ranma!" Akane declared.
"Really?" the leader of the Japanese Elite said sardonically.
"He's the greatest martial artist that's ever lived."
"A true martial artist? Hardly, I think."
"He is! He can't even bring himself to fight those that are too weak!"
Kuja's face clouded. "That is... too bad. I have no need or place for such a weak fool."
"What? Ranma weak? You idiot! You don't know him in the slightest!" Akane stated loudly, a touch of pride for Ranma in her voice.
He stared at her for a second, trying to see something deep within her eyes. "And he would do anything, for you, wouldn't he?"
The young girl's face flushed bright scarlet, irritation and embarrassment evident in equal shares. "No! That dummy can't get anything right!"
"Terrible, that." His hand lashed out, slapping her with amazing force. Her body flung through the air to smash into a wall and land in a heap, dribbles of blood starting to seep through her clothing from her shattered body. "Terrible."
-
Ranma ducked and weaved in between missiles and MiG's, a dangerous dance. He suddenly zipped through a hole in their defensive line. Before him flew two bombers, their doors already swinging open. He smashed into the first one, breaking the plane right at its main wings. A scant moment later, it exploded fierily. He was swinging around to smash the second one when it launched a large missile.
"NO!" Ranma screamed, smashing the second bomber. Hardly even noting the planes destruction, he suddenly flew faster than he ever had before after the cruise missile.
His eyes suddenly glowed red, sending out beams of crimson energy against he missile. He was shocked when it merely started to glow, the tiles on it shielding it from the heat. Without a pause, he pushed himself even faster.
When he reached out to grab it, he was startled to feel some sort of field stopping him. With a snarl of concentration, he pushed against the barrier, up and higher. Slowly the missile changed its course, heading up into the air. With a massive heave, he threw it out of the atmosphere, just moments before it exploded.
From the ground, the eyes of Tokyo looked upward to see a short lived star in the daylight sky. The crowd murmured, even as car and lights flickered out, plunging Tokyo into a short dark age.
"He survived! Even being that close, he still survived!" the Crimson Sun shouted, looking up into the sky. His red and white costume was emblazoned with the true symbol of Japan, the rising sun.
"I can see that. He is wounded, ripe for the pickings." The Spirit of Japan smiled mirthlessly. Just as he'd planned.
High up in the air, Ranma shook his head and looked back to where the Japanese Elite were. His face went slack in shock, unable to believe what he saw. "NOOOOOO!" he screamed, so loud that all of Tokyo heard him.
"Here he comes," Crimson Sun shouted in alarm.
With a snap, he appeared in front of the wrecked windows. "How... Why... What had she ever done to you?" Ranma cried out.
"Kill him!" Kaji shouted out, following his own command with his heat vision.
The assembled superhumans struck as one, slamming differing attacks into the stunned martial artist. After a moment, they stopped their attack, leaving a smoking figure laying on the ground.
"So ends the threat of the 'martial artist'." The Spirit of Japan spat on the ground and turned to walk off.
The figure groaned and pulled itself upright. "I-I'm not dead yet, bastard," Ranma snarled, anger and adrenaline surging past the pain of his burns and bruises. His aura lit into the visible spectrum, his hand cupping next to his midsection, a particle of pure sunlight growing within its space.
"Impossible!" the leader of the Japanese Elite shouted.
"I'll see you in hell!" Ranma screamed, lashing out with a flattened ki blast and heat vision. Four of the Japanese Elite were cut in half by the ki attack, barely slowing the blast before it disintegrated the walls behind them. Shards of glass were found as far away as the waterfront. Six more were almost atomized by the blast of heat vision. A heat so intense, that the concrete behind them caught fire.
The Japanese Elite struck back futilely; punches, kicks and beams of energy missing by the barest margins.
-
High up in the JLA, the gathered superheroes turned to a newly activated screen. All except Superman, who was looking directly on the scene.
"What's going on down there? It's looking like World War III!" the Flash exclaimed.
"My God, I've never seen such a vicious fight. He's killing them. He's killing all of them!" Superman exclaimed.
"Who?" Wonder Woman asked intently.
"Saotome. They killed his girl friend and he's killing all of them!"
"All of them? I thought they were all just about as powerful as you?" Green Lantern exclaimed. He looked down at his power ring, thinking about how it was a good thing he just recharged it.
"He's adapting to his super powers and increased fighting ability at an incredible pace. I can barely go that fast myself!" Superman declared.
"We need to get down there and take control of the situation. Superman, stay here until we need you. Green Lantern, your in charge of getting us there now!" Batman commanded, even as he slipped out a small, lead box.
-
Power Woman cried in pain, holding her shattered left arm carefully. She was the last Class II left alive, all of the others were dead already. That left the three Class I's. Whitefire, another successful survivor of the K Serum and Voltais, a man with the power to disintegrate mountains with his violet hand blasts were all that was left of the Japanese Elite, other than their leader.
"You fool! You've destroyed Japan's last chance at greatness!" the Spirit of Japan shouted, his heat vision melting a path behind the blurring martial artist.
"He's too fast!" Whitefire shouted, just before his jaw was shattered, the blow smashing him into the stratosphere.
"This ends, now!" commanded a voice that spoke of the darkness of the coldest shadows. Behind Batman, the rest of the JLA spread out. On his finger, a glowing green ring set an odd counterpart to the Green Lantern's ring.
Waves of weakness beamed from the ring of kryptonite, sending all but one of the Japanese to their knees.
Kaji snarled out, "Voltais, kill Saotome! Now!" With great determination, he tried to struggle to his feet.
Blindly obedient, the purple and black clad Voltais raised his hands, electric purple lightning flying towards the weakly struggling Ranma.
"Oh, no you don't!" Green Lantern called out, blasting with his ring.
Voltais shrugged of the emerald attack, focusing even more on destroying the young man in front of him. "Die for the glory of Japan!"
The blinding lightning grew to an intolerable brilliance. With a shattering boom, the entire building shook.
Aquaman slammed into Voltais, his deep sea muscles striking as hard as diesel trucks. A moment later, twin Amazonian fists crushed his nose flat. The Martian Manhunter finished the fight with a massive uppercut that flung the unconscious body into the sky.
"It's over, Kaji. Your insanity ends here, before it can destroy the world." The Batman walked up to the semiconscious mastermind.
"I'll never give up! Never!" he spat out weakly in response.
With a single blow, Batman knocked him into unconsciousness. Behind him, Plastic Man looked over the many crushed bodies, many burnt beyond recognition. His face looked almost comically sad. "I... it's sad, you know?"
"We know, Plas. So many lives destroyed. More lives than should ever have been ruined in the name of pride," the Flash said.
With a crack of thunder, the skies let loose a torrent of rain that drowned the city in sorrow.
-
"Ranma!" she cried. A green aura encompassed him.
Ranma reflexively inhaled as air became available. It had been such a long time. With air, came coughing. Who was that, trying to talk to him?"
Akane threw off her mask. "Oh, Gods, I thought he'd killed you!" The mask dissolved into the void.
"Huh? Akane?" She was alive? But he'd thought that... His thinking was interrupted by her throwing herself into a tight hug. Ranma smiled, his heart relaxing. He must have been mistaken. He started to blink, his eyes starting to come into focus. His regenerative powers had also increased, so even now, his burns were fading.
"Yes, you silly. Now we have to get out of here. Wherever here is, anyways." Great. How?
Ranma glanced around, seeing absolutely nothing for as far as he could see. "Where are we? All I remember is getting blasted and thinking I was going to die!"
"I've got it!" Akane crowed suddenly. 'Ring, take me to Japan by the fastest means possible!' Her willpower surged, green energy flaring in response. Someplace Ranma and I can be happy, she hoped. Where we can fit in.
"Huh? Where did you get...?" Ranma started to ask, when the void around them turned into a rainbow of coruscating colors, seemingly traveling around them like they were in an immense tunnel. With a burst of light, they appeared above a forest.
"Where are we?" Akane asked, spinning around in the air, trying to see a familiar sight. Ranma tumbled to the ground lightly, five feet below.
"Say, what are you doing in that Green Lantern getup?" Ranma asked, turning his head to look at her closely.
"Dummy! I am Green Lantern, now!"