Insertion Part 16: Big Business by Sean D'Anna ===== First off, a little Question and answer session. Q: Where's the new part of Rain? A: I haven't forgotten Rain, but the new chapter is coming slowly along. I'm working out a few details about what's going to happen over the last part of the story. When I get it all worked out, you'll see the rest of it. [Not Writers block, I'm just plotting it out carefully.] Q: Why are you working on this then? A: Cause I feel like it. Leeme alone. +++++++++++++ Ranma Saotome sat in front of two elderly men. They were inside a large office on the top floor of a skyscraper in Tokyo. He had a briefcase resting in his lap, and a smug looking grin on his face. One had a long gray beard, and an intimidating appearance about him. The other was twenty years younger and had a thick set of eyeglasses on, both were dressed in business suits. The man with the beard was sitting behind a large intimidating desk. "Where did you get this?" said the two men as they both peered down at the large holographic image that was generated by a small machine in front of them. Basically, a television from the silver millenium, created by scientist from the planet thousands of years before. "I confiscated it from some visitors from out of the country," replied Ranma calmly. "You stole it?" said the man with a frown on his face. "Now that is a secret," replied the boy with a small wag of his finger. "However, the original owners will not be looking for it anytime soon." One of the men looked uncomfortable with this and sat back in his chair. "How do you know this?" "Because they have been dead for some time now," replied the boy with a small shrug. "I suppose I could buy it from you," replied the other man with a sour looking frown as he stroked at his beard calmly. "I'll give you sixty million yen." Ranma snorted in disgust. "Right. I give you that for a drop in the bucket? The patents involved with just the parts in that machine alone will ensure your business for decades. If you release them slowly, a piece at a time, you will quickly become the most powerful force in the technology industry. I'm not a fool." The man with the glasses narrowed his eyes at the boy and frowned. "You claim to have murdered the original owner of this, and now you make demands? You should be so lucky I offered that much." "I said he was dead. I never claimed that I killed him," replied the boy calmly. "How I got my hands on that is my business. I've got several offers from your competitors already. If you don't meet my demands, all of which were very nearly met by your competitors by the way, I will leave." "And what are your demands?" snorted the old man bitterly. "Fifteen percent of your stock, and twenty billion yen," replied Ranma coldly. "Are you insane?" snapped the bearded man as he jumped out of his seat. "No? Oh, I suppose I'll just sell this to the man who offered me ten percent, and nineteen billion yen. I hope your company can survive against someone who's putting out that kind of technology..." The old man stared down at the device hatefully. It was no bigger than a CD player, the image looked real enough to touch, and the disks it played were no larger than a quarter. They were capable of holding information thousands of times greater than a DVD disk according to the boy. Those two patents alone could do more than make up the loss in capital in just one year. The power supply was unlike anything he had seen before either. It looked a bit like a fuse, but held a brightly glowing light inside "I don't believe this..." he muttered under his breath. "I'm not interested in taking over your company. I'll liquidate the stocks once I'm satisfied with the gains this technology will make over the next few years. I've got plans of my own, and can't be bothered with marketing this myself," said Ranma with a cold smile on his face. "So, I'm selling it to the highest bidder." The old man chuckled to himself, nodding his head. "I like you. I'll match the other offer, plus tack on two percent to the stock. You've got a bright future ahead of you young man. I'd offer you a job, but you're to wealthy for that now." "That's nice to know, but I'm not an idiot," said Ranma coolly. "Have your secretary send in the man who accompanied me." The old man arched his brow at this and pressed a button on his desk. "Midori, send in the other gentleman please." After a few moments Jadeite walked into the room. "You summoned me?" he commented with a slight smirk on his face. "I'm still a minor, you'd have refused the stock options and probably the money as well. You'd have sited that the contract was invalid," said the boy with a small shrug. "Everything will go in this man's name, just to ensure that you don't try and refuse payment later on," said Ranma with a small chuckle. "The paperwork may take some time, a few days..." started the old man. "You have one hour. I think I'll wait here," said the boy calmly as he crossed his arms. "Don't treat me like I'm some green moron, old man." The younger man turned completely red in anger and clenched his fists. "How dare you?!" "Calm down," said the old man calmly. "This is too much for us to pass up. It's obvious that this technology isn't from this planet. There's too much for it to be some secret project from a competitor, or even something he stole from the military." "You're smarter than you look old man," said Ranma calmly as he smiled at him. Jadeite narrowed his eyes at them for a moment. "Yes, and you are a fool. You realize that this room is always under surveillance? I have this entire conversation recorded in countless ways. More than enough to convict you of espionage, blackmail, and numerous other small crimes, possibly including murder." The old man gave them a passing smirk. "I think sixty million is a nice sum, don't you agree?" The old man looked up to his lackey, who was now grinning back at him. "Fool," snorted Ranma calmly. "You don't think that's the only thing I confiscated do you?" "I don't see how that can help you," said the old man coldly. "I think it can, Jadeite," said Ranma coolly. The former youma general pulled a sleek looking weapon from his coat. It looked like a handgun from some old sci-fi movie. Both men froze where they stood. "I wouldn't hit the panic alarm hidden under your desk either," said Ranma. He pointed at the silver tie pin on his clothes. "That weapon is a rather nasty way to die. It vaporizes your entire body rather slowly. It leaves no bodies behind, and no projectile. Show him Jadeite." The man merely nodded, and shot the computer that was sitting on the man's desk. A small ball of energy flashed from the weapon's barrel, and began to burn its way slowly across the plastic. Slowly, the computer vanished away, leaving only a few wisps of smoke behind. The old man gasped in shock and horror. "This tie pin, is a cloaking device. It prevents my voice from being recorded, and my picture from being taken clearly. I'm nothing but a bunch of white noise, and some weird looking blobs of black on any surveillance you might have." "This is..." stammered the younger man as he moved between Jadeite and his boss. "Calm down. I'm not threatening you. If you want us to leave, we will, but we're taking that with us. You just need to understand where you stand in respect to threatening me. You see, I can kill you without leaving a shred of evidence behind. I'm not interested in that, what I want is a business deal. If you aren't willing, I'll go somewhere else." The old man looked at his companion and sighed. "Stand down. I shall...comply." Ranma smiled cheerfully. "Good! I'm glad to hear that! Shall we start the paperwork?" ++++++++++ "Are you sure that was necessary?" grumbled Jadeite irritably. "Calm down, it's not like we haven't done it six times today," replied Ranma. "None of the other companies even remember that we were ever there." "Fine, but still. Why my name?" "Simple, we're going to divide the money and stocks up between the four of you," replied Ranma with a shrug as they walked down the street. "I want you in charge of the stocks though." "What about you?" said the man with a small frown. "I'm going to wait until I'm old enough to own property. This money isn't just to live comfortably you know. We're going to need a base of operations for one. Transportation would be nice too." "Company cars?" muttered Jadeite. "Right," said the boy calmly in reply. "So? We don't have to worry about money then," said Jadeite with a small nod. "Right, that was the point. Now we don't have to worry about finding jobs, we can build a client base and work only choice jobs. It'll make us look elite, we'll overcharge and pick our work. That'll free us up for other things, like our real mission." "Why bother with the security thing at all then?" said Jadeite in confusion. "Mostly too keep the Tendos and Genma from getting suspicious. We've got access to a lot of money. I'm still a minor, so having a bank account of my own is dangerous with that fat leech around. That's why I need you for this. The four of us are going to have a joint account." "Right, I get it," said Jadeite calmly. "The business is also a cover for the government," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "We're going to pay taxes, get the licenses required, and everything else. We're even going to hire a few men to take care of jobs while we're doing the real work." "How can I have a bank account? I don't exist," said Jadeite with a small frown. "Nephrite already took care of that, he should have everything you need for identification ready by now. All that stuff is computerized now, and with the mercury computers..." "Right, too easy I suppose," snorted the man. "You've got it," said Ranma cheerfully. "So, where's this base?" asked Jadeite. "There," said Ranma as he pointed at a skyscraper nearby. "We're going to rent out one floor. You guys are going to need housing too, that hotel isn't cutting it." "Tell me about it," muttered Jadeite irritably. "We can afford something a little better than normal folks," said Ranma cheerfully. "You too?" asked Jadeite. "No. I think I'll stay where I'm at until I finish school," said Ranma with a small smirk. "We're going to set up the teleporter then?" said Jadeite cheerfully. "Yup," said Ranma as he nodded in reply. "Come on, I'm hungry." +++++++++++ Hikaru Gosunkugi sat in his room, staring at the wooden mask. It rested in his palm as he sat on his bed and simply looked into the eyes. "I don't know why I even kept this thing. It just makes me remember those guys." He snorted and tossed it onto the sheets as he laid back and spread out his body over the mattress. "If only one of these spells would work," he grumbled as he looked over at the rows and rows of books that sat inside a small bookcase. All of them were useless, even the ones he recently acquired about voodoo. "Then I'd show em. I bet even Akane would notice me." He frowned and rolled onto his side, staring at the wall hatefully. "This stinks." That was when something caught his eye. The mask was now face down on his sheets, and a strange shimmering could be seen on the inside. He lifted it up in his hands and frowned as he looked at it. "What is this? What's this thing made of?" He pulled it closer, to get a closer look at the strangely shining interior of the mask. That was when it reached out and grabbed his face. He screamed and pulled at it desperately, but it clung on, moving onto his head more firmly. Flailing about desperately he fell off of his bed and rolled across the floor. His screams died down as he ripped it away and tossed it across the room. He sat on the floor, staring at it in horror. "What the hell?" "Hikaru! Hikaru dear? Are you all right?" said his mother's voice from outside the door. She knocked quietly and tried the knob, naturally it was locked. "I'm fine! Just a bad dream!" he called. "Are you sure?" said his mother in a worried tone. "Yeah, it's over now," he muttered more to himself than her. "Okay. If you're sure," she said as she turned away and left him. "What is that thing?" muttered the boy as he stood up and scrambled over to the other side of the bed, staring at it in horror. He stayed that way for a long time. Finally he mustered up enough courage to throw a shirt over the top of it. He then lifted it into his arms and tossed it into his closet, slamming the door shut. He leaned against it panting for breath for another long moment. "You can stay in there for a while, until I figure out how to get rid of you." ++++++++++ Hotaru smiled up at her sensei as she fought with him in the back yard. Naturally, he was going easy on her, but she still put up a good fight despite the difference in size and power. It was nothing more than light sparring to him, but a full blown workout for the little girl. Ranma smirked as he tossed a few new things at her in the mix of blows. She countered them without missing a beat and he jumped away. "Very good." "Thank you Saotome-sensei," said the girl with a polite bow. He walked up to her and she jumped into the attack again, her face growing ice cold. "Haaaa!" "What the?" muttered Ranma as he backed away from the assault. "I didn't teach her this!" "You bastard!" she said coldly. "What do you think you're doing here?" "Hotaru?" muttered the boy dumbly. Ranma countered a quick strike to his groin and jumped away with his eyes growing wide in surprise. "No! Saturn! What's she doing up?" Carrot and Dan both voiced surprise at this. Ranma pushed them away and jumped down into the yard. "Saturn." "Genaku," she replied with her cold smile growing a bit larger. "Well, it has been a while," said the boy with a small nod. "Of course it has, we've been dead for a while," retorted the girl calmly. "So, you're waking up are you? You shouldn't just yet," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "Beryl isn't even dead yet." "You've been hanging around the senshi of Pluto too much," she replied curtly. Ranma chuckled at this and shook his head. "Well, I suppose I have. Not much choice in the matter actually." "I'm not fully merged with this girl yet," said Saturn with a small frown. "I shouldn't be talking to you, according to her anyway." "Well, we both know what I think of her predictions," said Ranma with another chuckle. "So, how've you been?" "This world is pleasant enough," replied the girl with a small shrug. "How is my favorite Uncle doing?" "Oh? I'm your favorite? I always thought you liked Jadeite. He was the one who took care of you when you were on Earth. Reading you stories, putting you to bed, keeping you out of the older senshi's hair..." "True, but the only time I had any real fun was when I was with you," said the girl with her cold smile growing a bit more. "Aye, I remember that," said Ranma with a cold glare of his own. "Good times those were." "You taught me the value of a good fight, and how to enjoy the looks on our enemy's faces when we ate their comrade's hearts." "Well, 'twas only that one time..." muttered Ranma with a slight blush. "Serenity gave me a right nasty tongue lashing for that episode..." "Not that it stopped you," said the little girl with a small chuckle. She paused and stared at him for a moment. "We have eaves droppers?" "Aye, three of the bastards. Livin inside me head they are. Can't figure out how the bloody hell they got in. Oh well, they're bright lads. One after me own heart, one too smart for me own good, and the other..." "The other?" asked Saturn with her eyebrow arched slightly. "I'd just as soon be rid o him," snorted the man calmly. "Hey, you ain't the only one not happy with this arrangement you know," said Ranma to himself. "Well, you seem to be quite the little community," said Hotaru calmly as she turned around for a moment. "Just think of us as his annoying room mates," said Ranma with an unusual smirk on his face. "Do you have any idea who I am boy?" said Saturn as she turned to glare at him. "Yeah. Senshi of Saturn, bringer of silence and all that. Big whoop," said Ranma as he raised his hands into the air in a sarcastic gesture. "I could destroy you with a thought," she snarled. "Not without killing your old friend too," commented the boy as his face changed into a hard frown. "I doubt if you'll destroy an entire planet just to kill me. You'll find hitting us with anything less more difficult than you think." "Heh, no fear at all," said Saturn as her face suddenly became a bright smile. "I like this one, or is it two of you?" "Pissant hasn't said much," said Ranma casually. "This is an interesting development though. Planning on joining your girlfriends?" "Hardly. Those twits are letting Pluto lead them around as if she had a leash on them. I won't be a part of that, I am beyond her scope of influence." "That's good to hear. I'd offer to let you work with us, but daddy wouldn't like that much," said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face. "Maybe later, but for now. I think you should go back to playing little girl." "I'm not playing. The girl Hotaru, has not realized that I exist yet. Think of me as a split personality of sorts. I'm the memory stored away in the back of her mind. I don't know what woke me up, but I shouldn't be like this. I should have gradually merged with her over time, never realizing my own consciousness." "I can think of a few reasons, and they're all my fault," said Ranma with a small nod. "Oh?" said the girl with a slightly questioning frown. "Contact with that chi ball could have done it, or even just the training itself. You using your powers before Mistress Nine tried to take over your body could have done it as well." "Using my powers?" said the girl as she arched her eyebrow yet again. "Yeah. Three boys found dead on your route to school about two days ago. Broken hand, dislocated finger, and a knife wound to the leg. None of the wounds were fatal, but they died somehow anyway. I believe their hearts exploded." "I though it best that the child didn't know about that," said Saturn with a small nod. "Good idea," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "Taking them out was a good idea too, they probably would have tried again for revenge. They seemed like the type." "I thought it was best to eliminate them, just in case. I couldn't be sure if I could have surfaced again. It was better not to risk it," agreed the girl with a small nod. "I agree, but I doubt if you're just going to go away," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "Be more careful in the future. We don't want to attract a lot of attention." Hotaru just smiled at him and nodded. Deep down she knew that she was just posing at the moment, and she hated that. It had taken all of her power just to eliminate those boys. Using her other powers at the moment was out of the question, she had to bide her time and wait. +++++++++++++ "Well, that was interesting," commented Carrot sourly as they went back to the dojo. "How did she know we were in here? None of the other senshi noticed," said Dan irritably. "I'm not sure," said Ranma. "I think it's because she knew us the best. Out of all the Senshi, I used to hang around her the most." "Eew. I can't believe it, you're a..." said Carrot in disgust. "That isn't very nice," agreed Pissant. "Shut up!" cried Ranma as he punched them in the face. "It wasn't like that at all you jerks!" "Calm down, Carrot was joking, and Pissant is an idiot," said Dan. "Still, they are right. This could be a problem, or it could work out. Too early to tell yet." "Come on, let's go pick up the guys," said Carrot. "We need to start setting things up tonight." ++++++++++++++ "Not bad," said Jadeite as he looked around the empty office. He was pushing a large overloaded handcart into the room and shoved it aside as he strolled through the area. It was on the top floor of one of the smaller skyscrapers in Tokyo. There was nothing on the entire floor other than them. "So, this is the new place?" "Right," said Ranma with a short nod as he walked in behind him with a cart of his own. "We need to start setting up." "We'll get the teleporter running at least," agreed Nephrite as he pushed a cart full of equipment into the room. Kunzite and Zocite followed doing the same thing. "Well, I've seen worse," commented Zocite with a small frown. "We aren't royalty any more you know. We have to take care of things like this ourselves," said Kunzite as he frowned at the man in reply. "I suppose you're right," said Zocite with a small nod. +++++++++++ About an hour and a half later, the carts were unloaded. Most of the equipment was spread out along the floor now, and a few things were set up already. One of which was a circular pad on the floor in one of the back offices. It had a small machine hooked up to it on top of a short pedestal. "So, this is the teleporter?" said Ranma as he glanced at it for a moment. "I remember it being...bigger..." "The ones used on starships are a bit more yes," confirmed Jadeite. "This one is for short range use. Why do you think we weren't using it to transport ourselves here?" "Okay, so? What's the range?" said Ranma as he turned to look at the man for a moment. "It'll take you anywhere in Japan, but that's about it," replied Jadeite with a small shrug. Ranma was about to respond when Nephrite burst into the room. "We've got something on the scanners." Jadeite and Ranma rushed out of the room and looked at the holographic display from the back of one of the mercury computers. It was a map of the city, and a flashing red dot was easily visible in one of the streets. "Youma?" asked Ranma carefully. "Yup," said Nephrite as he began to work at the keys for a moment. "Should we go?" asked Zocite with a smirk on his face. "Of course," said Kunzite as he smiled darkly. "We can't let those senshi get there before us." Ranma put on his shades and started towards the transporter room. "Let's go then." He paused in front of it and pulled the glasses off of his face. "I always wondered how no one ever recognized those Senshi," he commented as he pushed a small button on the inside of the frames. "What? Did you think it was magic?" asked Zocite with a small snort of amusement. "I suppose not," commented the boy as he stepped onto the pad. ++++++++++++ "Um, now what?" said Usagi as she hid behind a dumpster with Rei and Makoto. "We've got to get rid of that thing!" muttered Makoto angrily as she peered around the corner for a moment. The thing was currently holding a car over its head and tearing it in half with its claws. It was an insect like creature, looking rather like a gigantic humanoid cricket. "I hate bugs," muttered Rei angrily. "Where are the others?" said Usagi fearfully. "Over there, we need to come up with a plan," said Makoto. ++++++++++ "Great," grumbled Tsuki irritably as she watched the thing demolish a car. "Now what?" "You're the one who's supposed to know all this stuff!" snapped Minako. "Hey! I was just a temporary stand in!" retorted the girl as she grabbed her face and pulled on her cheeks. "Calm down! We need to think of a way to get rid of that thing!" said Ami firmly. "Why don't we just go out there and pound it?" said Tsuki as she made a punching motion with her arm. "Are you nuts? That thing is tearing cars in half out there!" snapped Minako. "'Tis better to fight and stay, to live to fight another day!" "What the hell are you talking about?" said Tsuki as she put the girl in a headlock. "Can't you say anything that makes sense damn it!?" "Stop it right now!" snapped Ami. "We have to work together, I'm going to call the others!" "Yeah, you do that...who the hell are those guys?" said Tsuki as she dropped Minako and focused her attention on the street. Ami and Minako both blinked and looked out into the street. Five men in black suits were standing in front of the monster calmly. "What the?" +++++++++++ "I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to step away from the vehicle, sir." Ranma was looking up at the thing as it lifted a car over its head and began to rip it in half. It paused and looked at him for a moment, turning its head slightly in confusion. "What the hell is it doing?" muttered Nephrite as he glanced down the street and saw the rows of broken cars. The bug creature ignored them and went back to its task. It lifted the car over its head completely, and began to drink the gasoline from the remains of the tank. Ranma frowned and reached into his coat, pulling out a sleek looking silver handgun. Without a single word, he blasted the car from its grip with a single shot. The car was nothing more than a ball of twisted metal and flame when it came back down to the ground again. The creature roared angrily at him and stared the five of them down for a moment. "Sir, I'm afraid that you're over the legal limit. You're gonna have to come with us now," said the boy firmly. The creature charged forward, causing all five of the men to move back defensively. Without a single word Ranma simply leveled his weapon and waited. "What the hell are you doing?" said Nephrite in shock. "Waiting until it open's its big mouth," replied Ranma coldly. The creature lowered its head and roared. The boy fired a single shot into its jaws as it did so. A massive ball of flames rose into the air as the thing exploded. Fire rained out of the sky for almost two blocks as the burning gas fell to the ground. Ranma merely stood calmly and dusted off his lapel for a moment, cleaning off a tiny bit of the remains that had landed there. He was relatively clean for the most part though. "That was easy enough." "Who the hell are you?" cried a feminine voice from behind them. Ranma raised his eyebrow and turned slowly around to see the six girls standing behind him in a row. The generals moved up beside him, all of them ready for a fight. "Hello ladies." Usagi stepped back in horror. "You!" Ranma chuckled and took off his glasses. "I see we meet again, how have you been." "You bastard!" screamed Tsuki angrily from behind the blonde. "I'll see you destroyed for what you did!" "Well, I certainly remember that one," said Jadeite with a small frown as he glared at the violet haired senshi. "Indeed," agreed Nephrite coolly. Recognition began to hit the other senshi as they realized who the pair was. "Hey, it's..." muttered Minako. "Those guys!" growled Makoto as she stepped back. "You five can't even handle me alone. What on earth makes you think you could fight the five of us?" said Ranma coldly. "Because they believe in themselves!" said a new voice from overhead. "You can do it Sailor Moon!" Ranma frowned and blasted the rose in mid air before it stuck in the ground. "Will you shut up?" Tuxedo Mask growled and landed in front of the girls. "Villain! I'll..." "You'll what?" said Ranma as he pointed his weapon at the man. Tuxedo Mask froze. "It seems he's got a little memory about what that is," said Nephrite with a small chuckle. Ranma snorted and fired a shot into Mercury's chest. She screamed in shock and fell flat on her back. "Relax, these weapons can't hurt the senshi. Why do you think we never used them before now?" He put it back in its holster inside his jacket. Mercury got up, looking a little shaken, but unharmed. "Monster!" snarled Venus as she helped her friend stand. "You still want to fight?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at the girls. "As a warrior of justice, I Sailor Moon, cannot allow this to continue! We shall defeat you!" said Usagi as she steeled herself and her companions. "Shit," grumbled Nephrite. "Relax, I've taken them on single handedly before," said Ranma with a small chuckle as his aura began to glow. "The five of us should have no trouble at all." "Endimyon," said Zocite as he stared at Tuxedo Mask for a moment. "You still owe me five hundred credits!" "I what?" said the man dumbly in reply. "Let's just get this over with," grumbled Jadeite irritably. "You said it," agreed Kunzite. +++++++++++ TBC... Sorry, mostly set up stuff this time. Next time, jokes return full force. Hikaru deals with the Mask, Ranma and his friends deal with the Senshi, Akane deals with her Sister, and Ryoga...is still lost.