Insertion

Part 18: Back To Reality

by Sean D'Anna

=====

Ranma smirked as he strolled into the schoolyard of Furinkan; it
was a relatively normal day for the most part. The evening before was
an interesting one, but things quickly reverted back to dull normality
once he'd returned to the dojo.

"What are you so happy about?" said Akane as she noticed his grin.

"You'd probably get mad at me if you knew," he replied with a
shrug.

The girl blinked and frowned at him. "What's that mean?"

"Secret," he replied as he continued walking.

"Hold villain!" said Kuno as he appeared from around his usual
spot behind the large tree in the courtyard.

"Heya Kuno," said the boy casually as he raised his hand in
greeting.

"Disgusting cur! I shall free Akane Tendo from your grasp at
last!"

"Right, free her, got ya," said the boy as he continued to walk
away.

"Stand and fight!" snarled Kuno as he watched the boy pass him.

"Naw, not today," said Ranma as he continued towards the doors.

"Very well coward! I see that you run away from my prowess!"
called Kuno angrily.

"Yeah, run away, right," said the boy as he walked through the
doors and left him standing in the schoolyard.

Akane watched the scene in confusion, not saying a single word.
"Wait a minute, you mean...that's it?" she thought to herself.

"Akane Tendo! I would face you then!" said Kuno as he turned too
look at her.

The girl looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe later."

"What?" said Kuno dumbly.

"I don't feel like it," she said as she continued to walk away
from him.

"I cannot permit this! How can I prove my love to you without
honorable combat?!" snapped the boy as he ran in front of her and took
up a combat stance.

Akane looked up at him and noticed something. He looked like he
was having a panic attack. "I dunno." She continued to walk past him
towards the school, leaving him standing in his ready pose.

"But...but...I..." stuttered Kuno dumbly. A wind blew across the
courtyard, blowing a small dust cloud up at his feet. "How...I
must...Akane Tendo...I...my love...surely I must..."

++++++++++

Ranma glanced out the window about half way through his first
period and sighed. "Man, how long is he going to stand there?" Kuno
was still in the courtyard, standing dumbly in his combat pose and
muttering to himself.

Akane was simply staring at the wall in front of her with a blush
on her cheeks.

Ranma turned and noticed this. "What's wrong with you?"

"Mr. Saotome! Is there a problem?" snapped the teacher.

"Um, yeah. Akane and Kuno are acting weird," said the boy as he
looked up at the man. "What's up Akane? You're actin funny today?"

The teacher stared at him for a moment, not expecting an answer.
Students usually just looked embarrassed and muttered to themselves
before becoming quiet.

Everyone in the room was looking at Akane now, and her blushed
deepened.

"You mean...after all this time. All I had to do was just walk
away from him?"

Ranma smirked and nodded his head. "Pretty much."

"But...All I had to do was walk away?!" she cried in shock.

"Come on, don't take it so hard," said Ranma as he pat her
shoulder.

"I can't believe this!" snapped the girl in frustration.

+++++++++++

Outside, Kuno finally seemed to understand what had happened to
him. "Can it be? Akane Tendo has finally realized her love for me, and
cannot bring herself to harm me any longer? Oh! Weep for joy Akane
Tendo, for I am coming into your arms at last!" He rushed towards the
building with his arms spread wide.

+++++++++++

Ranma noticed this and turned towards Akane, "Hey, you got
incoming."

"Huh?" muttered the girl as she blinked at him.

"Akane Tendo! At last you have discovered your love!" cried Kuno
as he burst into the room.

"I what?" she said in disgust.

"Why else could you not bring yourself to harm my noble personage?
Truly you have discovered the deep feelings within the depths of your
heart."

Akane was gripping her desk in frustration. "I'm going to hurt
him."

"I've got a better idea," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.

Akane looked at him for a moment and he handed her a sheet of
paper. "Read this when he grabs you."

The girl blinked and took it from him, by that time, Kuno had
rushed up and took her into his arms. "At last we can finally share
our love! Come, let us leave this place and date!"

"Um, excuse me..." said the Teacher.

Akane's eyes went wide as she looked at the page in her hand.
"What? This is..." She felt Kuno squeeze her a little tighter, and his
hand move a little lower. A dark smile formed on her lips as she
seemed to catch on.

Kuno blinked as she slapped him across his face. "Wha?"

"EEEEEK! Pervert! Get your hands off me! Help! I'm being
accosted!"

"But my love!" stammered the boy dumbly. This had never happened
before. He released her and stepped back with a horrified look on his
face.

"Sensei! He grabbed my...my...wahhhhhhh!" cried Akane as she
pointed at the boy and burst into tears.

Every student in the room was staring at Kuno now. Shocked
expressions on their faces.

"But, I merely wished to convey my feelings of..."

"What was that thing poking me?" screeched Akane as she rubbed at
her stomach.

"I uhhh..." stuttered Kuno as he began to blush.

"Oh my god! I feel so violated! So dirty!" cried the girl as she
burst into tears. "Wahhhh! I'll never be clean again!"

Kuno began to realize that there were other people in the room,
half of them were female and glared at him hatefully.

Ranma was watching the scene in a kind of shock. He never knew the
girl had it in her, it was complete improvisation now.

"Don't worry Akane, we won't let that pervert touch you again,"
said one of the girls in the room as she knelt down beside Akane and
tried to comfort her. Akane turned and cried into her shoulder.

The rest of the girls had begun to throw things at Kuno. "Get out
of here you pervert!"

"But...I..."

"I'd run if I were you," said Ranma as he looked up at him for a
moment.

Kuno's eyes rolled into his head and he passed out.

"Guess the shame was too much for him," commented Ranma as he
stood up and kicked him lightly in the ribs.

"Mr. Saotome, would you be so kind as to take Mr. Kuno to the
nurse's station," said the Teacher as he finally sat down and gave up.

The boy looked up at him and nodded. "Sure. Come on pervert,
before you get yourself killed."

+++++++++++

Ranma sat in the dojo a few hours later. He was simply standing
with his aura burning around him in silence.

"What exactly are we doing?" said Ranma.

Carrot sighed and tried to explain it again. "Well, our Kaio Ken
is nothing more than more than one of us attacking at once. Right?"

"Pretty much," said Dan grumpily.

"So, obviously something happens when we synchronize like that, I
want to try and dig a little deeper. It's hard to do the Kaio Ken, our
timing has to be perfect to get it to work."

"So you want to find an easier way," said Ranma with a small nod.

"Right, our powers combined are easily beating the Senshi as it
is, but if we could find a way to do it in more than just quick
spurts, we'd have a clear advantage. As it is now, we could screw up
and take a few hits real easy."

"I won't be a part of this," snorted Pissant.

"Did I ask for your help?" said Carrot irritably.

"Well, no but..."

"Then shut up," said Dan.

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

Akane walked into the dojo and blinked when she saw Ranma standing
in the middle of the room. "What are you doing?" She stepped back in
slight surprise as she realized how large the aura surrounding him
was.

He paused and looked at her for a moment. "Huh? Nothing, just
trying to develop a new technique."

"Oh. How is it going?" she said cheerfully.

"Not very well, it's harder than I thought it'd be," he replied
with a small shrug.

"Okay," she said as she walked over to another area of the room.

"We're going to the office today," said Ranma as he glanced at her
as she started her kata.

"Huh? Now?"

"No, finish your work out and get dressed first, no real hurry,"
he said as he walked out of the room.

She nodded and continued to train.

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

"Hello Ranma," said Nabiki as she walked by him on his way back to
the house.

"Hey, how ya doin?" he said cheerfully.

She narrowed her eyes at him as he passed. As much fun as he was
to have around, her cash flow had been strained over the past few
months. "I've got to do something about him." She continued on her
way, scheming against him as she walked.

"Boy, I want to talk with you," said Genma as he noticed his son
walking by.

"Huh? What's up?" replied Ranma as he sat down. He noticed that he
was alone with the man.

"Where have you been going lately. I checked, and you aren't
working for that old woman any longer."

"Naw, I got another job," said the boy with a small shrug.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we're working for a security company now," said Ranma
cheerfully. "Akane's doing it too."

"Really?" said Genma with a frown on his face. "You've been
neglecting your training."

"I'm better than you'll ever be," replied Ranma calmly.

"What?! You'd better learn your limits boy! I..." Genma was on his
feet, and Ranma appeared behind him before he could move.

"You're blowing steam old man. I could destroy you without
breaking a sweat. There's more to this than you realize. The four of
us are more than you can handle."

"Four?" muttered Genma in surprise.

"That's right," said Ranma coldly. "Look, we've got our own life
to lead, just sit around and be comfortable for a while. I'm none of
your concern."

"What? Ranma has responsibilities! You can't just..."

"Can't I?" said the boy with his smirk growing wider. "Who's going
to stop me? You?"

Genma growled and sat down again, Ranma followed suit and smirked
at him again.

"Where is all this money you've been making going?" he said
calmly. "I feel I have the right to know what my son has been doing."

"It's where you can't get your hands on it," replied the boy
calmly. "In a bank account, that isn't in his name."

"What?" said Genma. "Do you really think I would..."

"No, I know you would," replied Ranma coolly. "An old friend of
mine is helping us out. Trust me old man, this is well beyond your
tiny little brain."

Genma growled at them for a moment. "You are shaming my family."

"And why not? You were doing such a good job before I came along,
so I figured it wouldn't hurt to help out a bit. Excuse me, we have to
go now." Ranma stood up and walked away.

++++++++++

"Ready?" asked Ranma as he put on his shades. He and Akane were
both dressed in their suits.

"Sure, how far away is it?" she asked.

"On the other side of Tokyo," he replied with a shrug.

"How are we getting there?" she said with a slightly weary frown.

"Nephrite, bring us in would ya?" said Ranma as he pressed the
button on the side of his watch.

"Sure thing boss," said the man from the other side.

"Huh?" said Akane.

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

"AAAAAAAAAAAaaaa...." Akane gasped for breath as she finished
screaming. Ranma calmly stepped off the teleporter and waved at the
man behind the controls.

She stumbled after him with shock in her eyes. "What? What the
hell was that? How did?"

"It's just a teleporter, Akane," said the boy as he took off his
shades and glanced around. It looked like a real office now, most of
the desks were made of glass and black wood, and several people could
be seen moving through a few of them. The glass on the teleporter room
was darkly tinted and they were in a restricted area of the complex
though. There was a rather unusual lock on the door as well. "Get her
cleared for the restricted area would you?"

"Right," said Nephrite cheerfully. "This way please."

"Wha? What the hell is this?" she muttered as he led her away.

"This is where you work," said the man with a small shrug. "Come
on. You know Jadeite and Kuzite right?"

She nodded as the door opened and the two men stood in front of
her.

"This place is looking pretty good," said Ranma with a smirk on
his face as he watched the other half of the office bustle around.

"Yes, we hired a few dozen employees for the cover business.
They're actually working out quite well. We're making money," said
Zocite. "This is your office."

"Hey, nice," said Ranma cheerfully as he looked around. It was a
large room with a desk like all the others. One of the Mercury
computers was set up on the desk as well.

"I'll introduce you to the rest of the staff later. Come on," said
the man as he led him into another room.

There was a large screen set up in the next room. It showed a map
of Tokyo and various readouts. "Everything is stable at the moment,"
said Kunzite as he entered with Akane at his side.

"Ranma, what the hell is this?" stammered the girl in shock.

"I already told you, Akane," he replied with a smirk on his face.

"That was a joke right?" she said nervously.

"I'm afraid not," he said cheerfully. "Come on. Try to pull
yourself together."

She nodded and straightened herself up as she rubbed her arm.
"That hurt."

"It's just a blood sample Akane. We need your DNA for the security
in this area. You're cleared the same as me and the guys," said Ranma
with a smirk on his face.

"Still," she muttered dejectedly.

Ranma turned towards Kunzite and smirked. "Put em up would you?"

The man nodded and turned towards the console. Five girls appeared
in various screens along the sides of the map. Each of them was doing
different things. A girl meditating in front of a flame, a girl eating
a large meal with her family, a girl in the kitchen, a girl studying
in her room quietly, and a girl flirting with a boy at a store in the
mall.

"What? You're spying on these girls? You perverts!" snapped Akane.

"These are the Sailor Senshi, we're just keeping an eye on them
for security reasons. We don't record them changing or anything like
that. It's just so we know where they are," said Ranma as he glanced
at her.

"The Senshi?" muttered Akane dumbly.

"Yeah," said Ranma cheerfully. "Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and
Moon," he said as he pointed each one out to her. "They don't like us
much."

"What? Why?" said Akane in shock.

"I'm still not sure about me, it has something to do with a past
life I think. These gentlemen used to work for the source of those
monsters they fight all the time. Now they work for me."

Akane said nothing as she stared at him in shock. "But..."

"Relax, we don't want to kill them, but we do have to fight them
off on occasion," said Ranma with a light smile on his face. "It
hasn't really been a problem so far."

"Oh," said Akane as she hung her head and turned towards him
again. "Why are we doing this?"

"Simple. I've learned that I had a past life a few thousand years
ago. I fought beside these men to defend the Earth. We just changed
the image a bit, and picked up where we left off really."

"That's crazy!" said Akane. She looked around for a moment and
hung her head. "Never mind."

"Right, come on. I'll show you the armory," said Ranma as he
motioned for her to follow.

+++++++++++

"What is this place?" she muttered as she looked at the rows and
rows of weapons lining the walls.

"Weapons, guns, things like that. We've got alternative methods of
fighting the Senshi and Youma, you however..."

"Huh?" said the girl as she looked at him and blinked.

"I want you to start carrying this," he said as he handed her a
tiny looking weapon from one of the walls.

"What the hell is this?" she snapped as she took the weapon
between two fingers.

"Noisy Cricket. It's easy for you to hide," replied the boy with a
small shrug. "Don't worry, none of these weapons can actually kill the
senshi. They were actually designed that way."

"I feel like I'm gonna break this thing!" snorted Akane in
disgust.

"Don't worry, you won't," replied the boy as he calmly walked
away.

"There's a few rules you have to follow from now on," said Ranma
as he handed her a small book. "No one knows you work for anything
more than a security company. I mean no one, not Nabiki, not your
father, not my father. Break the rules and lose your memory," said
Ranma as he walked along. "You're a high ranking officer in the
company, but you follow our orders. You don't have much experience in
this sort of thing. I feel we could use you though."

Akane nodded as she pocketed the book. "You work in secret, we
don't exist, you don't fire your weapon in view of the public,
especially in your civilian identity. You get the idea, it's not that
hard."

She nodded at this and he handed her a small silver case. "Wear
these, and keep em with you from now on."

She popped the case open and looked at the sunglasses for a
moment. "These are...sunglasses?"

Ranma took them from her. "More than that, they're highly durable,
nearly impossible to break. This switch here activates the cloaking
device. It hides your true identity, and scrambles all know forms of
recording. The generic suits help with the technology, but the glasses
alone should be enough in a pinch."

"Um, right," muttered the girl as she put them on.

"Turn on your glasses and put them on, they make us look older,"
said Ranma calmly.

Akane did so and frowned as she noticed her reflection. She did
look older, but more than just the maturity of her clothes. She looked
about five years older.

"Time to go meet the employees," said Ranma as he opened a large
metal door.

Akane looked around and gasped. The room was really nothing more
than an office with about a dozen people wandering around the various
cubicles. She hadn't noticed it before.

"Good morning, can I help you?" said the woman at the receptionist
desk who turned to see them.

"Good morning. I'm agent R, and this is Agent A. We're just
stopping by to check up on my company," said Ranma cheerfully.

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

Hikaru Gosunkugi sniffled pathetically on is bed, a large shiner
present on his eye. "Stupid bullies. Why can't they leave me alone?"
He continued to sob into his pillow and sat up with an angry frown on
his face. "I wish I could...teach them a lesson. I wish Akane would
notice me, if I was going out with her I bet no one would bother me.
Heck, I just wish I had friends." He rolled onto his back and sniffled
again.

After a moment he seemed to remember something. He sat up and
looked at his closet for a moment. "Wait a minute..."

The mask was sitting on the floor, just outside the door.

"I know I put that inside there," he muttered fearfully. He jumped
up and walked over to it, lifting it into his hands. "What is this
thing anyway? Is it alive...or..." His eyes caught the strange shining
inside and he slowly lifted it towards his face. "What's the worst
that could happen?" he muttered to himself.

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

A skinny man with long red hair stood in front of Beryl's throne.
He bowed to her slightly and smiled as he held up a crystal full of
life energy. His clothes were bright red, but the uniform was the same
as the generals before him. "I have brought more power for Metallia."

"Excellent," said Beryl coldly as she raised her hand. The crystal
floated into her grasp and she smiled at the thing for a moment.
"Continue your duty."

"When do we get to destroy the Senshi and those traitors? I'm
getting impatient," said the blue clad general. He was more firmly
built, with a shock of spiky blue hair on his head.

"Indeed, this game grows boring," agreed the blond woman who
walked up behind him.

A small boy followed them in, he looked no older than seven. His
clothes and hair were black. "They're right you know, we aren't short
on energy any longer."

"I want to be overstocked," replied Beryl calmly. "Those brats
grow more troublesome each time we encounter them, and the former
generals are quite resourceful. If they have loosened my control from
their minds, they will be much more cunning than the drones they ended
up as."

"It sounds interesting," said the red general with a smirk on his
face.

+++++++++++

"Report," said Pluto calmly as Tsuki walked into the room. She was
sitting behind a desk with a large book in front of her.

"They don't seem to be interested in Genaku much. He's still too
much for them to handle at the moment," replied the girl with a small
shrug. "They seem to have accepted it."

"Good, we don't want them getting themselves killed," said Pluto
with a short nod.

Tsuki furrowed her brow slightly as she sat down. "They also think
that I'm gay."

"It cannot be helped," said Setsuna calmly.

"I never said I wasn't," replied the girl casually.

"That is not important to me child," said Setsuna as she stood up.

"You were right though, playing clumsy and acting like a ditz did
make them trust me," said the girl with a smirk on her face.

"Who said you were playing?" retorted Pluto with a slight smirk.

"Okay. So? Even I'm not that clumsy," retorted Tsuki bitterly. "No
one has that much luck, killing a youma by accident. It's ridiculous."

"You'll grow out of it, Serenity was much like both you and Usagi.
She was a terrible klutz until she matured fully. Something to do with
growth spurts."

"I feel bad about spying on them this way," said Tsuki with a
small frown on her face.

"It is for their own good, and you aren't betraying them," replied
Pluto calmly.

"I'm going to bed then," said Tsuki as she turned away. She
promptly walked into the door. After a moment of lying on the ground,
she stood up and sheepishly rubbed at her forehead. "Oops, forgot I
closed that."

Pluto sighed and glanced up at her for a moment as she left the
room. "At least, I hope she grows out of it." She put down the book
she had been pretending to read and walked over to the time gate with
a worried frown. The Negaverse had gone silent. She couldn't see
anything pertaining to the future involving them. "This is not good,"
she muttered under her breath. Far into the future, Crystal Tokyo
still flickered in and out of existence, as if it was dangerously
close to vanishing forever.

Once again, her headache was growing worse.

+++++++++++

Nephrite turned towards Ranma and frowned. He and Akane had just
returned to the back rooms after looking the place over.

"What's up?" said the boy as he took off his shades.

"A strange energy from somewhere in Nerima," said Zocite as he
pointed at the display screen. A small green light had appeared and
was moving excitedly down the street.

"Can we get a visual?" said Ranma as he moved up next to the man.

"No, it's too fast to track," said Zocite.

Ranma glanced up and noticed that the green dot was bouncing
wildly across the streets of Nerima. "A youma?"

"Doesn't fit the energy signature," said Kunzite as he pointed out
the color. "It's green, unless Beryl found something new, it should be
red for a youma."

"It's moving towards Juban though," said Nephrite with a sour
frown.

"It's stopping!" said Kunzite as he saw the green dot freeze
suddenly.

"Well, let's go say hi then," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.

"What's going on?" said Akane nervously.

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

Ranma appeared in the street with Akane beside him. "Should be in
there," he said as he pointed at a small home.

"Give me your lunch money!" cried a booming voice as the door
exploded outward. A rough looking boy in his early teens rushed out
the door on his hands and knees, he appeared to have a book bag shoved
up his ass.

"No! Please!" whimpered the boy.

The thing that followed him out was like something out of a
cartoon. It had on a long black cape with a collar that rose above its
head. The clothing was mostly black, and looked like something out of
a fantasy novel. Leather boots and a loose shirt. It had a mallet over
its head and glared down at the unfortunate boy with a wicked grin on
its face. Its head was nothing but a gigantic green face with wild
eyes.

"What the hell is that?" said Akane in shock.

Ranma just chuckled. "Remember that mask we were guarding in the
museum?"

She turned her head and nodded silently.

"I told you it was cursed right? Well, you're looking at the curse
right now."

The thing looked at the pair for a moment and blinked. "Who? Well,
helloooo!" It rushed up to Akane and took her into its arms. "Mon ami!
I feel the passion, we were meant to be together cheri!"

Akane promptly flipped the thing over her shoulder and laid it out
across the pavement. She stepped back in shocked horror as its body
flattened out across the pavement in an impossible manner.

Ranma calmly pulled his blaster from his jacket and pointed it at
the thing. "Who are you?"

The thing pulled itself off the ground and shook its head until
its body reformed. "Huh? Who am I? I'm..." It seemed to ponder the
question for a moment. It seemed to have a thought and posed proudly,
pointing its finger into the air. "I am! Okii Atama!"

"Big head?" muttered Akane lamely.

"That's nice," said Ranma as he shot the thing in the chest.

Okii Atama was thrown off of his feet and laid out across the
ground.

"You saved me!" cried the boy who was clutching Ranma's leg with
tears in his eyes. He looked down at him and kicked him off. The boy
was sprawled out across the pavement. Ranma reached down and pulled
the bag out of his ass with a quick jerk, causing the boy to scream in
pain.

"You killed it!" said Akane in horror as she stared down at the
thing.

"It's not dead," said Ranma calmly. He pulled his neuralizer out
of his coat and looked at the thing's victim for a moment. He put on
his shades and smiled at him. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing?"

"What?" said the boy in horror. The light flashed, erasing his
memory and leaving him sitting dumbly.

"You fell out of your window and landed on a rake in the back
yard. That's how you injured yourself, now go inside and tell your
parents so they can get you to a hospital before you bleed to death."

The boy nodded and started to crawl away, the pain too much for
him to even stand properly.

"Now, back to you. Hand over that mask kid. I don't know who you
are, but I can't have that thing running around causing trouble. I'm
sure the rightful owners would like to have it back."

"He's not moving," said Akane nervously.

Ranma stepped forward and stomped on the thing's crotch. It sat up
and screamed in pain, its eyes bugged out of its skull and its tongue
rolled out across the pavement.

"Ouch! That hurt you know!" squeaked the thing in a high pitched
voice.

"Give me that mask," said Ranma coldly.

The thing pulled its face off, revealing a skull underneath its
skin. He handed his face over to Ranma and grinned. "Here you go."

"Funny," said the boy calmly as he handed it back. "You're making
a mess out of the pavement though.

The thing looked down and noticed he was still bleeding all over
the ground. "Oh my, that won't do at all." It spun around and appeared
dressed in a janitor's uniform and began to mop up the street. "There,
all clean!" The area on the ground now sparkled.

Ranma frowned and pointed his blaster at the thing's head. "Give
me that mask, or I'll blow it off your face."

The thing suddenly became angry. "You think you can threaten me?"

Ranma narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"Um, Ranma..." muttered Akane as she backed away from the pair.

"Take this!" cried the thing as a dark power started to form in
its hands. It crackled angrily between its palms and began to tear up
sections of the street.

"What the?" muttered Ranma as he stepped back in shock.

"Devoid Matter Spell!" cried the thing as it thrust its hands
forward.

Ranma tensed to jump away, but paused when he found himself
standing in the middle of a shower of playing cards that was shooting
from the thing's hands.

It paused and looked down at the spell for a moment. "Hmm, needs
work." It laughed madly and bolted down the street.

Ranma growled and put his weapon back inside his coat as he
watched it go. There was no way he could catch it at the speed it was
moving.

"Where is it going?" he said into the watch.

"It's vanished," said Nephrite from the other end.

"Come on, we're going back," said Ranma as he turned towards Akane
and frowned.

"Um, right," muttered the girl. "What the hell did I get myself
into?" she said to herself as the light swallowed them up.

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

TBC... Next time: Attack of the Youma Lords! Can the Senshi hold
out against a powerful new enemy?