Spoiled Brats, Chapter 34

[DarkFyre99]

Spoiled Brats

Disclaimer: Some days I could really shoot whoever decided to have NaNoWriMo in November. This month sucks when you work retail.

Chapter Thirty-Four – Operation Tweety Bird: Springing the Trap

Aino Minako had seen a lot of bizarre things in the ten months since Artemis had contacted her. She had seen what martial artists like Mousse and Shampoo were capable of, even without the connection to the past life like she and Ranma had. It really shouldn't have surprised her when Akane stood up and shoved her hand at her fiance's back. The sphere of violet energy that emerged, slamming into the man's back, and throwing him through the windows of their apartment, shouldn't have surprised her either. That the sphere had enough energy to toss him over their balcony, and towards the ground far below, also shouldn't have been a surprise.

"Jupiter Po- umph!"

It was, though, and the seconds it took for her to regain her wits was all it took for the woman to send a second sphere into Kino Makoto, blasting the girl through the closed door to Ranma's bedroom. The woman pivoted on her right foot, her left foot colliding with Minako's throat. The young brunette collapsed to her knees, grasping her neck as she gasped for breath.

A winged woman swooped in through the ruined view of Prince Asakusa Park. "Well done, Akane-chan." The white-haired woman scowled at Minako. "I don't know how he did it, but Ranma disappeared in mid air. Be on your guard."

"Hai, Kiima-sama."

A flicker of bluish-white light came from the doorway to Ranma's bedroom. "Supreme Thunder!" Tendrals of lightning lashed out, lifting Kiima off her feet and into the opposite wall, sending a few pictures Minako had liked to the floor. Sailor Jupiter followed closely behind her magical attack, throwing a right hook at the Phoenix Warrior's face. A swipe of one of Kiima's wings sent the Senshi sprawling.

Minako whispered, "Venus Powe-" Akane's hand around her throat choked off the rest of what she'd said.

"I'm sorry, Minako-chan, but I can't have you doing that." Akane looked over her shoulder. "I've got her, Kiima-sama!"

"Good." Kiima's wings swept forwards, sending a blizzard of razor sharp feathers at Sailor Jupiter. The girl's arms covered her face as the feathers sliced into her exposed arms and legs, even managing to draw blood through her leotard. "Get her out of here, before Saotome returns. You know where to take her."

"Hai, Kiima-sama!" She turned, and almost ran strait into Ranma. Her former fiance dropped the woman with a single punch. Kiima snapped her wings at him, sending a second flury of feathers at the two of them. Ranma managed to shield Minako from the worst of it, but she still received several nasty cuts. Kiima evaded Jupiter's second Supreme Thunder simply by jumping off their balcony. The tall Senshi raced to the balcony and fired a third magical attack and the woman who was rapidly flying away.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," Minako whispered horsely. "Go." With a faint pop, Ranma vanished. "Venus power, Make up." She sighed when the pain of her wounds lessened slightly.

Sailor Jupiter limped over, her arms wrapped around her torso, her eyes running over Sailor Venus' body. "What in the... nevermind. I don't think you should be talking, not with the way you're holding your neck like that."

The pair started at a knock on the door.

"Should I answer it?" Jupiter asked. Seeing her friend nod, she painfully made her way over and opened the door. "Yes?"

- + - + -

Whatever Mizuno Saeko was going to say to her neighbors died unsaid. The damage to the apartment barely registered when she saw the strangely dressed young girl's bloody arms and legs, and the numerous lacerations on her body. The way the girl gingerly hugged her herself set off several alarm bells. "Oh, my god..."

"I'll be fine," the girl interrupted. "My friend's the one who's really hurt."

A second girl, dressed similar to the first one, lay on the bloody floor. She didn't have nearly as many cuts on her legs, but the ones she did have were longer and deeper. Even more alarming to her trained eye was the way the girl held her throat even as she gasped for breath. "Easy now, I'm a doctor. Let me look take a look." Saeko gently removed the girl's hand from her neck, and winced at the bruising. "Okay, I'm calling an ambulance for you both..." She trailed off when she saw another injured person.

"What happened here?" She asked as she knelt beside the third woman, who was unconscious, much to Saeko's alarm. She thumbed her hospital's speed dial, even as she examined the woman. "This is Dr. Mizuno Saeko. I'm going to need two ambulances at my apartment complex. I've got three people injured in apartment 3002. One woman, approximate age early twenties, unconscious from a blow to the head. One woman, approximate age 17, multiple minor lacerations to the arms and legs, probable broken ribs," she looked at Sailor Jupiter again, "and either a dislocated or broken hip. One woman, approximate age 17, three moderate to severe lacerations to the legs, probable partially crushed larynx, but still able to breath."

She pressed the END button, pulled on latex gloves that she got from her pocket, and once again knelt by the blonde girl on the floor. "Okay, we need to stop this bleeding, so I need you to put pressure here." She shifted the girls' hands to the right spot. "Good. Now you," she gestured to the taller girl, "Put pressure right there. And I'll take this cut here." She looked at Sailor Jupiter, and asked, "Now, would you please tell me what happened?"

The two girls shared a look. The shorter blonde made a fist with her pink and thumb extended, and held it to her head like a phone, and then saluted. The taller brunette blushed and with an odd gesture, produced a pink cell phone. She pressed a button and, after a brief delay, said, "This is an Alpha-Seven priority message for Colonel Anderson. 'Sylvester is chasing Tweety Bird.' That's right, 'Sylvester is chasing Tweety Bird.'" She looked at the blonde again. "Should I call the others?" The other girl shook her head.

During this exchange, Saeko just stared at the cell phone in the girl's hand. It was identical to her baby girl's new cell phone.

- + - + -

Ranma appeared high above their apartment complex, triggering a preset of sequence of events that not only left her face damp and female, but clad in a special jumpsuit that had large nylon panels between her arms and body, and between her legs. Her rate of descent slowed as she began gliding forward towards the leaf-bare park she had last seen Kiima over. It didn't take her long to spot Kiima's huge, white wings against the brown grass and bare trees below.

"Okay, Kiima," Ranma growled. "This is your wakeup call." She tucked her arms to her side and dove, vanishing with a pop of inrushing air after falling 150 meters.

- + - + -

Kiima frowned as she flew away from Saotome's apartment, ignoring the pathetic humans pointing at her from below. 'Damn it! I had waited ten years, TEN YEARS, for Saotome return for his little Akane. Even after she'd gotten married, I figured he'd return for her. But he didn't. I wasted a perfectly good impression egg on the girl, and he never showed up! And of course when we finally gained a lead on him, we followed the wrong one.

'And those girls! My puppet should've been able to kill both, but that one girl had way too much power for someone that inexperienced, and I think Saotome's little tramp has a similar power.' Kiima's eyes narrowed. 'Sparky was dressed similarly to that woman who disrupted our attempt to abduct the girl. Now that he knows Akane is compromised - '

Something heavy slammed into her back, fouling her wings and sending her spiraling toward the ground below. "Kiima! Fancy meeting you here!" The voice of Ranma's female form said. "If you don't want to do this the hardway, land and wait for me below."

'Like hell!' Kiima recovered from her tumble enough to twist around and send another blizzard of razor sharp feathers at the woman. 'Where the hell did she go?' She recovered completely only thirty meters above the street, and quickly worked to regain some altitude. 'I don't see her splattered all over the ground either-'

Kiima screamed when several arcs of light sliced into her. Somehow, Saotome had managed to get above her again, and was sending a deadly storm of his own at her, even as he fell from the sky. She nimbly evaded the second barrage, and was about to retaliate at the rapidly falling human when he vanished. 'How did he-' For the second time, a heavy and fast body struck her from behind. She shreiked when she felt a bone in her right wing shatter, and she was sent crashing into the ground...

- + - + -

A final skip allowed Ranma to avoid crashing painfully into the ground like Kiima. She circled above the fallen Phoenix warrior, looking for signs that she was still a threat. Seeing no movement below brought a grim smile of satisfaction to her face, at least until she realize that she wasn't quite sure how she was going to land. She was tempted to simply teleport away and embarrass herself in private when she saw the crowd of video recorders, cameras, and cell phones below. 'And if I teleport away, Kiima might recover enough to escape.' She continued to circle. 'I've got about thirty seconds to figure this out...'

At two meters above the ground, she turned her body upright, the panels of the suit absorbing most of her forward momentum. Leg muscles and ki absorbed most of her downward momentum, allowing her to make a successful, but rather heavy, four-point landing right beside the white-haired bird woman.

As she began to unsnap the panels between the legs of her jumpsuit, the crowd around her began to applaud. Once she was sure she'd be able to walk rather than waddle, she smiled and bowed to the crowd, before turning her attention to her fallen foe.

The woman was alive, and, judging by the groans, she was starting to regain consciousness. Ignoring the questions from the crowd, she knelt down to lay a hand on Kiima's shoulder, and the two of them faded out of sight.

- + - + -

In an empty room on a restricted floor of a building lying a discreet distance from the Diet building, Colonel Richard Anderson waited with four burly MPs and two medics for a troubling conundrum to grace them with his/her presence. If everything went as planned, he'd have a very dangerous, quite likely angry, and probably injured para-human on his hands. And, of course, there would be her prisoner Kiima to consider as well.

He didn't have to wait long. Two figures, one kneeling, the other prone, faded into the middle of the room. The colonel took stock of the crumpled, bleeding, and bruised figure on the floor. As the medics moved forward to deal with the fallen Phoenix, Anderson said, "I take it she didn't want to come quietly." The woman shook her head as she stood up. "Are you alright? I don't think the red spots on that wingsuit are part of the original pattern."

"I'll be fine. The bleeding's already stopped." She looked at the colonel in the eyes as Kiima was wheeled away, the four MPs trailing after the gourney. "I'm afriad I have to go. I left a bad situation back home."

"I understand. I'm told that your 'situation back home' is currently all over the morning news. I think it's safe to say you forfeited your security deposit." Seeing the woman's expression, the colonel grinned. "I would like a quick word, however."

"Okay, but make it very quick."

"Do you think we can drop the charade, at least when you're here?"

"I'd love to, Colonel, but as I've told the girls, it's easier for bad habits to form than good ones. I'm not sure if it's doing any good, but I'd prefer to have Beryl as confused as possible."

"I understand."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me?" The auburn haired woman faded from sight.

"At least she didn't deny it..." There was knock on the door. "Come."

Captain Tapping walked into the room. "I saw our new guest, Colonel. Saotome did a real number on her."

"With good cause. We don't have any information yet, but Kiima somehow attacked his apartment. We picked up a call by Saotome's neighbor asking for ambulances. Three people got hurt, two severely. If one of those was the Aino girl, I'd say I'm amazed at her self restraint." He looked at his blonde aide. "Oh, and while he didn't deny it, he did have a good point about the value of providing the enemy with false intelligence. I want everyone referring to her as Takeda from now on. Including me." He grinned mischeviously. "Feel free to correct when I forget."

"Of coruse, sir."

- + - + -

Ranma faded back into existance, completely unsurprised by the police tape across her door. She just hoped that the glamour hiding the door to the dojo was still working. She was surprised that Ami's mother, Mizuno Saeko, was waiting in the hall. "Takeda-san? It's nice to meet you at last. I'm Ami-chan's mother, Mizuno Saeko... you're hurt!"

"I'm fine. I need to call the police, and make sure they understand that Tendo Akane wasn't acting of her own free will."

"What is it with you people? The brunette kept insisting that she was fine as well, and the only reason the blonde wasn't was because she couldn't even talk!" Mizuno Saeko looked at the woman, concerned. "Takeda-san?" She caught the woman when she collapsed.

Sakeo quickly retrieved her cell phone. "Hello? Have you guys left yet? Good, because I've got yet another stubborn fool for you."

Author's notes: This time around, I decided not to sacrifice either sleep or exercise in order to maintain the pace necessary for National Novel Writer's Month. It's about a third of the way through challenge so far, and I'm at about 16,000 words. That means that I'm almost keeping up, which is a lot better than I thought I was doing. Of course, I've actually written more than that. Sometimes a better idea comes up, such as Kiima informing me that she's not an idiot, so scenes will get rewritten or dropped entirely. Thankfully, the short chapters and the desire to keep up the pace helps suppress the urge to get things "perfect."

[J. St.C. Patrick]

Good chapter.

Nice resolution of the previous chapter's misdirection cliffhanger.

Here are a few things I noticed:

"Hai, Kiima-sama!" She turned, and almost ran strait into Ranma.

straight

Seeing no movement below brought a grim smile of satisfaction to her face, at least until she realize that she wasn't quite sure how she was going to land.

realized

In an empty room on a restricted floor of a building lying a discreet distance from the Diet building, Colonel Richard Anderson waited with four burly MPs and two medics for a troubling conundrum to grace them with his/her presence. If everything went as planned, he'd have a very dangerous, quite likely angry, and probably injured para-human on his hands. And, of course, there would be her prisoner Kiima to consider as well.

Heh.

"Of coruse, sir."

course

[Ordieth117]

Good chapter and the mistakes I found were already covered too.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

Spoiled Brats

Disclaimer: Some days I could really shoot whoever decided to have NaNoWriMo in November. This month sucks when you work retail.

Chapter Thirty-Four – Operation Tweety Bird: Springing the Trap
In an empty room on a restricted floor of a building lying a discreet distance from the Diet building, Colonel Richard Anderson waited with four burly MPs and two medics for a troubling conundrum to grace them with his/her presence. If everything went as planned, he'd have a very dangerous, quite likely angry, and probably injured para-human on his hands. And, of course, there would be her prisoner Kiima to consider as well.

Did you intend to make it sound that arresting Ranma was also a possibility? Knowing politics, the change may be in the cards (if the Phoenix offer them a goody more appealing to the politicians), but I was hoping to build up the alliance a bit before the inevitable betrayal. Leaving the Colonel the problem of following orders that will make things worse, or getting into trouble and hoping his replacement will have some common sense and a conscience.

[DarkFyre99]

Did you intend to make it sound that arresting Ranma was also a possibility? Knowing politics, the change may be in the cards (if the Phoenix offer them a goody more appealing to the politicians), but I was hoping to build up the alliance a bit before the inevitable betrayal. Leaving the Colonel the problem of following orders that will make things worse, or getting into trouble and hoping his replacement will have some common sense and a conscience.

You're evil.

And yes, I was trying to hint that Ranma and the Senshi represented a problem to the United States government (and by extension to the U.S. Military, including those who are sympathetic, like Colonel Anderson). It was one of the issues I wanted to explore in this fic: in a world where magic exists but is rare, you would expect governments to have some policy to deal with it. And if ordinary 'gifted' individuals are superhuman (Akane in Vol. One of the manga, for example, is definitely stronger than the strongest weightlifter in the real world, and she's among the weakest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew), what do you do with individuals who make them look like ordinary mortals by comparison. I wanted my Stargate SG-1 expies to be helpful, but not too helpful. I definitely wanted a sense that the military is working with Ranma and his girls solely because Beryl was the bigger threat, and not that they were suddenly bosom buddies.

Unfortunately, I've already reached an turning point that came out of fleshing out the history of the founding of PGSM's Silver Millenium, taking into account the very different nature of the Ginzuishou and Metaria. And while it was certainly possible that the U.S. Government might have betrayed Ranma and the Senshi when Metaria was being controlled by Endymion's vain stalker, Metaria is now in the hands of an ancient vampire, who's been chafing under the requirements necessary to exist for centuries. And to think he would've never gotten his hands on it of Minako and Ranma hadn't been trying to be clever...

Well, now that I've survived Thanksgiving and yet another Black Friday, I better get back writing the next chapter.