Motoko wasn't a happy camper. It was bad enough that she had been turned into some sort of predator with the thirst for human blood, but now she was forced to wear someone else's panties. The very thought was disgusting. On the other hand, she had managed to catch at least one break: she had found a brand new pair that still had the tags on them. Unfortunately, it was an ecchi leather thong with shiny silver rings sewn to the front panel. Hygiene won out over stylistic objections though and she had to admit, the thong did look good on her.
Whoever these monsters were, they did have a thing for leather. The only clothing she found that wasn't an elaborate evening dress seemed to be made of leather or latex. Eventually, she settled on a pair of black leather, boot-cut pants that were skin tight in her waist, hips, and thighs before loosening up at her knees. She also found a pair of clunky but practical boots for her feet. On top she wore a black leather bustier that zipped up the front and displayed far more cleavage then she was normally comfortable with. The leather, waist-length jacket helped a little though. She tied her hair back into a high ponytail with a wide strip of black lace and headed for the armory. She saw a sword in there she could replace the one she'd lost with.
Motoko entered the armory and paused when she saw the boy was already there standing in front of a table where he had laid out an assortment of weapons. Motoko was surprised she could identify each of them. He had: two stainless steel Desert Eagle .50AE's, two Sig Sauer P229 .40 S&Ws, two combat knives, twelve throwing knives, a Mossberg 590 shotgun with a tactical stock and an ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight), an FN-FAL also with an ACOG, several spare magazines for each weapon, and several boxes of extra ammo.
"What are you going to do with all those?" Motoko asked, taking note that the boy had discovered the male monsters had similar taste in clothing as the females if the black leather pants and boots were any indication. He was also wearing a black leather vest over a tight black t-shirt with a long black coat over everything. She wanted to smack herself when she caught herself thinking he looked totally delicious.
"Heh, got no idea," he chuckled, scratching his head. "For some reason I felt like I just wouldn't be dressed unless I was armed. So I came down here to get a weapon and before I knew it all this was piled on the table." He looked over at her and froze, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. "Wow...you look...wow..."
Motoko blushed and looked at the floor demurely.
"It was all I could find that was halfway practical," she explained.
"You make it look good," the boy observed. "Better than good."
"You...um...pull off the bad boy look pretty good yourself," Motoko replied, embarrassed. "So how were you planning on carrying all that without causing a public panic and getting yourself thrown in jail?"
"I haven't decided what I'm taking yet," the boy explained. "I could take it all and nobody would see anything. I know a technique for hidden weapons I learned by watching a rival of mine. I'm Ranma Saotome, by the way."
"I'm Motoko Aoyama of the Shinmei Ryu," Motoko introduced.
"Pleased to meetcha," Ranma replied.
"So you're a martial artist or something?" Motoko asked.
"Yeah, I am...was...the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma explained. "Dunno if I still am or not. I ain't even human anymore. I damn sure ain't marryin' that uncute tomboy now that she shot me. I don't even want to think about going back to the Tendo's. Pop and Mr. Tendo will kick me out until I go and get Akane back for them and then they'll see it as some kind of weird destiny that both of us have been turned into Vampires and force us to get married. Nabiki will either want me to turn her into a Vampire or sell me to some government lab or something."
"Maybe you can...uh...come with me to see my sister once we figure out where we are," Motoko said haltingly.
Was she really thinking about bringing a boy home to meet her sister? Tsuruko had been bad enough trying to get her married to Keitaro. Motoko didn't even want to contemplate how she would react to this mess. She didn't have much choice though. Her sister needed to know what was going on here before anyone else ended up killed or turned.
"Why would we go see your sister?" Ranma asked.
"She's the head of our branch of the Shinmei Ryu," Motoko explained. "She's the one that sent me to investigate these creatures in the first place—although we thought they were just evil spirits at the time so I wasn't prepared for what I stumbled into."
Motoko blushed again, looking terribly chagrinned at this admission.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Ranma said putting his hand on her shoulder. "We came in force to get Akane back. My friends—some of the best martial artists around...we weren't expecting to face this sort of hardware. We put up a hell of a fight, but there was just too many bullets flying..." Ranma shuddered at the memory of seeing his friends cut down. "Don't beat yourself up over it, okay?"
Motoko looked at him for several moments before nodding.
"Anyway, my sister needs to know about this, if only so she doesn't send anyone into a similar situation," Motoko continued. "She might even be able to help us."
"Well, let's gear up and find something to eat," Ranma suggested. "Then we can work on finding out where we are."
Motoko nodded and turned to the wall on which several swords were hanging. Carefully examining several blades with a practiced eye, she eventually selected a katana with a lacquered black saya. The tsuka was wrapped with black silk thread over red-dyed shark skin and the blade was gleaming, razor-sharp, high-quality steel. She also selected a pair of combat knives and several shuriken before returning to the table to deposit her selections.
Motoko was amazed to see the table empty when she got there and she looked hard at Ranma to see what he kept. However, she quickly realized that this hidden weapons technique he mentioned performed as advertised. She couldn't detect the first weapon on his person.
"Impressive," she commented. "How much did you take?"
"All of it," Ranma shrugged. "Next time I get in a gun fight, I want to be able to shoot back."
"Agreed," Motoko nodded, her eyes straying over to the rack of pistols. "Do you suppose you could teach me this technique?"
Ranma looked at her appraisingly for several moments before answering.
"I suppose I could," Ranma agreed.
"Great," Motoko smiled. "If I chose a couple of firearms, do you have room to carry them until I learn the technique?"
"Sure. Just don't get too carried away," Ranma replied.
"Thanks," Motoko said before heading for the gun racks.
She quickly chose a pair of Beretta PX4s in .40S&W caliber and an MP5/40 firing the same caliber. Motoko considered grabbing a shotgun like the one Ranma had, but decided not to burden him any more than necessary. Instead, she just grabbed a number of spare magazines for each weapon and some extra ammo before returning to the table with her loot.
On the way back over to the table, Motoko spotted a shelf with a number of cell phones on it.
Tsuruko Aoyama knelt before the Aoyama family shrine. Her exquisite, aristocratic beauty was marred by her red-rimmed eyes and the dark circles under them. Four months ago her little sister and future head of the Aoyama branch of the Shinmei Ryu went missing and was presumed dead. Tsuruko hadn't taken it well, blaming herself for sending Motoko into a situation she wasn't prepared for—without back up. It was unforgiveable.
Nonetheless, Tsuruko spent a good portion of her day praying to her ancestors and Motoko for forgiveness. When she wasn't praying, she was punishing herself with intense training. After all, Motoko wouldn't be able to become the head of the Aoyama Shinmei Ryu now.
Having sequestered herself in the shrine and dojo, she ignored the ringing of the telephone in favor of her prayers. Her husband would get the phone and make any excuses necessary if it was another call to extend condolences. He had been wonderful through out this trying time in spite of the fact that she had been neglecting him.
"Tsu-chan," her husband spoke, entering the room with a broad smile and practically vibrating with excitement. "The phone is for you."
"I am busy, Husband," Tsuruko said coolly. "I do not wish to be disturbed."
"Trust me, Koi, you want to take this call," he replied, his grin growing.
"Who is it?" Tsuruko demanded, irritated.
"You'll just have to answer the phone to see," he replied infuriatingly.
"Fine, but we will speak of this later," Tsuruko huffed, rising to her feet.
"I'm sure we will," he replied in a cheerful tone, his excitement not daunted in the slightest.
Tsuruko stalked out of the shrine, down the hall, and into the study, her husband following behind her.
"Moshi moshi," Tsuruko said curtly after picking up the phone.
"Big sister! It's so good to hear your voice."
Tsuruko gasped and turned white as a sheet.
"M-Motoko? I-is that you?" Tsuruko stammered.
"Do you have any other little sisters?"
"Where have you been?" Tsuruko demanded. "You've been missing for four months! We thought you were dead! Do you have any idea what I've been through? Where are you?"
"F-four months?" Motoko's surprised voice gasped. "I nearly was killed. I was captured by the monsters you sent me to investigate. I'm not sure where I am at the moment. I'm still at the facility I was being held. It's some sort of lab. I think I was being kept sedated. The monsters holding me—vampires, I think—where attacked by another group of monsters and slaughtered. I guess the drugs wore off and Ranma and I woke up...Big Sister...they changed me. I'm not human anymore. I'm not sure what to do."
"..." Tsuruko didn't know what to say to that.
"Big Sister?"
"Are you safe, Motoko?" Tsuruko asked.
"I think so," Motoko replied. "Ranma and I are armed and I think we can deal with any monsters that might come to investigate as long as they don't overwhelm us with numbers."
"Ranma?" Tsuruko inquired.
"Ranma Saotome. He's a martial artist that was being held with me. They changed him too," Motoko explained.
"Do you trust him?"
"I think so," Motoko replied. "He appears to be very skilled."
"Very well," Tsuruko said. "Here's what I want you to do..."
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(Posted Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:06)
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