It seemed so easy at first.
With the presence of the Kôshi Kasshi — a bike gang composed of twelve hundred members, all of whom were dropouts from the Seven Schools — it was simplicity itself to get teams of tôshi out beyond the borders of Tomobiki to the areas in the neighbouring municipalities where Niphentaxian observers were also based. At first fearful of potential clashes between the "regular" (in other words, those who still attended school) tôshi and the dropouts forming the Kôshi Kasshi, the leaders of the Seven Schools were personally assured by the gang's leader, Chôkaku, that all would be well. "Today is the day of Kasshi," the silver-haired biker with the golden-brown eyes declared, using the same solemn tones she — as her former self, Jiâo Zhäng — always used when she was being serious. "Today, the rules of old are forever cast aside. A new world awaits us all."
And while the majority of the tôshi would remain in Tomobiki — they were on the streets within ten minutes of the break-up of the meeting at the Moroboshi home between their leaders and the leaders of the Noukiites soon about to land in the town, heading immediately to where they would be needed — a good majority of them, representing all the Seven Schools, were taken to Nerima, Niiza, Higashikurume, Kodaira, Koganei and Musashino on the bikes of former classmates, hitting the streets as soon as they got close to where their targets were located.
And while their movements were pretty much ignored by the general population around them — bôsôzoku were known to ride through the streets even in daylight hours and they WERE obeying the traffic laws even if their gang flags were flying, held up the rider to the right of the group sentôsha — there were some exceptions…
Ranma had personally hoped she would not have cause to return to Nerima so soon after she had moved out of the Tendô home with her parents the previous day. Unfortunately, the presence of a considerable number of Niphentaxians based around the area of Fûrinkan High School demanded a knowledgeable eye and mind on the ground for the tôshi who were going to be there to help the Noukiites deal with this part of the problem Lum's "most passionate fan" had dumped on the people of Earth. Add a personal request from the pretty leader of the Kasshi — complete with doe-eyed stare and a pout cute enough to give a diabetic a heart attack! — guaranteed it.
"We're here, Ranma-san," Ryûhi announced.
Ranma nodded as she slipped off the bike, and then she stretched as she followed the leader of Team Nine to a nearby soft drink machine to get herself a can of cola. Around them, the other members of the group and their passengers from Gogun — all excellent martial artists to Ranma's professional eye, easily the equal to all the "Nerima Wrecking Crew" save herself, Ryôga Hibiki and Shampoo — moved to their places to park their machines and dismount. "What's the time check, Kimiko?" she asked after Ryûhi got a can of Pocari Sweat for herself and a Coke Zero for Ranma.
The blue-eyed tôshi with the shaggy blonde, short-cut hair looked at her watch. "Thirty-six minutes," she reported as she popped open her can and took a deep swig of the clear liquid inside. "We get ready at T-minus fifteen."
Ranma nodded. "Your girls ready?"
A snort. "We're always ready."
The redhead nodded as she opened her own can and took a gentle gulp of the dark fluid within. She could agree to that. Even if the members of the Kôshi Kasshi seemed your atypical motorcycle goon girls with their golden jumpsuits, gakuran tops with slogans in kanji, kana and Rômaji on their backs and the modified Confederate States battle flags they used as their banner, there was something unique about them. Which was understandable, especially when one considered the remarkable history of the souls that formed the group.
Eighteen centuries ago, the souls of the modern-day Kôshi Kasshi formed the leadership of the Huángjïn — the Yellow Turbans — a Taoist-inspired peasant army who had risen against the rampant corruption of the later Han Dynasty to seriously threaten the whole order of things in China. Led by very charismatic leaders like Jiâo Zhäng and his younger brothers Bâo and Liáng, the Yellow Turbans came within a hair's breadth of actually toppling the whole dynastic order throughout China, only to be stopped at the very last minute by brilliant warlords such as Cäo Cáo, Bèi Liú, Shù Yuán…and Jiän Sün, the spiritual ancestor to Ranma's late would-be father-in-law, Bundai Sonken.
Over the following generations, the Yellow Turbans came back again and again, usually always finding themselves standing against the "normal order" of things that drove their brother and sister tôshi at the particular time period and place they lived. And so it was in this generation, Ranma had learned over the last six months while she had been with Hakufu Sonsaku.
The Yellow Turbans of the modern era — the Kôshi Kasshi Bôsôzoku — formed together in the same way as their predecessors had done many times before. Brought together by Chôkaku, Chôhô and Chôryô — triplet sisters who once attended Rakuyô — four years ago, the Kôshi Kasshi welcomed any tôshi from any of the Seven Schools who was simply sick and tired of the constant fighting and wanted to live their lives free of bloodshed, prolonged stays in hospital intensive care wards and the fear of an early grave. Many flocked to their banner, much to the total shock and disbelief of those peers they left behind. Ever since that time, the Kôshi Kasshi had lurked in the distant shadows, a reminder to all those who attended the Seven Schools that their chosen way of life was something that not ALL who were blessed by the magatama of the warriors of the Sänguó agreed to.
Attempts by most of the leaders of the Seven Schools to do anything to either bring the Kôshi Kasshi down finally or back into the fold had failed.
"So how did you and Minaka's cousin get together again?" Ryûhi asked.
Ranma perked, and then she smiled. "Well, it was six months ago…!"
"SHAMPOO!"
Ranma jolted, and then spun around…
…before her jaw dropped in shocked disbelief on seeing the wide-eyed Ryûhi now in Mousse's passionate embrace. "Oh, Shampoo! I'm so glad that cad Saotome is now away from this place! Come, my love! Let's…!" He then stopped, eyes blinking several times before his hands drifted up to feel the biker tôshi's hair. "Shampoo! What did you do to your hair?!" he demanded as he slipped on his glasses…
…to behold a very tall woman in a gold jumpsuit with a long black overcoat glaring death at him, her hair aflame with fury as her eyes glowed. And that did NOT count the fact that a white magatama earring now hung from her left earlobe. "I…!" Mousse began before his voice locked up, and then he began to back away, waving his hands peacefully. "M-m-Madame, I'm truly sorry f-f-for th-that! I mis-mis-mistook…!"
Hands slammed down on his shoulder, making Mousse cry out as he spun around to find himself glaring into the eyes of a woman with dark purple hair to mid-back and now-burning blue eyes. "And who the FUCK are YOU to be manhandlin' MY girl like that, four-eyes?!" she snarled as she held up her right fist and arm for him to see, the whole now protected by a very nasty length of silver steel chain.
"Good-bye, Mousse," Ranma then said, that making the weapons-master spin around to see her now sitting against Ryûhi's motorcycle and enjoying a cup of cola. As a shout of outrage began to build inside Mousse's throat, he then stopped on seeing Ranma's dark blue eyes narrow dangerously as she glared at him. "Jôko-chan, word of advice: make sure you break BOTH the arms and the legs on this clueless freak! It'll ensure he doesn't come around to molest anyone again for a long time to come."
Kôshô cackled as she allowed the chain to unwind from her hand. "That's what I'll do, Ranma-chan!" she declared as several other bikers — not to mention their friends from Gogun who had rode into town with them — came up. "C'mon, girls!" Kôshô said with such a deadly tone of voice, it made Mousse nearly lose control of his bladder. "Let's take this molester somewhere private so that we can teach him something called 'manners' when it comes to speaking to his betters!"
Cackles escaped the others as they grabbed Mousse by his robes and dragged him off. "Ranma! What are you doing standing there?! Save me!" he pleaded.
"Sayonara, Mousse!" Ranma said as she waggled her hand in farewell. "Tell that bisexual slut that you're in love with that I'm married to one of these nice girls with me now, so she can scramble back to your backwards village with her tail tucked between her legs and her two dyke lovers hidden in her panties!"
Mousse jolted on hearing that, and then he screamed out, "HOW DARE…?!"
A brass knuckle-enhanced fist into his teeth thanks to one of Kôshô's friends shut him up. Ranma shook her head as she turned back to her cola. "What a moron," she muttered as she exchanged a look with Ryûhi. "I can't believe I've put up to over eight months of his shit! Hasn't he clued in by now that I don't give a damn about Shampoo?"
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" the biker tôshi asked, smirking knowingly.
"Damn straight I did."
"Oh, my, Ranma! That was very evil of you, wasn't it?"
Ranma perked on hearing that familiar voice, and then she smiled as Kasumi walked up to her, carrying a bag of groceries. "Yeah, but he deserved it, Kasumi," the redhead said as she stared at the elder Tendô daughter…
…Just as a voice in her head began whispering something that nearly made her drop her jaw in shock. Fortunately for her, years of martial arts training under her father and many other masters across a dozen nations allowed her to quickly seize control of herself and maintain the same look on her face as she turned back to drink her cola. "So, out shopping today?" she asked as Kasumi moved closer to her.
"Hai," Kasumi said with a smile. In her hands was a bag of groceries. "I was just heading home when I saw your friends drag Mousse off. Was he misbehaving again?"
"Hai, he was. Gropin' Kimiko-chan here thinkin' she was Shampoo!"
A shake of the head. "Oh, so typical of him, ne?" she mused as she reached over with hand to gently grasp Ranma's arm at the wrist.
Ranma perked, and then she froze as a soft voice echoed deep within her mind, <?lt:Please, Ranma-sama! Please help us! We really need your help!>>
The redhead blinked, and then she stared into Kasumi's eyes before her own eyes finally widened as it hit her. You're an Avalonian! she immediately thought back.
Kasumi's own eyes widened, and then she nodded. <<:Hai! Please, Ranma-sama! I mean you no harm! But my sisters and I…and your sister!…are trapped now! Please! We don't want to be made to kill your friend!>>
Silence.
"My sister…?" a white-faced Ranma then eeped, her jaw now on the ground.
Kasumi nodded. "Hai."
Ranma blinked. "Oh, damn…!"
"Never rains but it pours," Ryûhi muttered to herself, a grin on her face.
The explanation — done totally telepathically as "Kasumi" was given a can of Pocari Sweat by Ryûhi while they chatted on nonsensical things — was quick.
"Kasumi's" real name — as she saw herself now — was Kaori Tendô; she had taken a double-kanji variation of how "Kasumi" can be written (香澄, "pure fragrance") and used the kun reading of the first character as her new name. She had been created three weeks before when the Avalonian factory line had been brought to Earth and stowed in the old air raid shelter underneath the mountains near Nippara. The DNA that had gone into her had been secretly taken from the real Kasumi's body late one night thanks to a probe sent into the Tendô home to collect DNA from all the Tendô sisters and Ranma's female form (which made Ranma gape in near-denial as she then realised where Kaori's reference to "your sister" had come from).
Unfortunately — or fortunately, depending on opinion — when Kaori, Minami (Nabiki), Atsumi (Akane) and Hitomi (the female Ranma) were removed from their gestation chambers, all four of them were woken before they could be employed as replacement bodies for their templates' souls (though the Niphentaxians believed all the Avalonians they brought in to act as replacement observers were actually separate beings; the originals "sacrificed" for the good of the Church and the Goddess). Thus, when personalities developed in them, their "masters" felt they had no choice but to send them to the Tendô dôjô late one evening to do a memory-copy from their templates, and then have them placed somewhere secret so they could be used as household domestics while it was ultimately decided what to do with them.
On sensing Kaori's agonizing shame at the idea of violating her very own "onê-san's" life like that — and immediately realising that the other Tendô replicas, not to mention her own sister, felt the same way — Ranma closed her eyes as she squeezed the other woman's hand. I'm sure Kasumi will understand what happened, Kaori.
<?lt;I hope she does,>> Kaori responded; she was now holding the hands of her companions as all three relaxed in a semi-hidden location close to where Ryûhi had parked her motorcycle. <<It would be nice to have a real family to live with and not be treated like a pretty sex toy.>> She shrugged before a tired smile crossed her face. <<But then again, it's really no different than what Onê-san and the others were forced to live with at the Tendô home, especially after Happôsai-sama began living with them.>>
Have you girls been hurt? Ryûhi asked, remembering what Chôkaku had told her through text message concerning what had happened to Ken'yô Teigen and Chôsen.
Kaori shook her head. <<Nothing farther than being made to do strip dances and being asked to have sex with each other while they watched us, Kimiko-san. Though I do fear it may soon…>> She then tensed as a burst of anger erupted from the redhead to her left. "Ranma-sama…!" she whispered as she stared warily at Ranma.
Ryûhi was also quick to notice. "Hey, Ranma! Cool down, huh…!"
The redhead snarled as she glared at Kasumi's clone replica. "How can I get in there?"
The Moroboshi home, minutes later…
"SAY WHAT?!"
"It's true, Tariko," Ranma replied over the phone. Tariko was in the living room, a white-faced Lum and a slack-jawed Kinshô currently seated across from her. Negako sat to Tariko's right, still calm and enjoying tea. "They found out about you and me becoming friends when we met on the shores of the Shakujii River. Then when they got the chance, they turned around and made an Avalonian body they were going to zap MY soul into so that I could be used to kill you. And the girls were replicated along the way so that no one at the house would come to wonder what's going on." A wry chuckle then echoed over the phone. "I guess these idiots must've made themselves believe that Tô-chan, Jijii and old man Tendô were really no threat at all. Fuckin' morons!"
"Yeah, but they're really dangerous morons none the less," Tariko replied, and then she perked. "Oh, shit! Don't tell me they know the truth about…!"
"Relax," Ranma said with a laugh. "Hitomi-chan got all my training along with all my memories. She was able to keep it buttoned tight when they asked her about what she knew about what was going on between you and me. Just gave them the normal spiel."
Tariko breathed out in relief, and then she looked at the wall clock: 11:47 AM. "Ranma, we've got thirteen minutes before the party starts. Are you SURE you want to sneak in there ahead of time as Hitomi-chan before the re-enforcements arrive?!"
"Hey, Kaori guarantees they're not armed with more than personal defence pistols, plasma-proton types," Ranma replied. "With the Umisen-ken on my side…"
Tariko took a deep breath. "Okay. Watch your ass and stay safe, huh?"
"Always!"
The link was cut. "Gods…!" Kinshô breathed out. "Is utterly nothing SACRED to any of these people?!" she demanded as she looked at Tariko, and then at Lum.
The Oni shook her head. "Not to them, Kâ-chan. Not to them."
"That will be an easy task for Ranma to perform."
Eyes locked on Negako, and then they watched as she stood up. "Where are you going, Onê-chan?" Tariko asked as they watched her head into the kitchen.
"To where Shikuko, Mimôko and Tsueko will be," the grandmaster replied as she placed the empty tea cup in the sink before heading to the front door.
She soon stepped out of the house. "Onê-chan…" Tariko whispered.
T-minus 9 minutes…
"Kaori! You know better than to have two of you out of the house at the same time!"
Kaori winced as she and Hitomi walked through the back door of the side-split bungalow which they, along with Minami and Atsumi, also shared with a half-dozen Niphentaxians; this was the headquarters area for their particular observation group. "I'm sorry, Commander," she said as she gazed on Ohei bedai-Mursgh, a very fat and oafish man who clearly wouldn't be any threat to any martial artist, even anyone trained in just the basics. "But the garbage cans in the back were spilled over and had made a mess that could have attracted attention, so I asked Hitomi to help me clean it up."
Ohei blinked owlishly, and then he grunted. "Good. Both of you go upstairs."
Both women bowed. "Please excuse us, Commander," they chanted together.
With that, they headed upstairs. The house had three floors, a basement and an attic. Living quarters for the observers were on the upper two floors, with a communal bathroom on the second floor. The attic, which was reached via a drop ladder that led into the third floor hallway, was barely insulated and looked quite uncomfortable, futons spread on the floor with quilts and blankets the only defence the four Avalonians had against cold weather. <<Right this way, Ranma-sama,>> Kaori psi-flashed the disguised Ranma as they stepped into the attic. <<It really isn't much, but it is home for us at this time.>>
Ranma nodded as she sensed Minami's and Atsumi's eyes lock on her, and then widen in shock and disbelief, and then delighted smiles crossed their faces as they immediately reached over to gently grasp her arm with their hands. <<Ranma-sama, what in the name of the Fates are you doing HERE?!>> Nabiki's sister demanded as Kaori moved to close the trap door to ensure their privacy. <<If they managed to get a scanner out and scanned you, they'll know…!>>
<<If you're here, where's Hitomi?!>> Akane's sister pleaded.
Sensing the concern and love Atsumi felt for her own sister, Ranma smiled as she patted her hand. With the rescue party right now, Atsumi, she thought her reply. I called in Jijii and Elder Cologne to make sure that tracking mechanism they put into the backs of your necks are taken out. 'Sides, seven minutes from now, the whole freakin' UNIVERSE is about to come crashing down on not just them, but all their buddies all over Tomobiki and beyond. You're gonna have the privilege of front-row seats to the first fight in the final crusade against the Church of Lum.
The Tendô sisters perked on sensing that, and then their eyes went even wider as they quickly interpreted what Ranma had just revealed to them before smirks crossed their faces. <<Hitomi always said there was a lot more to what was going on between Ataru Moroboshi and Lum, but she never told us details,>> Minami stated. Like Nabiki had been in the real Tendô home not several blocks away, Minami was the brains of the group of Avalonians forced to live here. <<I can see why. You couldn't believe the joy the idiots downstairs felt when they heard that Ataru-kun had 'died.' If they knew he had changed himself to Tariko to marry Lum…>>
<<They would be quite upset,>> Kaori mused as she pulled out a familiar set of clothing for Ranma, who immediately moved to strip off the tight jeans and tank-top T-shirt Hitomi normally wore while living here (when she was not forced to either parade around nude or wear something scandalously skimpy for her "masters'" enjoyment) to get on the red tang and exercise pants that was second-nature to her.
"Well, too bad for them," Ranma hissed as she moved to complete dressing, and then she sighed as she braced herself. "They're about to get a very rude lesson about that."
<<Ranma-sama, do you want me to help unlock you?>> Atsumi offered.
She perked as she stared at Akane's sister. "How…?"
A wink. <<Just because we've been scared of being chased down and killed because of these tracers in our bodies doesn't mean that Hitomi hasn't stinted on teaching some things to us,>> Atsumi replied with a wink.
Ranma smirked as she pulled up her T-shirt. Know where it is? she thought.
<<Hai, just a moment.>>
Soon enough, a warm surge flooded Ranma's body from the point on her spine where Atsumi was touching her. Grunting as she felt the Chiisui-ton lock on her frozen curse release itself, she nodded as she moved to straighten her clothes. With that, she turned to gently kiss Atsumi on the cheek. You're beautiful, you know that?
A blush responded. <<Well, I hope I AM better than that lying, conniving BITCH I happened to have been templated from!>> Atsumi replied.
Ranma winked. "Way better, Atsumi," she assured her with a whisper.
She then faded out as she summoned her skills in the Umisen-ken to make herself invisible — though her current hosts could still sense her both empathically and telepathically — and then the hatch to the attic suddenly swung open. "Oh, my!" Kaori gasped out loud as she moved to close it up, giving Ranma enough time to get clear of it. "I should learn to lock that door better!"
Noting that, Ranma could only grin as she moved to head downstairs…
"How much more time?"
Ryûhi looked at her watch. "Three minutes."
Around her, dozens of tôshi — not to mention two multi-centenarians who now looked enraged enough to rip apart a starship with their bare hands — began to tense as the final 180 seconds of waiting began to count down. Also among them was a shivering version of Ranma Saotome who had her hair free of any pigtail, now wearing the clothes her physical template/brother/sister had on minutes before. "Onii-chan…!" Hitomi Hayashi whispered as she tried not to break down and cry at the thought of her own brother — who had accepted her with open arms — now in the very dungeon she had been forced to live in for the three long, hellish weeks of her life.
Cologne's comforting hand touched her shoulder. "That's enough, child," the Nyûjiézú elder assured her, her voice soothing. While she had been quick to sense that Hitomi had all of Ranma's considerable skill and power, the fact that she was barely a month old hadn't given the poor child a chance to build up any of her brother's overwhelming confidence to the point where she could have broken herself and her sister Avalonians out of enslavement with no problem. "It's over for you and very shortly, it will be the same for your sisters in there. Be happy for yourselves and them."
A sniff. "It's hard, Hibâ-chan…"
"It always is," Happôsai said, his teeth gritting as we…
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