IMPORTANT!!!!!!! If this is the first time you're reading this fic, you must read starting from Chapter 1 completely first! This story will seem very ridiculous and out of place if you don't. This fic is a crossover with Ranma and the Tenchi OAV/Universe series. The rest of the Tenchi characters will be introduced in this chapter, and there will be a couple of fun surprises as well. Hopefully you readers know some basic knowledge about both Ranma and Tenchi:) Compared to movies, I would rate this as a "R" fanfic, because of some of the harsh language used. This ain't a lemon though, I don't plan on having any sex scenes at all. Here are a few things you must know while reading this: -For all of you readers, PLEASE read the notes at the end of the fic before you start flaming me for things that you don't understand or think is bogus, my notes just might answer all your questions. -The Ranma aspect of the story takes place after manga 38 and the Tenchi aspect takes place after the TV show/OVA. -At the end of manga 38 Ranma was at the end of his sophomore year in Furinken High School and the year is set to 1992. Don't ask why, I chose that particular date out of convenience. This is to punctuate the times that Akane and Ranma met during their lives. -Also Ranma still has his curse, but his female form has black hair (like the manga) and is now just as tall as his male form. -For now in this universe Ranma's curse is accepted just about everywhere with a quick explanation by Ranma. Don't ask why, it just makes the story easier to understand. -The XXX-XXX-XX and etc. numbers that you read on the psychology reports are just a fake depiction by me, I don't really know what the numbers would be in real life, I'm not a psychologist, but when the characters in the fic (Akane, Nabiki, Ryoga) read it, they see it as actual numbers, not X's. -The depicted show "LAPD: Life on the Beat" is real, except that after the infamous Rampart scandal in the LAPD last year, the show was immediately canceled. When it did air, it was a great show, it got many high ratings, more than "COPS", and it is one of the most exciting and intense shows ever made (until it's tragic canceling after the Rampart Scandal), the programmers edit almost nothing, except for any swearing. -Ranma will seem very out of character, but you have to completely read from the first chapter to understand why. -SgtRanma Please visit my website at http://sgtranma.webjump.com! New fics will always appear there first! And I update often! ------------------------ Chapter 4: Crime Spree April 17th, 2001. Akane & Ryoga's Room, Tendo Home - Nerima, Japan. 8:52 PM "I found out all the dirty little details of the past five years of Ranma's life," Nabiki said, smirking. Ryoga and Akane could only stare at the thick jacket filled with papers and the two videotapes held in Nabiki's arm. The brown folder had a large red stamp on it, Akane knew enough English to read what it said, [EYES ONLY! >TOP SECRET MATERIAL ENCLOSED<]. The tip of the folder had a crude, typed sticker attached to it, it read [Saotome, Ranma] in big bold letters. "It took a lot of man power and some serious government contacts to get this crap, but now, we're finally gonna find out what the hell happened to Ranma." Nabiki said, sitting down on Akane's bed and laying out the thick pile of documents and reports from the folder. Ryoga didn't get lost anymore, thanks to his GPS tracker that he always carried to his side, it was embarrassing to have a machine to always tell you where to go (even to the bathroom), it wasn't as embarrassing as getting lost in the middle of a closet. One advantage however to getting lost a lot in foreign places and countries was that you got to learn many different cultures and languages. Ryoga read the English with ease, he had a twisted sense of logic and was violent at times, but he wasn't as stupid as most people thought. "Nabiki, what would happen if you got caught with that? It says it's top secret, how did someone like you obtain it?" asked Ryoga, his eyes were narrowed and was glaring at Nabiki, he may be his sister in law but he still didn't trust her fully, she kept way too many things secret to herself. Nabiki glared right back, although she wasn't very angry, she was just annoyed with the fact that Ryoga seemed to be pushing it. "I got these from a contact in the JNSA's Tokyo headquarters, he works with my company for info and I just asked him to do a favor. And don't worry about getting caught, my guy took these out secretly and legally by transferring it as research and developing information, it's untraceable. Ryoga relaxed a bit at that, but he was still nervous with the fact that they were in possession of illegal secrets. Akane sifted through different photos, her facial expressions changing from smiles, to sadness, and from looks of absolute horror. All of the pictures were marked and had descriptions on them, Akane held a ghastly photo of a dead corpse, the head and mouth were shot up, there was a clean hole straight through the forehead, but the mouth was blown open and unnaturally tangled, the gums were split wide open and the nasal cavity was exposed, the blood stained teeth mere mangled and mixed in all the carnage. Akane nauseously shifted her eyes down to the description at the bottom of the photo to read what it said: ------------- 12/14/2000: SIS homicide executed by Sgt. Saotome, Ranma. Van Nuys gang bust. Suspect killed instantly with rounds to cranium and oral passage. Approved legitimate by District Attorney on 12/19/2000. Supervising officer: Capt. Davis, Gray. ------------- "Legitimate homicide executed by Sergeant Saotome Ranma? Approved by the DA? What the hell is going on?" said Akane, fear dripping in her voice. Ryoga was looking at a picture of Ranma getting a medal of some sort at a ceremony, the description on the bottom of the picture said it was the Medal of Valor. He looked over at the various pictures of dead bodies in Akane's hands, he recoiled in horror at what he saw, different men and women shot dead or fatally beaten. All the pictures described in horrific detail what had happened, and all of them described them as legitimate deaths. Ryoga closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had always been the one who vowed to kill Ranma, he had said it often and violently, but he never once killed anyone in his entire life. He only said those things because he was driven by a pitiful vengeance. And now, ironically, Ranma was the one who had killed people, many of them, almost too many to count. The boy who used to always forgive and forget and never seemed to take anything too seriously was now a veteran killer, although it was all for the sake of the safety of the public. Ryoga shivered at the thought, Ranma killing people like this was unimaginable. Nabiki had seen the pictures too, they were hard to believe, and seemed to farfetched to be true. However, right now Nabiki was carefully reading a stapled packet of various psychological reports, they were all labeled as the products of police psychologist. Nabiki's eyes were wide with interest and horror as she read what the reports said. ---------------- File No. XXXX-XXX-XXXXX-XX-PSYOPS [MANDATORY] Los Angeles Police Department - Psychological Trauma Unit Metropolitan Division Time Stamped: March 24, 1998. Subject: Saotome, Ranma - Badge No. 18991 Post: Hollywood Division Rank Status: Patrolman 1 [P1] Officer Diagnosed by Dr. Franklin Weller Condition: Traumatized, unable to think logically or perform simple functions, needs help to eat, sleep deprivation, involuntary shaking, extreme depression. Cause: Experienced first police homicide conducted by self, killed 5 armed gunmen in a shootout that occurred 03/22/1998. Excerpt from street report: [End of Excerpt.] Diagnosis and Treatment: Standard post homicide depression. Give a two week paid vacation and anti depressant drugs. Put under review for possible manic behavior in the future. Commentary and Recommendations: The subject is experiencing perfectly normal depression after killing a suspect in combat. However, subject seems to be more depressed than average patient, and seems to have other problems other than the ones diagnosed. Advise caution. [End Report] --------------- Nabiki had a cold, neutral look on her face, she looked calm, but inside she was bubbling with mixed emotions. This seemed to be the first of many reports made by a professional psychologist on Ranma, it seemed Ranma was having post traumatic problems from killing people, and having behavioral problems from them. The diagnostic descriptions ranged from insomnia to full blown rage management, Ranma seemed to have a mess of problems while being a cop. What particularly interested her though were that in the more recent reports, Ranma had stated that killing was part of his duty, he had to uphold his honor by doing his job. Nabiki frowned, Ranma was a bigger workaholic than she was, he had the dedication that ranked him as some sort of hero. Almost every report was stamped mandatory as a precaution to any officer who commits a homicide during the job, but one report stood out, Nabiki flipped to it, it was stapled at the very end of the packet, it had a big green stamp at the top of the page. --------------- File No. XXXX-XXX-XXXXX-XX-COUNSEL [VOLUNTEERED] [CAUTION! CONFIDENTIAL! ANY UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS VIEWING THIS DOCUMENT WILL BE PERSECUTED!] Los Angeles Police Department - Courtesy Counseling Unit Metropolitan Division Time Stamped: December 20, 1999. Subject: Saotome, Ranma - Badge No. 18991 Post: West LA Division Rank Status: Patrolman 3 [P3] Officer Diagnosed by Dr. Mylandah Arkar Walder Condition: Nostalgic Depression, anxiety and stress. Cause: Former fiancee of Officer Saotome, anxiety is caused by the heartache from the termination of a past relationship. Depression is from a reoccurring memory that surfaced from Officer Saotome. Officer Saotome was partnered with P1 Officer Yanagida, Ichino [Badge No. 19179] who reported that Officer Saotome was experiencing depression and anxiety when passing by the UCLA campus. Detailed scripted excerpt from subject interview, Dr. Mylandah Arkar Walder took notes of emotion and behavior and recorded conversation: Walder: So officer, tell me what seems to be bothering you. Saotome:[Shows signs of anxiety, depression is clearly visible] Well... I've just... Well... its just that it's close to Christmas, and I just remembered some things from my past, that's all. Walder: Did these memories reawaken fears or bad thoughts from your head? Saotome:[Reluctant]Well... its just that I used to have someone really special to spend it with... its not that I'm lonely, I have lots of friends who invited me over for their Christmas but... you know, it didn't feel the same. Walder: When you and Officer Yanagida passed by the UCLA campus, did you show signs of anxiety? Saotome: Yes... I started having this weird pain in my chest, it wasn't really the kind of pain you get from a heart attack or someone striking you... just this awful, numbing pain in my soul. Walder: Caused by the anxiety of your memories past. It seems you had a relationship with someone that is causing you to feel this way. Do you mind telling me who it was? Saotome:[Looks down, faces twists from anger to sadness]......... It-i-it was my former fiancee, her name was Akane Tendo. Walder: I see. Tell me about your relation with her. Saotome: Nothing to say really, I loved her, I did a lot for her, we were supposed to be married together, and I wouldn't have been here as a cop. Walder: How did you meet her? Saotome: My parents arranged it, it didn't work out at first, but I fell in love with her. Walder: Ok. [Side notes, subject showing extreme signs of anxiety, is having emotional fluctuations.] Walder: Did you truly love this girl? Saotome:[Subject shows irritation]What kind of question is that? Of course I loved her, I-...... I loved her more than life itself... Walder: I see. So you were pretty attached to her. Tell me, are you a virgin? Saotome:[Startled]What?! That is none of your business! Walder: I have to psychoanalyze you officer, it is necessary for me to know some intimate details of your life, so please, answer the question. Saotome: No! What is the relevance? I'm in here to talk about sex?! You call that psychotherapy!?! Walder: I am only doing my job. Please answer, are you a virgin or not? Saotome:[Is showing anger]Why the fuck should I answer a question like that!?! It's none of your goddamn motherfucking business! Fuck you! Walder: Calm down officer, remember it was you who volunteered for this, don't worry this will all be confidential. Saotome:[Gives a hostile glare, sneers]Fine then. Walder: Now tell me, did you lose your virginity to this Akane girl or not? Saotome:...... Yes... yes I did. I gave my virginity to her. Walder: Ok. When did this happen? Saotome:[Gives off a hostile glare]When I graduated high school, right after our graduation. We were excited, we made love in a forest in the mountains.[Breaths a nervous sigh] Walder: Giving your virginity to someone is a clear sign of mental devotion to someone, or in other words love. This is related to the pain you felt while working, correct? You had rehashed memories of an old love. Saotome:[Slumps]Yeah. You know, I never, EVER would have guessed that would have happened. You know, after that day, we made love every chance we got for the rest of that summer until I was gone to the U.S. [Chuckles]I tried my hardest to sneak into her bed late at night. Walder: Well that is a good start for now. Let us go more in depth with the rest of the figures of your life. Saotome:[Glares]Fine then. Walder: Do you have any other love prospects right now? Saotome:......That too is none of your business. Walder: Please, Mr. Saotome, in order for me to help you I need for you to answer the question. [Subject is reluctant to answer, is showing visible signs of nervous sweating.] Walder: I have to know officer, this entire report is completely confidential, no one will hear or ever see this interview report. So please, answer the question. Saotome:[Growls audibly]......Yeah, I do. Walder: Who is it? Saotome:[Mumbles]I'm...withitchinoyanagida. Walder: What? Saotome:[Sighs]I said I'm with Officer Ichino Yanagida. Walder: You...you're dating your partner? Officer Yanagida is you're lover? Saotome:[Gives off a hostile glare]......Well, we were... right now...[Silent] Walder: Well? Could you continue please? Saotome:......We're actually engaged. Walder: Engaged with another girl? Even after you say you were deeply disturbed with your previous fiancee? Heh, tell me how you came to this conclusion? Saotome:[Growls]I didn't come here for you to fucking mock me you fucking shrink. [Side note, subject seems to be very sensitive on the topic of infatuation.] Walder: I suggest you keep your tongue in check officer, after all, I do grade your conduct as well. Saotome: Hmph... Walder: Please tell me HOW you came into a relationship with her... Saotome:[Uneasy]She was partnered to me nearly a year ago, she was a fresh rookie right out of the academy, assigned to me to baby sit her. But I actually found it very welcoming despite having an inexperienced officer under my wing. Walder: Wait, wait, wait. You're a P3 officer, right? [Ranma nodded yes]Then how is it possible you got to be partnered with a rookie? I believe only sergeants were allowed to supervise. Saotome: My c/o approved it because Ichino was a Japanese officer and so was I, her personality was very similar to mine when I was a rookie, cocky, adventurous, talented, and full of potential. She graduated at the top of her class, she ran the 10 mile torture run in an hour and 10 minutes, she's the second fastest runner ever in the history of this department after me, and probably close to being as athletic as me. Walder: A real battle athlete, huh? Saotome: Yeah, I guess you could say that. The drill instructors up at Elysian thought that it would be smart to pair me up with a wildcat, fortunately they were right, she became a lot smarter and wiser and more street smart. Walder: You said before that you found it very welcoming, tell me more about that. Saotome: I had made a lot of friends after moving away from Nerima, Japan, but... I was still lonely at times. Itchan is from Osaka, Japan, she was actually very timid and shy towards me because at the time I was awarded with my second medal of valor, I was seen as a hero by many in Little Tokyo and by Itchan herself. Walder: That was helpful but- [Subject rudely interrupts] Saotome: I know what you're gonna ask, she was about the same age as me, but after we got partnered together we did a lot of things together, she eventually became my best friend. I guess after about 6 months... I don't know... we just sort of fell in love with each other. Like I did with Akane. I don't know, I guess I just got over her somehow... Not completely, but... it just happened. [Subject is obviously subconsciously still in love with his previous lover.] Walder: Now, officer, let's go more in depth with your relationship with this Akane Tendo. Saotome:[Frustrated sigh]Jesus fucking Christ lady, how many more questions do you have? Damn shrinks. [Remaining interview script truncated, locate file archived in directory XX-XXX-XXX, possible attached to this report.] Diagnosis and Treatment: Anxiety is caused by the heartbreak of a loved one from the past. Subject is emotionally unstable but is able to perform regular tasks. Subject was recommended some prescription anti-depressants. Commentary and Recommendations: The subject has just had some deja vu over a fiancee from the past, prescribe an social anxiety drug and administer some basic conflict management if needed. Subject is somewhat emotionally unstable, but is fit and able for duty. Recommending contact with P2 officer Ichino Yanagida for cross referencing. [End Report] ---------------------- Nabiki's eyes opened wide. Akane had sex with Ranma before she got married with Ryoga!? Nabiki reread the script between doctor and patient, indeed her eyes confirmed what she had read but her brain refused to compute it. How had Akane and Ranma had sex with each other often without her knowing? Nabiki glared at Akane, who was reading a couple of therapy reports from before. Ranma must have had some damn good sneaking techniques to get away from her. But for now she would let it pass, no use in reliving the past. And if THAT wasn't enough of a surprise, Ranma had a fiancee in America after breaking up with Akane? Ranma HIMSELF fell in love and got a fiancee with another girl off in somewhere else!? This was a real change from the Ranma she once knew, the dumb jock who had no backbone when it came to dealing with women. Akane saw Nabiki's face shift in surprise and disbelief, it was an extremely rare thing to see the ice queen show any emotion other than neutrality. Nabiki slowly let down the psychology report and breathed a slow sigh, blinking a couple of times. Akane narrowed her eyes and saw the report, she snatched it from Nabiki's hands when she could get the chance. Nabiki exploded, "Hey!! Give that back Akane!" Akane shielded herself against Nabiki and furiously skimmed through the reports that seemed to shock her sister so dramatically. "Damn it Akane! You don't want to see that!" struggled Nabiki. Akane pushed away her sister with her left arm, she easily overpowered Nabiki. She read as fast as she could, going through all the details the dialogue, but for a moment Akane stopped, she felt like her heart had just stopped beating and something had been caught in her throat. Tears welled up, tears of shame, tears of defeat, tears of regret. She slowly reread the conversation between Ranma and the doctor. Strangely Nabiki wasn't doing anything right now to stop her. Both Ryoga and Nabiki saw as Akane lifted her head up to see the both of them, Nabiki had on her neutral ice cold mask and Ryoga's showed deep concern. She wiped away her tears and gritted her teeth. It didn't seem quite humiliating that Ranma told another person a deep secret of theirs from long ago, but she instead felt shame that Ranma seemed to be traumatized enough to actually pour his heart out to someone, ANYONE, and a psychologist at that. Akane shoved the report back into Nabiki's hand, who wordlessly took them away and put them back in the folder. Ryoga was the first to break the silence, "Hey, what was tha-" "You don't need to know Ryo-chan, just leave it alone." "But-" "Just forget about it you jerk," Nabiki replied coldly. Ryoga glared at Nabiki, but backed down because Akane had asked him to leave it alone as well. Akane could feel a harsh and painful pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach, deep inside she knew she was still in love with Ranma somehow, he would always have a place in her heart. Reading some of the psychology reports described many things that Ranma just couldn't have done. Running suspects over with a squad car? Crushing someone's skull with a baton? Ranma was a goddamn killer! And it seemed like he had tried to let go of his old life and moved on by falling in love with someone else. It really made her sad, but Ranma wasn't hers to claim and love anymore. Ranma had pretty much tried his hardest to put behind a life that he had cherished so much and looked forward to. Any other person would have broken down pitifully and go insane after having their dreams and futures utterly abolished. But no, Ranma had been stronger than that. He had found another fiancee, and he had tried to go on with his life. But something tingled at the back of Akane's mind. If Ranma was engaged to this Ichino Yanagida, why wasn't she with Ranma when he had come back from LA? Why wasn't she with him? Ryoga sifted through some of Ranma's personal and personnel profile. Fortunately for Ryoga there was a detailed description of LAPD procedures attached along with it. Ryoga was frowning at the posts Ranma was assigned to, and his general history. Ryoga frowned, "Nabiki, you better come take a look at this." Nabiki had an annoyed expression on her face, she put down the report she was reading and went over to Ryoga, she would put off the questions for Akane later. "What is it?" she asked, peering over his shoulder. He handed the dossier to her, "Look." --------------------- Officer Profile No. 18991 Name: Ranma Saotome Gender: Male Nationality: Japanese Eyes: Blue Height: 5ft 11in Date of Birth: XX-XX-1976 Occupational Status: Sergeant Detective [S2] Post: Metropolitan Division, Parker Center - Special Operations Sector, Investigate Services Unit, Special Investigative Squad Work Description: Special Investigative Section (often referred to as 'Squad') [SIS], created in 1965 for handling serious robbery-homicide crimes and repeating serious offenders. Operated inside Parker Center, under the "King" unit Investigative Services, the current commander of operations is Captain Gray Davis. The Squad has tactical power over all street operations, all SIS detectives are also voided from Internal Affairs investigations.* *File Note - Check attached message at bottom of transcript for detailed info on above occupation. Commendations: Two time Medal of Valor recipient, Tina Kerbrat Award recipient, high marks from every C/O he's ever worked with, received Special Weapons and Tactics training from academy, received unspecified counter-terrorism training from Camp Pendleton. -+-+-+-+ History at Los Angeles Police Department: 07-29-1997: Joined Los Angeles Police Academy as a cadet. 01-30-1998: Graduated LA Police Academy at the top of the class, received marksmanship status and Tina Kerbrat* award, assigned to Hollywood Division, ranked as P1 patrolman. Probation period begins. *Award given at LAPD Academy, awarded to the most inspirational cadet of a graduating class. 03-27-1998: Received the Medal of Valor for killing five suspects in a 211* call, saved the lives of two officers and some school children. *A 211 is an armed robbery code. 10-11-1998: Transferred to 77th Street Division. 12-14-1998: Was allowed collaboration for training at Camp Pendleton. 01-01-1999: Officer Saotome was shot twenty times in the chest and back in an alley at a New Years day bust for crowds discharging firearms, was saved by a vest and killed the suspects who shot him. 01-19-1999: Received second Medal of Valor for fighting off criminals when he was brutally shot mercilessly. Commended by Chief Bernard Parks. 01-25-1999: End of probation period, now promoted to P2 rank. 01-27-1999: Partnered with P1 Officer Ichino Yanagida, assigned as a training officer for new graduate. 06-30-1999: Transferred to Valley Traffic Division over dispute with Watch Commander. Officer Saotome was not charged with a demerit. 09-13-1999: Transferred to West LA Division over lack of officers in the precinct. 10-05-1999: Promoted to P3 detective status, pending a controversial shooting investigation for possible excessive force. 10-14-1999: Shooting involving Officer Saotome found legitimate, no charges pressed. 03-02-2000: Passed sergeant's exam, promoted to Sergeant Detective 03-07-2000: Transferred to Rampart Robbery-Homicide, cleared for adjoined operations with neighboring divisions. 06-09-2000: Hospitalized for mental instability after the tragic shooting death of Officer Ichino Yanagida. Pending investigation for Sergeant Saotome's ability to function in the line of duty, the detective is rumored to be berserk. The killers of Officer Ichino Yanagida were shot to death in a car during their getaway outside of the city. 06-13-2000: Transferred to Special Investigative Section at 5K90. All allegations and investigations dropped by Captain Gray Davis. [History thereafter classified] Additional Info:[SIS] The Special Investigate Section of the Los Angeles Pol... -------------------- Nabiki continued reading to the bottom, her eyes widened and narrowed several time as she read the additional info of Ranma's job. "A group that trails repeated hardcore felons and executes at will"? What kind of group of cops does the job of a death squad? Undergoing several investigations? His fiancee got killed? MENTAL instability?! Ryoga looked concerned, Nabiki wasn't a person who was easily miffed. Luckily for him, he was pretty good at reading English, so he understand just about everything in these documents. Nabiki frowned yet again. What the hell? History thereafter classified? She looked through the packet to see if anything was missing, then found none. Heh, then it probably meant that NOTHING was written to begin with, she guessed, probably to hide something. Nabiki finally put down the papers, "Ryoga, I know you aren't gonna think so, but I think we're WAY over heads to be dealing with Ranma. I think he's a certifiable loony." "What!?! No way, I'm gonna make sure I beat that punk down for what he did to us." Nabiki just scoffed at him, "Whatever, lets take a look at these tapes hmmm?" Ryoga's face darkened as he saw Nabiki walk right past him, degradingly ignoring him not giving a second thought to whatever opinion he had. She got one of the tapes and walked out of Akane's room and down to the living room. Akane and Ryoga followed. Nabiki made sure her father wasn't home, he was probably sneaking off to Genma's house to drink with him. The three finally sat together and fired up the VCR. The TV screen flickered and a disclaimer came up. The three paid close attention as the screen proclaimed that the video was unedited and for documentary use only. ------------------- [Catchy Music Starts, Show opens up COPS! style] :::: :::: ::LAPD - Life on the Beat:: :::: :::: Episode #53 [Unaired version] Wilshire Division, March 22nd, 2000. 2:21 AM. Possible shots fired call. [The scene opens up, the cameraman is in the backseat of an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria. A number of gadgets could be seen inside, a large bulky computer in the center of the dashboard and emergency lights on the windshield. The camera focuses on a female Ranma-chan who is slightly damp. She is wearing a thick letterman style black and tan jacket, and has some dark blue jeans on. She is currently in the drivers seat driving. It is raining heavily outside, the windshield wipers are having trouble keeping up with the thick and rapid droplets.] [The screen captions in white: Detective Sergeant Ranma Saotome and Detective Ichino Yanagida] Ranma-chan:[Talks to cameraman, glances back at the camera a couple of times] We're gonna be cruising around the business districts of Downtown LA, a lot of stuff goes down around here, drug deals, psychos, HOMELESS psychos, all those weirdos come out after twilight. Ichino:[Scoffs]At least it isn't as bad as the daytime. [The camera focuses on a sharp looking girl in the passenger seat. She is very pretty and has a friendly smile on her face. She has short, pointy black hair and is wearing a white windbreaker with some gray sweat pants. She looks about 5' 6" tall judging by the way she looks sitting in her seat, she has a very slim and athletic build.] Ranma-chan:[Looks over to Ichino]The graveyard shift is generally quieter, but some bad stuff happens in the night too, Itchan. Itchan:[Munches on some chips]Whatever. [The radio on the dash beeps and chirps.] Radio:[Chirps]All units, all units, respond to a possible 417* at Harvard and Olympic, over. *417 - Person with a gun. Itchan:[Picks up radio receiver]Dispatch, this is unit 7- Adam-22, en route to scene. Dispatch: Proceed with extreme caution, possible shots fired. Itchan: 10-4.[Puts receiver back in place] [Camera focuses back on Ranma.] Ranma-chan: Harvard and Olympic is only two blocks from here, I'm betting we're gonna be the first ones there. Itchan: Don't turn on the sirens though, just the lights, lets see if we can sneak up on the guy. Ranma-chan:[Turns on a couple of switches, the blue and red strobe lights on the windshield flash forward rapidly]Whatever. [The car accelerates suddenly and Ranma-chan floors the car all the way to Harvard, they slow down and slowly approach the intersection of Olympic.] Itchan:[Wipes the condensed fog on her window, peers outside]You sure this is the right place? I don't see anything. Ranma-chan:[Points to street sign]That thing says Harvard and Olympic, don't it? [The car continues to drive and turns around the corner, all three including the cameraman gasp in awe at the infernal destruction in front of them, all the businesses are lit on fire and there seems to be something far off in the haze shooting off a stream of flames.] Itchan:[Looks around]Holy shit, this must be the place, huh? Ranma-chan:[Puffs]Damn right.[Picks up radio receiver]Dispatch, come in dispatch, this is unit 7-Adam-22. Dispatch:[Crackles]Go ahead. Ranma-chan:[Clicks receiver]We have a fire and a possible armed 5150* at the corner of Harvard and Olympic, requesting fire department and backup, officers need immediate assistance, over. *5150 - Crazy man on the loose! Dispatch: 10-4, help is on the way. [The car drives a little closer, when they get through some of the fog of the rain they see a crazed person dressed up in a metal suit with a huge tank strapped to the back. The man is facing away from Ranma-chan's car and is shooting wildly at a bunch of buildings with a small assault rifle. He has another long metal nozzle in his left hand shooting out flame. Ranma-chan jerks the car to a stop.] Itchan:[Stares in disbelief]Shit...who the hell is this joker? Ranma-chan:[Pulls out Beretta, chamber checks it]I don't know, a spokesmen for the NRA*? *The National Rifle Association, a group of gun nuts basically. Itchan:[Pulls out her own Beretta and chamber checks it]He's a regular asshole, that's for sure.[Looks over to Ranma- chan]So, what're we gonna do? Ranma-chan:[Looks hard at the nut, smirks]Let's run him over. Both Cameraman and Itchan: WHAT?! Cameraman: Officer Saotome, I really don't think that's safe. Itchan:[Nervous]What are you going to do if he turns around and shoots us with that assault rifle? Ranma-chan:[Frowns]Come on, don't be a don't-be Itchan, be a do-be. Think positive! Itchan: What the fuck are you trying to pull-[Cut off by Ranma-chan] Ranma-chan:[Bold]Come on, WILL him with me, "don't turn around", we're better than him! Itchan:[Scoffs]Wha...WILL him?? Ranma-chan: Yeah! We're the good guys, and he's the bad guy, we'll win for sure! Itchan:[Disbelief]I just hope he doesn't shoot us with that assault rifle! [The car slowly accelerates forward towards the armored man.] Ranma-chan:[Shakes Itchan's shoulder enthusiastically]Come on, do it with me! Don't turn around![Shakes fist victoriously towards]Don't turn around! Itchan:[Joins Ranma-chan]Yeah, don't turn around! [The camera view is visibly shaking, the cameraman whimpers in the background in fear.] Ranma-chan: Yeah! We're gonna get this guy! [Ranma floors the accelerator and the car surges forward, the loud rain drowns out all the noise made by the cruiser. However, as the car heaves forward the armored guy slowly turns around to face them with his flamethrower puffing.] Ranma-chan:[Smiles nervously]Heh, he's turning. Itchan: SHIT! [Ranma-chan slams the brakes and swerves the car completely to the left, the camera shakes wildly.] Itchan:[Yells]Let's get the hell outta here! [A barrage of machine gun fire can be heard, the camera view shakes as the cameraman rushes to jump outside and take refuge behind the car. Ranma-chan and Ichino can be seen clumsily tumbling out of the driver's side and falling to the asphalt. The two cops scurry to hide, Ranma-chan ducks near the front of the car under the hood and Ichino hides under the trunk. The camera focuses on bullets piercing right through the door, striking the pavement and splashing the puddles of rainwater.] Camerman:[Stutters]Holy shit! [The cameraman straddles over to Ranma chan and cowers, the camera view shakes uncontrollable and the sounds of machine gun fire and empty shell casings falling on the floor can be heard.] Itchan:[Trying to take cover]Damn! [Ranma-chan cringes, behind the car, trying to avoid the gunfire. However, Ranma-chan hears the firing stopping and the clacking of a spent magazine falling to the floor. Ranma-chan immediately stands up, and the camera view follows with her, Ranma-chan fires off four rounds from her pistol into the armored guy's chest. The camera switches back to Ichino who has also stood up and is furiously emptying her gun on the suspect, however all the rounds merely flicker and cause sparks to fly. Ichino immediately drops back down.] Ranma-chan:[Drops down, crouches]Shit![To Itchan]They just bounce right off him! Itchan:[Tries to peek over the trunk, hides as she sees the flamethrower flames her way]I know, we're in trouble! [A loud siren can be heard, the camera peeks over the hood and a police cruiser can be seen, it blasts through the street from a corner and rushes towards the armored man with lights flashing and sirens blaring.] Ranma-chan:[Looks over the hood]Here comes some help! [The police car blares by and tries to swerve around the tin man, but the armored guy shoots flames at the car making the back catch on fire.] Itchan:[Looks over the trunk]Holy shit... [The cameraman shivers as the armored man shoots flames wildly everywhere, the police cruiser that caught on fire swerves to a violent stop. Two uniformed men in jackets can be seen struggling out the passengers side. The armored man shoots up the cruiser, but the officers hiding behind don't get hit.] Ranma-chan:[Eyes wide]Shit![To Ichino]We gotta help them! [Ranma-chan gets up and shoots off the remaining 12 rounds in her gun, the armored man bounces back a bit from the hard hitting hollow points of Ranma's gun.] Itchan:[Shoots off a few rounds, ducks again]We're not doing much except stalling him! Ranma-chan:[Pulls out a loaded magazine from her left hip and snaps it in the gun, clicks slide back in place]Argh![Snaps finger]I got an idea. We're gonna have to make a wild diversion. Itchan:[Fires off about three more rounds, looks over to Ranma-chan]How the fuck do we do that?! [The armored man retaliates with another round of bullets hailing on their now battered Ford, the tires can be heard popping and hissing. Ranma, Ichino, and the cameraman, cower for whatever cover they can muster.] Ranma-chan: Here's the plan! You take off your clothes, run out there in your underwear, and when flame-o over there turns around I'll shoot the valve of that napalm tank when he's distracted! Itchan:[Yells]Hell no! You do it![In Japanese, with a thick Kansai accent]Dammit Ranma, you're not even a real girl! I am! Ranma-chan:[In Japanese]Yeah, but I'm not gonna advertise that I'm a girl slash guy either! Itchan:[Growls, starts taking off shirt, reverts back to English]Damn you! Why do I even have to strip my clothes?! Ranma-chan: It'll distract him more! I know it'll distract me! [Ichino continues to strip off her clothes all he way to her bra and panties. The cameraman focuses closer on Ichino's femininity, who catches him staring at her.] Itchan:[Slaps camera away, grabs cameraman by his shirt]Don't you fuckin' get this on camera![Shoves away] Ranma-chan:[In Japanese]Don't worry, you're chest isn't big enough for anyone but me to notice! Itchan:[Shouts]Shut up!! [By now there is a mess of police cars and fire trucks racing to the scene, there is a police helicopter shining a big floodlight on the armored man, the camera focuses on a bunch of red and blue lights that are coming towards them, meanwhile the two patrolmen in the flaming police car are busily shooting the armored man, but the bullets can be seen bouncing in sparks with no success. The armored man merely points his assault rifle and shoots up the car the two men are using for cover, sending them to the floor, cowering.] Ranma-chan:[Sees armored man coming towards them with his flamethrower]He's coming back! Itchan:[In only her bra and panties]Now what do I do!?! Ranma-chan:[Shoots off a few more rounds to distract]Now run out there! And flap your arms like a chicken! Itchan:[Prepares to get up]What? What the hell for?! Ranma-chan:[Shoves her away]Just trust me! Go! It'll distract him more! Itchan:[Shivers in the cold]You're gonna shoot that itty bitty little valve before he roasts me?! Ranma-chan:[Pushes her away]Trust me! Now go, go, go! [Itchan runs out almost naked and runs in a semicircle to turn away the armored man. The guy only just watches and stares, the camera man moves to where Ichino was by the trunk and focuses on her running and flapping. Meanwhile, the two officers from the flaming patrol car run for cover behind a building.] Itchan:[Squawks like a chicken, flaps arms]Bawk, bawk, bawk![Cries]I don't wanna die in my underwear Ranma! [Ranma-chan gets up and smirks, he sees the tin man turning around dumbly, he aims his Beretta carefully on top of the hood of the car.] Itchan:[Sees the armored guy shooting flames at her]Ahh!! Saotome! What the hell are you waiting for? Shoot the bastard! Shoot him![Dives toward the curb, barely dodges the flame.] [Ranma shoots rapidly at a little valve on the bottom of the tin man's fuel tank, the valve blows off and the sparks light up the spewing gas. The guy is rocketed straight in the air.] Ranma-chan:[Smirks]Heh. Itchan:[Runs toward Ranma-chan]What the hell are you doing?! RUN!! Ranma-chan:[Frowns]Huh?[Looks up] [The armored man is screaming loudly even over his steel helmet, he's in flames and is dropping straight down to Ranma-chan's police car.] Ranma-chan: Holy shit![Grabs cameraman]Let's get the hell outta here! [The camera shakes violently as the three run away frantically towards the awaiting fire trucks and flashing police cars, the camera is swung back so that the car can still be seen while the cameraman is running away. The armored man pummels down on the roof of the car like a meteor, crushing the entire top, the remaining fuel in the man's tank explodes, causing another explosion from the fuel in the car's tank. A huge fireball is made, and nearly hits the three runners as they dive to the ground.] Ranma-chan:[Gets up from the asphalt, looks at the burning car]Whoa ho![Starts laughing]Ha HA! Itchan:[Gets up, joins Ranma-chan laughing]Yeah![To Ranma- chan]You think that bird shit helped man! You think that chicken shit helped![Laughs, flaps arms a couple times.] Ranma-chan:[Laughs harder, stares at Ichino]No, naw![Puts a hand on Ichino's shoulder]I just wanted to see if you'd do it! Itchan:[Smile transform into a weak smile and to a frown]Wha-what? [The camera focus is on the two from a floor view looking up to Ranma-chan and Ichino, the cameraman is still paralyzed from fear on the ground.] Ranma-chan: I just wanted to see if you'd do it![Points with his gun]Cute panties. Itchan:[Punches Ranma-chan hard across the face, fumes]Damn you! The entire fucking department has seen me in my underwear! Ranma-chan:[Wobbles for a bit, still laughing]Here.[Hands her letterman jacket to Ichino]Wear this. Itchan:[Snatches jacket, hastily puts it on]You asshole.[Notices Ranma-chan still laughing]What's so funny? Ranma-chan:[Puts her arm around her]Come on, at least you're mainly responsible for getting the bad guy. Come on, I'll buy you a donut. [Officers can be seen running towards them from far away, they kept away in fear of the explosions.] Itchan:[Brushes off arm]Hey, hey, hey, keep your hands to yourself, what are people gonna think? Two wet girls with their arms around each other? Ranma-chan:[Smirks]Come on, surely you're not ashamed of your body. Itchan:[Shakes her head with a frown at first, then starts laughing]Just shut up. Ranma-chan:[Puts his hands up]Hey, whatever.[Notices cameraman on the ground, goes closer so her face is close up to the camera, she slaps the cameraman's face a couple of times]Was that too much for you? [Scene fades to black, with the LAPD: LIFE ON THE BEAT logo popping up with police light flashing in the background.] [End Episode 53, section 1] ------------------- The three sat there in front of the television, in silence. Nabiki, Ryoga, and Akane were sweating profusely, they had trails of sweat down their faces. Nabiki slowly lifted the remote and stopped the tape player. "......" Akane tapped Nabiki's shoulder, "Oneechan, was that really Ranma we just saw?" Ryoga only sneered, but kept absolutely silent. "Yeah, that was definitely Ranma," replied Nabiki. "I think that girl Ichino was your ex-fiancee's girlfriend." Akane breathed a heavy and nervous sigh, "God, Ranma has turned into Rambo," her face cringed for a moment. "Then that was Ranma's fiancee in America huh? She was very pretty." Yeah, Akane told herself, it reminded her of herself actually. "That crazy bastard," growled Ryoga, he looked over to Nabiki, "What's on the other tape Nabiki?" Nabiki slid a condescending look over her shoulder to Ryoga as she took out the tape from the VCR and put the other one in. "Jeez, did you hear those thugs? They were swearing like damn delinquents! Even I never cussed that much! Now can you see how bad he's changed!?" yelled Ryoga. Akane tried to pull him down next to her, "Calm down Ryo-chan, let's watch this video for now." "Hmph," derided Ryoga. He sat back down on the mat and crossed his arms. "Hmm, this tape says it's a news clip," Nabiki said while pressing play on the VCR. The three hunched up closer to the television screen as some logos popped up. ---------------- KNBC Channel 4: Southern California's Number One News Station NEWS CLIP PROVIDED COURTESY OF ADELPHIA COMMUNICATIONS DATED: JUNE 9, 2000. [Screen opens up to large KNBC logo with NBC rainbow in the background. A grim looking news anchor is sitting down in front of a big desk with some papers in his hand.] NewsAnchor: Hello, this is Paul Moyer, and this is the 6 o'clock news on NBC 4. We have more continued breaking news coverage on the drug bust gone bad with the LAPD at a Rampart used car dealer. At around 2:00 PM a shootout occurred between four drug dealers and two detectives when the dealers panicked while being caught. The shootout dragged on for about twenty minutes until it ended, nearly 10 minutes of amazing footage was caught by our sky cams, LAPD SWAT was unable to respond in time because they were deployed in a hostage situation that occurred earlier today in Venice Beach. Here is some footage from the shootout. [The screen switches to an overhead view of a car lot, two cops are shooting it out with three others who are across from them, separated by some cars. Five other officers are hiding behind a big SUV outside the lot trying to shoot the suspects. One suspect is down in the middle of the lot next to a table, a puddle of blood forming around him.] Moyer:[Talks in the background of the video clip] Two suspects were shot and killed, however, two of them have escaped and are being searched rigorously around the Rampart area. One officer, Detective Ichino Yanagida, was shot several times and was treated in a local general hospital in critical condition.[Switches back to newsroom] There is no word yet currently about how she is doing, but some rumors indicate that the outcome is looking grim. [A sudden scurry and some shouting orders can be heard in the background, some lady runs up with some papers and gives it to anchorman Paul Moyer, he shakes his head and frowns in confusion, as soon as he takes a look at the paper his eyes widen] Moyer:[Voice shakes a bit]Oh my god...ladies and gentleman...I've just received tragic news that Officer Ichino Yanagida has just died a few minutes ago at St. Vincent's medical hospital, due to complications in her internal organs and unsuccessful surgery. On a more tragic note, her partner in the drug bust, Sergeant Ranma Saotome, was her fiancee. Doctors found that Ichino Yanagida had died when Sgt. Ranma was heard crying and screaming loudly next to Officer Yanagida's bed in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. [The lady comes back again and hands Moyer some more papers Moyer: Currently, the officers of the LAPD are in an outrage, Station Captains everywhere in every division have just issued a state of Tactical Alert, I've learned that police officers who are off duty at home are rushing to their precincts to join the huge manhunt in progress for the fugitive cop killers.[Reads more]Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol officers have also joined in, this marks one of the biggest hunts ever in the history of the LAPD for a cop killer since the Radical Federation Army of the 1970's. A $50,000 reward is being issued by Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, anyone who can help out is being encouraged.[Signals someone]We have some live video of the frenzy the police are getting involved in right now. [The screen switches to some scratchy live footage of some unidentified part of Los Angeles, however there are black and white police cars everywhere with lights flashing and sirens blaring, they are racing across streets with their searchlights in daylight, trying to find cop killers. The camera switches back to Paul Moyer in the newsroom.] Moyer: NBC 4 will bring you more breaking news updates on this tragic death of Officer Ichino Yanagida, please stay tuned. [Screen blacks out, there aren't any more news clips.] ------------------ "......" "......" "......" The three of them just sat right in front of the TV in silence, each with their own facial expressions and emotions. Nabiki finally reached out and turned off the TV. Her face was an unreadable neutral mask. "I guess there was a lot more to Ranma then he let on." Akane's eyes were filled with tears, she sighed, "Poor Ranma. It must've been quite a loss for him." "I guess so," Ryoga said, even he seemed to be a little depressed after watching that video. "I still don't get it though Akane," Nabiki said. "How does a guy who is as spineless as him when it comes to girls actually find ANOTHER fiancee, after he breaks up with you?" Akane said nothing to that, but Ryoga did, "I bet he must've been lonely someway or another. Loneliness can do that to anyone, Nabiki. I feel more sorry for the girl than him though." Akane glared at her husband a bit for his insensitive comment. Nabiki huffed, "Whatever. Now at least we know what happened to him." "And now I can plan my revenge against him," replied Ryoga. Nabiki turned and glared at her brother-in-law, "Forget about it Ryoga, it's not worth it." Ryoga growled, "I don't care. I'll get him back if it's the last thing I'll do." "You won't be able to take him on, look at how easily he took you out last time," Nabiki said coldly. "I DON'T CARE!! My pride and honor is at stake here! I'll get that bastard for all the times he made me miserable!" yelled Ryoga Nabiki whacked Ryoga hard on the side of his head, and gave him a menacing glare, "Ranma is UNTOUCHABLE Ryoga!! Get it through your thick head! You read and saw all of this too didn't you!? He's practically a trained assassin! Look at him! He's gone through more depressing shit than you ever have! It's no wonder he turned out so damn cold!" Ryoga was taken aback by Nabiki's slap, but he shot right back, "And I'll make him pay for it damn it! I'll do whatever it takes!" "Come on oneechan, Ryo-chan, let's calm down here..." Akane tried to tranquilize the scene. No, no, no. Ryoga wasn't gonna drag her into one of his stupid little vendettas. Nabiki Tendo was smarter than getting into something she just couldn't handle right now and would threaten some of her own business prospects. She decided a little threatening would be in order. "You gonna test me Ryoga?" asked Nabiki in Korean. It was a useful business language to learn, especially since it was from a neighboring country. Ryoga grimaced himself, unfortunately, he knew Korean too, he had been lost there once for three months, maybe more. "Why the hell are you speaking Korean, Nabiki?" Nabiki gave an evil smirk, "The fact of the matter is, I still know all of your dirty little secrets." Nabiki saw Ryoga's eyes widen. "Did you forget that already?" His eyes tightened. "You wouldn't." Her evil smile grew wider. "First I'll tell Akane how you used to have some kind of sick obsession about her, how you used to spend all your time trying to find her." "Stop it!" "Hmph. I'm not finished," she poked Ryoga's chest with her index finger. "I'll tell her the truth about what REALLY happened with Akari, and whatever happened to little ol' P- Chan." Nabiki scoffed at him, "Pride and honor my ass." Akane just looked back and forth between her husband and sister, they seemed to be talking in a language that sounded familiar, yet she couldn't understand a word of it. Ryoga simmered, Nabiki only puffed a breath at him in triumph. Ryoga looked furious, but he backed down. "That's a good boy," Nabiki said. Seeing how things were probably gonna get out of hand, Akane decided to interject between her sister and husband. "Alright guys, lets just forget about it and focus on Ranma," Akane said. Ryoga softened the look on his face, messing with Nabiki was too dangerous. "Let's forget about Ranma for now Akane- chan, we'll think about him later," he reverted back to Korean for a moment, "I'll settle this with you later Nabiki." Nabiki did the same, "I know YOU will, right Ryoga?" His only response was to give her a glare when Akane wasn't looking. * * * April 18th, 2001. Apartment #420, Okayama Luxury Condos - Okayama, Japan. 7:00 AM. A beautiful morning in the land of the rising sun, birds chirping, the cool morning breeze, and of course, the traffic and honking of people trying to go somewhere, even if it is a Sunday. Ranma got up from his futon with a yawn and a smile on his face. He sprung out of his bed and stretched his back for a moment. He had a window right next to his futon, it let the sun shine through in the morning and the calm breeze whiz by at night. "Damn, I miss sparring with someone in the morning to get my blood pumping." Ranma walked over to his closet and put on a white tank top and his trademark string drawn pants. He also pulled out a huge hiking bag. He opened it up and inspected the contents. "Alright, let's see," he ruffled through, the entire bag was filled with heavy weights. "Uh huh. 350 kilograms, that should do it." Ranma hefted the bag onto his shoulder with a grunt and locked the straps around him for extra support. The bag was made out of tough nylon and lined with polymer, so it took the heavy load without tearing apart. He groaned a bit at the heavy weight, but he just shrugged and walked to the genkan and put on his running shoes. Ranma looked at the door for a moment and then looked at his window. He grinned, surely no one would mind if he jumped out the window instead of going out the door? Without a second thought Ranma awkwardly dove out his open window and flipped in the air to land on his feet four stories below. The cement sidewalk made a small crack when Ranma landed, after all, he was hefting over 755 pounds along with himself. He looked up the street which led to a steep mountain path after about a hundred meters, he could run a good seven miles up and down and be back with enough time to practice some katas. He slowly started jogging to gain some momentum with the extreme load he was carrying, when he got to the dirt path he sped up quickly, running straight up the mountain. Other people might've thought he was sprinting full speed, but he was actually running at a pace that he could endure for hours on. Ranma just ran and ran, one thing he learned while training with the 707 was to exercise rigorously while carrying something heavy. This explained why Ryoga always used to be stronger than Ranma when it came to brute strength. Ranma usually trained his body with agility and practiced katas for skill, but it didn't hurt to do this. While running with heavy stuff wouldn't make him much faster, he did become stronger and gained endurance. After about 50 minutes and seven miles later, Ranma came back to his apartment, drenched in sweat. He went on the floor and did a quick set of 200 pushups, a hundred each with only his index finger on each hand. He took off his backpack and put it back into his closet, he went to the living room and moved some of the sofas and other furniture to make some room. He practiced a couple of katas, most of them stuff that he learned from long ago, and some that he just incorporated as time went by. By the time he was done, it was already 8:40. "Damn, Ucchan opens up her shop in twenty minutes, I better hurry." Ranma took a quick shower and put on his Chinese clothes, he latched his badge and guns onto him and ran out the door to the parking lot. He started up the Chevy and blasted out of there to race to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. ------------- April 18th, 2001. Ucchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant - Okayama, Japan. 9:02 AM. "Welcome everyone to the grand opening of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki of Okayama!" A small group of people who were waiting anxiously walked into the restaurant. In a matter of minutes the 3 chefs who manned the large wraparound square grill were already taking up orders from hungry patrons, the restaurant quickly filled with the delicious scent of yakisoba and hot okonomiyaki. Ukyo smiled and greeted each customer at the door, even though it was only morning a slow steady stream of customers were going through the door to have a taste of the newest restaurant in their city. "Irrashai, irrashai mina-san!" Ukyo chirped happily. A big black truck came racing through the street towards Ukyo, it stopped at the curb and the driver executed a perfect parallel park. Ukyo grinned, only one person in Japan who could possibly drive that car. "Hey Ranchan!" Ranma popped the door open and jumped over to Ukyo. She grabbed him in a bear hug and he returned it, they both let go after a couple of seconds. "How ya' doin' Ucchan?" "I'm great! I'm glad you made it here!" "Heh, I wouldn't miss the grand opening of your restaurant for anything in the world." "Come in, I'll give you some Okonomiyaki." The two of them walked inside, Ranma sat in front of one of the grill seats while Ukyo went behind the counter and put on her cooking apron. "Hey Ucchan, I have a friend of mine coming here too, should be here any moment," Ranma said. Ukyo lifted her eyebrows, "Oh really? Do you already have a girlfriend?" Ranma blushed a bit, "Sorta, she's very nice and friendly, and a cop to boot," he chuckled. "Neat! I'm glad you found someone Ranchan," Ukyo said happily. Ranma smiled, he was glad that Ukyo had finally given up on him long ago, she had been ashamed years ago for almost killing him and Akane at their failed wedding after Jusendo, and after that their relationship turned out for the best. Ukyo now knew that her Ranchan loved her, not intimately, but it was still love either way. "Yeah, she's quite a person, real unusual." "Oh really? As unusual as we are Ranchan?" Ranma laughed, "Yeah, maybe more." ---------------- "Hey Mihoshi, did you get that report I told you to get?" Mihoshi opened up her bag and pulled out a yellow folder. "Yeah Kiyone, I have it right here." Kiyone kept one hand on the steering wheel and took the folder, "I need to hand this to Ranma, he's heading a narcotics job in our sector." "I wonder what it is?" asked Mihoshi. "It's supposed to be the facts from the interrogation our guys did with a suspect Ranma arrested, we'll find out more later." Kiyone pointed out to the sign of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, "Hey, we're here." Kiyone parked their Toyota behind Ranma's Chevy, the two of them got out and walked into the restaurant. Mihoshi spotted Ranma immediately sitting close to the grill, both of them walked over silently to surprise them. "Yeah, she's quite a person, real unusual." "Oh really? As unusual as we are Ranchan?" "Yeah, maybe more." Ukyo chuckled, "Is that so?" Kiyone grinned, "Oh, you wouldn't be happening to be talking about me, are you Captain?" Ranma froze for a second, a big drop of sweat forming at the back of his head. He had to learn to keep his mouth shut one of these days. "Heh, I wouldn't dream of saying anything bad about you Kiyone," he said, slowly turning around. "Hi Ranma!" Mihoshi chirped brightly. "How you been Mihoshi?" Ranma smiled. "Fine! Thanks!" Ukyo poured some circles of batter onto the grill, "How are you guys doing? I'm Ukyo Kuonji, Ranma's best friend," she put down one of her spatulas and stuck her hand out. Kiyone shook Ukyo's hand, "Hi, I'm Kiyone Makibi and this here's my partner Mihoshi Kuramitsu, we've heard so much about you from Ranma." Ukyo gave them a friendly smile and let go of Kiyone's hand, "Did he really? Here take a seat, I'll make you guys some of my deluxe okonomiyaki, the best in all of Japan." "No, you mean the best in the world!" Ranma mumbled with a piece of okonomiyaki in his mouth. "Thanks Ranchan." Mihoshi's eyes widened and her mouth started to water at the tasty okonomiyaki, one of her favorite foods from earth. "Oooh, ooh, can I have one now please? Can I?" she asked anxiously. With a flick of her wrist Ukyo flipped the spatulas onto two plates and landed them on Mihoshi and Kiyone's places. Mihoshi grabbed her chopsticks and dug in, her eyes sparkling with joy. Kiyone didn't eat as ravenously, but she enthusiastically ate the tasty okonomiyaki. "Oishii, this is the best okonomiyaki I've ever tasted!" exclaimed Kiyone. Mihoshi mumbled the same because her mouth was stuffed with food. "I told you, didn't I?" Ukyo said. She made a couple more, "Here, you can have all you want, it's on the house." "I thought you wanted some help when we got here Ucchan?" Ranma asked. Ukyo looked up, "Oh yeah, but it seemed the constructors actually finished furnishing the restaurant on time, and I was able to do the rest of the work myself. It was no problem," Ranma nodded in response. "Thanks for coming though Ranchan." "Heh, I wanted some okonomiyaki too anyway. You won't believe how much I missed your cooking when I was back in America!" The four of them chatted with each other for awhile, talking about each other and their past. Ukyo, Kiyone, and Mihoshi got along quite well with each other, they became quick friends. After about 3 hours of laid back relaxation, Kiyone finally remember that she had to give Ranma his folder. "Hey, Ranma, the report from your perp came in this morning, I brought it in for you," Kiyone handed Ranma the yellow folder. Ranma took the folder and read the contents of the reports inside, "I guess they finally beat some info out of him?" "Yeah, his name is Misano Hashimoto, it seems that he was just a drug courier, he has a chain of command to follow." "I'm guessing this is all critical information to the bad guys?" "Probably. By the way, he was released on bail last night, I guess someone paid the steep bill for his release." Ranma frowned, "I wish governments would just abolish bails and keep suspects and criminals in jail." Ranma read the reports carefully, meanwhile Mihoshi and Ukyo were talking about different ways to make good food. "Hmm, at least he gave us some info on who his own supplier is, even though I'm betting there is most likely a bigger source." "How big a source do you think?" asked Kiyone. "Who knows? I found about 10 million yen's worth of heroin and crack, and it looks like there's a clear sign of an organized gang or something." Ranma got up from his seat and took the folder with him. "I guess I'll get going, thanks for letting us come over Ucchan." Ucchan paused from conversing with Mihoshi for a moment and turned to Ranma, "Leaving already Ranchan?" Ranma chuckled, "If you haven't noticed the time, it's already noon." Ukyo looked surprised, she looked at her watch, "Really? We must've been rambling all this time." "I think we ought to go back to the precinct too, come on Mihoshi." Mihoshi took a sip of her coke and got up, "All right Kiyone," she turned to Ukyo, "Thanks for the great food Ucchan!" Ukyo smiled, "Anytime Mihoshi-chan, I'll give you guys the police officer's discount every time you come!" Ranma started walking out the door, Mihoshi and Kiyone followed, "I'll see you later Ucchan, bye!" "Later!" The three cops walked out to the street, being the first day of the restaurant's opening a large line was forming outside the restaurant, people were waiting to get in. News of the place had spread quickly. "I guess we'll be going then, come on Mihoshi," Kiyone threw the car keys to her, "You drive." "Okay!" Ranma fidgeted for a second, he desperately tried to think of something to say, but his mind just didn't seem to work. "Hey Kiyone--" Kiyone immediately responded anxiously, she stepped closer to Ranma, "Yes?" This is it he thought, you've done it before, just take it like a man and do it again, "You wouldn't want to have dinner with me tomorrow maybe, do you?" Kiyone tried hard to hide her smile, "Sure, I'd love to." "Then I'll meet you, let's say, here, tomorrow at seven, how about that?" Ranma's heart leaped for joy, it was a feeling he hadn't felt in years. "Sure. See you then." The blond headed ditz Mihoshi decided to pop in right next to Kiyone, "Oho, are you guys talking about another date?" she giggled. "So what if I am, huh?" Kiyone retorted playfully. "Whatever. I gotta go back to Tokyo and pick up some stuff from JNSA headquarters. See you later." Ranma said, as he walked off and waved to the two. "Bye!" the both said simultaneously. They both drove off in their own opposite directions, two of them thinking of happy thoughts of what would happen tomorrow. Pity what would happen though. * * * April 19th, 2001. In some anonymous back alley - Okayama, Japan. 1:29 AM. "Misano, Misano, I am SO disappointed in you. Why did you have to go and tell them the lieutenant's name?" Misano shivered in the cold, he was half naked with bruises all over his body, "They beat the fucking shit outta me! I couldn't hold on forever!" "Tsk, tsk, that's no excuse," the man in the dark pummeled him in the stomach, "You know that. Now it's possible you might've exposed some of our methods of operation." "It won't happen again, it swear I won't! The cop who arrested me in the first place had a gun! What else could I do?!" he cried while clutching his stomach. "I swear, please! Give me another chance, it won't ever happen again!" The man in the dark sighed, "Fine then, can you tell me at least the officer who was in charge of your investigation?" Misano cringed for a moment, "I don't know about the man who arrested me, he doesn't know anything, but the guy who interrogated me is Sergeant Juzo Kanemaki." "I know, we already knew that, someone already took care of him. But we didn't kill him though, I'm not sure killing a cop would deter them from this case." The man kicked him in the stomach again, "I guess you're off the hook for now." Misano slowly tried to get up clutching his stomach, "Arigato gozaimasu, I swear it won't happen again." The man in the dark kicked him back down, face flat on the floor. "I know you won't Misano." The last thing Misano heard before he saw complete darkness was a click from the back of his head. -------------------- April 19th, 2001. Apartment #420, Okayama Luxury Condos. 1:58 AM RING RING, RING RING. Ranma opened his eyes and clumsily picked up his cell phone next to his futon. "Moshi-moshi, Captain Ranma Saotome here," Ranma said drowsily. "Hi, I'm Detective Daizaemon Kanzaki, is this Detective Saotome?" "Yeah it is," grumbled Ranma. "We have a 187 concerning the suspect you arrested, a Misano Hashimoto?" Ranma's foggy mind cleared up in an instant, "Yeah, that's my guy, what about him?" "I think you should get over here immediately sir." Ranma got up and hurried to his closet to get his clothes on, "Alright, set up a media blackout since it's late at night, and make sure you keep my updated on my radio instead of using my phone number." "Hai." --------------------- Ranma arrived at the scene with his siren turned off but with his emergency lights flashing. Several officers and a few forensics scientists were in the alley, analyzing the dead body in front of them. There was a small trail of blood next to the head, flowing to a drain. Ranma stepped out of his car and flashed his identification to a detective, "I'm Captain Saotome, are you Detective Kanzaki?" A big man with white hair and a scar on his face turned around and greeted Ranma, "Yes sir, I'm the officer in charge for now." "Good, I'll give you priority on this case for now. Has anyone touched the body?" Ranma asked. "No, we waited until you would come, we were given explicit instructions to follow your orders sir." "Very good, now let's take a look at what happened here," Ranma said while walking over to the corpse on the ground. "Any of you have any gloves?" One of the forensic scientists handed Ranma a box a surgical gloves, he took a pair and wore them on his hands. "All right, let's see," Ranma said while getting a closer look at the body. There were bruises everywhere, half of them were probably from the detectives who tortured him for information. He examined the entire body with his hands, until he came to the head, he examined more closely. "Fuck, this poor bastard was shot with a gun," Ranma said. He grabbed the hair of Misano's dead body and jerked the head up, a gooey string of blood and saliva was flung across the pavement. "Yuck, shot in the back of the head, and exit wounds on his face," Ranma said. He twisted the head around to take a better look. "How did you guys find out about this?" "Some lady made a complaint thinking that a bunch of teenagers were playing with firecrackers in the middle of the night. A two man patrol arrived here first and then panicked, I was called in immediately along with forensics, and I recognized his face as the drug dealer that was released yesterday on bail," Detective Kanzaki said. "Damn, looks like we lost ourselves a source of info," Ranma said. The detective and the two officers who were standing near by turned their heads in disgust, their face was turning green and there was a horrible stench coming from the body. Ranma took a good look at the mutilated face, "Jeez, looks like one of the bullets blew open his fucking nasal cavity and exposed the sinus," Ranma said, pointing to the bloody and messed up face, "See that yellow shit right there? That's from his fucking sinuses, that explains why the hell he smells like shit right now." The front of Misano's poor face looked pretty bad, his right eye was missing along with a portion of some skull bone of his eye socket and his upper left cheek was blown away exposing the yellow sinus cavity that Ranma had pointed out. There wasn't much blood, most of it had already drained out or clotted messily, and the rest of his bodily fluids like his saliva had just pooled in with the blood. Detective Kanzaki rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, he may have been a homicide detective but it was usually limited to stab victims or people hit by cars, not gory gunshot wounds. With a sigh, Ranma put the head back down and took another look at the back of the scalp, touching everything with his fingers. "I say this was a close range, execution style death," Ranma finally said. "See this rupture of his scalp? The way his skin is torn apart and the flesh is burnt?" he pointed out, "It's probably from the muzzle blast of the damn firearm." The forensic scientist took note of what Ranma said and continued to take pictures and write things down. "All right," Ranma snapped off his rubber gloves and threw them in a biohazard basket nearby and looked over to Detective Kanzaki, "Alright Detective, I want you guys to search for anymore clues around this area then bag him. I found some slugs on the ground under his head, they looked like they were in pretty good condition, so I want you to take them to a lab and get a ballistics test, and continue to find shell casings or something. This is a huge problem, we have clear evidence that there are fucking firearms on the loose in the city." "Yes sir." The radios of all the officers there including Ranma's cell phone radio chirped, a garbled voice came through. "This is unit 4-King-52, we have a 187 in front of the Okayama Police Department, Detective Kanzaki please respond..." Ranma's eyes opened wide as he noticed that it was Kiyone's voice, "You guys worry about Misano, I'll take this call." The others nodded. "This is Captain Saotome, what's the situation?" "Ranma is that you?" the voice asked incredulously. "Yeah, it is Kiyone, what's happened?" Kiyone's voice turned serious, "We have a homicide in front of the police station, right in the middle of the street. We got some HEA-VY shit right here, get over here quick." "Special Agent en route, cordon off the area and make sure there's a media blackout, I want everything to be discreet." "Roger." ----------------- Ranma hastily arrived in front of the Okayama Police Department in a few minutes, there were several officers surrounding the area, but there were no forensic scientists this time. Kiyone was standing in the middle of the street next to a dead body. Ranma parked the car next to a patrol car and walked over to Kiyone. All the other officers had turned their heads around so they couldn't see the corpse. Kiyone's face looked grim, she was writing something on a notepad. She looked up and saw Ranma in front of her. "This is some pretty serious stuff, I've never seen anything like it here," Kiyone said while pointing to the dead body. Ranma looked down, and sighed deeply. It was a young pregnant woman, she had a big knife stuck right through her belly, she had bruises all over her neck and face. Ranma circled around a bit and saw her head, it looked like someone had bashed it in with a club, the skull had cracked and caved in, tearing the flesh of the scalp. "Jeez, when did you guys find her?" Ranma asked. "About twenty minutes ago, an officer saw a van dropping off a pregnant woman in the middle of the street. When he saw the body he panicked and didn't even occur to him to chase down that van," Kiyone said. "I arrived here just a few minutes ago with Mihoshi, we were woken up in the middle of the night. Mihoshi is in her officer right now, she was crying when she saw the body." Ranma shook his head and sighed, "Do you have any idea how long she's been dead?" "Probably a couple of hours, her body is still giving off a little bit of heat." "What about the baby?" Ranma asked slowly. Kiyone sighed and looked up at Ranma, her eyes were red. "The fetus was about 32 weeks old, almost ready to be born. It was probably killed instantly when the knife was pierced through, and it's definitely dead by now since the mother has been dead for over an hour." Ranma looked around, Kiyone had done a good job of locking the area down and keeping out unsuspecting people. He looked back down at the dead woman. "You guys have any idea who she was?" Ranma asked. Kiyone nodded, "The tragic thing is that she was the wife of one of our Narcotics Detectives." Ranma's eyes widened, he grabbed Kiyone's shoulders. "What did you say? She's the wife of a narc?" Kiyone was startled, "Yeah, she was." Ranma breathed slowly and carefully, "What was the detective's name?" "Detective Sergeant Juzo Kanemaki." "He wouldn't have anything to do with the guy I arrested right?" Kiyone nodded again, "He was the detective in charge of handling your drug dealer, he was also the one who handled the interrogation and all the info." Ranma let go of Kiyone and put his hand on his forehead. "Shit." Ranma turned to Kiyone again, "Did you hear of that homicide behind some alley a couple of minutes ago?" "Yeah, I heard that Kanzaki was handling that one," Kiyone said, she was a little confused as to what Ranma was thinking. "I just came back from that scene," he sighed. "Remember Misano? The druggie I arrested and got released on bail? The one you told me about? He just got two bullets through the back of the head about thirty minutes ago." "You think there's a connection?" "Definitely. I think we stumbled onto something big here." The two were interrupted as they heard a cry from behind, a man was crying out and screaming to see his wife. "Oh boy, there's Juzo." Kiyone watched as the man tried to punch the officers who were holding him back from the crime scene. She shook her head, "I feel so sad for him," Kiyone grimly said. Ranma pointed out to a couple of officers, "Get that man restrained and calm him down, I want someone to brief him on what happened," he turned to Kiyone again, "I don't want him to see the body right now, he'll go berserk, I know how it feels." Kiyone looked confused with what he just said, but complied anyways. "All right. Are you gonna take this case?" "No, you have tactical command for now. I'm gonna have to deputize you to lieutenant status for now, ANYTHING that comes from this investigation will come to me, not to your given superiors." While a promotion as big as that would've excited Kiyone to no ends, she was in no mood for celebrating right now. "Understood, I'll get the body to a forensics team and analyze everything." "You go and do that," Ranma said. "Do you know who I think did this?" he asked. "I might be thinking the same thing. If these two homicides are related..." "There's a good chance a Yakuza family is involved. This is all too professional and violent for average street thugs to be doing. I can't think of any other crime related group that would do something like this or have the resources to possibly pull it off." "Organized crime indeed." Kiyone walked off and started talking through her radio, Ranma crouched down to the dead corpse to get a better look again. It was such a shame to see anyone getting killed this way. "It looks like someone decided to have their own crime spree tonight," he looked back down on the body and he grit his teeth. "And that motherfucker is gonna pay for it!" [End Chapter 4] Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda, none of this shit don't belong to me, I know. I'm not using anything for profit. It's only fucking fanfiction, what money can I make out of it? o_O Author's Ramble: Now, I know I promised many that I was gonna have maybe 60 to a 100 pages for the next chapter, but as I kept writing and plotting things out, I just found that it just wouldn't work. I was originally planning for something much darker, put I decided I should end this chapter for here and continue on in another chapter so that the story would flow better. Author's Notes: Several things, the psychology reports are my best efforts at trying to construct something realistic enough to pass as the real thing, and some of the names of the officers I used were taken out from the movie "LA Confidential". Also, you may have noticed that some of the names in this chapter were taken from the anime "Battle Athletes Victory", or known to some as "Daiundokai". I know many of you might flame me for trying to add some more drama to Ranma's life by giving him a fiancee who had died while he was in Los Angeles, but I felt it necessary because it further explained why Ranma has become so sadistically cold and ruthless when it comes to law enforcement. The show portrayed "LAPD: LIFE ON THE BEAT" was a real show that was quite popular in Southern California until it had to be canceled due to bad publicity from the LAPD Rampart scandal. The action scene I portrayed was actually inspired by the movie "Lethal Weapon 4", for those who recognize it. ^_^ I also wanted to include a detailed description of how Ichino was killed in the line of duty, what I wrote actually reflects on what would really happen if someone decided to kill a cop in LA and somehow escaped. Police officers, all they many might not like each other or even hate each other, somehow miraculously band together like a tight family when it comes to losing one of their own. What I described is not too far off if there was ever a situation where someone killed a cop and got away with it. There would be a fucking county wide manhunt to kill his ass. Not one person in the history of the Los Angeles has ever gotten away alive from killing a cop. They always get hunted down. Also, the description of the dead bodies (like the way the face is mangled and how the shot looks like) is an extremely accurate depiction of what gunshot wounds and deaths look like in real life, depicted from my experiences on the job. My first homicide response during patrol looked sorta like the description I gave in the picture Akane was holding and the way Misano looked like when he got shot. Of course, the first time I saw a shot up body up close in REAL LIFE was shocking enough for me to vomit in a street when no one was looking. In real life there isn't blood splattered everywhere, just this nasty...shit, in front of you. And like Ranma described, it smells REALLY bad when a bullet strikes the wrong part of the human anatomy. The sinus area in your skull is one of the worst (at least in my opinion). From now on, my preceding chapters are gonna keep having more dark and gruesome events, I'll focus on Ranma and Kiyone slowly, but I'll focus more on the action as time goes by. A big praise to my prereader Kenneth Payne, or KPJAM, who made sure that I edited this fic so I don't look like a fucking moron. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SEND ME FEEDBACK!!! I write way faster when people give me feedback! My e-mail is SgtRanma@yahoo.com . However, if you're one of those people who say I write things that are too dark and gruesome or some shit like that, don't bother, because I don't force anyone to read this fic if they don't like it. Visit my website at http://sgtranma.webjump.com, or go to http://sgtranma.webjump.com/guns.html to take a look at some of the weapons Ranma uses in Officer Saotome. I always update there often, and fics always come there first.