Standard disclaimer applies. I'm getting worried, it's becoming harder and harder to make a mockery of these stupid things. Why the heck would anybody sue me? I don't get paid for this stuff.

Guardian
Chapter 1
The Beginning of the End......
**********************************************************************************

*K-klunk* *K-klunk* *K-klunk* *K-klunk*
The rythmic sound of metal wheels over hardened steel echoed through the nearly empty subway station.
To most, it was just another sound that melded into the monotony of the routine. To one person though, it marked the beginning of a whole new life, and the rather drawn-out end of another.

Ranma Saotome, age 22, sighed forlornly as the train passed by, carrying its passengers to their destinations. He glanced at the red sign above and saw that his train was coming next, and briefly thought about leaving.
He couldn't though. This was what he wanted.
Or what he thought he wanted. He really didn't know anymore. Then again, it could've just been nostalgia from finally leaving his old life behind. No matter how painful or how much trouble it had been, it was all he had.
His curse, his fiancees, his rivals, his legacy... he had thrown it all away for this, and it was too late to go back.

Briefly dropping his bag to the cement floor, Ranma fingered the police I.D. in his pocket, and his mind wandered back to how it had come to this.

(Sorry, no flashback scenes. Waaaaaaaay too cliche.)

He remembered how he had set out for China to find a cure to his curse once and for all. For once he hadn't allowed anybody to come, leaving in the middle of the night and leaving only a note.
That had been one of the smartest things he had ever done. Or at least it seemed that way at the time.
It had taken a little over a year, but he had finally found the last traces of the Nannichuan, with an old man who liked to use the different waters for hunting, often making an insect into a pig for a good meal (he had though it was wierd, but he didn't really have any room to complain). He had returned in glory and high spirits, thinking he had overcome the greatest hurdle of his life.
Then he saw her. Akane, his fiancee (ex-fiancee, he reminded himself), hand in hand with some guy she had met in college. Saying that she and Kenji were going steady. Saying that she really didn't care where her "perverted, unfaithful, barbarian fiance" was.
His parents were little help, demanding that he become engaged with one of the other Tendo daughters. Soun of course agreed whole-heartedly. It made him sick, when he thought about it.

And so, feeling lonely, betrayed, and depressed enough to make Ryoga shudder, Ranma left once again, not caring where he was going or where he ended up.
It was just dumb luck that he had stumbled upon some guy with a gun mugging a teenage girl.
Seeing how he had to take out his stress on someone, he had laid into the guy without mercy, not giving the man a chance to squeeze the trigger of his weapon.
Something inside had snapped that night, something that brought all of his training and fighting into perspective, something that brought purpose to his life when he was just about ready to lay down and die.
He had signed up for the police academy the very next morning.
It was a martial artist's duty to protect people, and that's what he was going to do. He had sacrificed his life, his family, and just about everything else for martial arts, not by choice, and he'd be damned if all that was going to go to waste.
Whatever they could say about Ranma Saotome, none could call him a quitter.

Ranma's head jerked up as a bell announced the arrival of the next train. For some reason, he expected things to be easy after he had made that decision about his life. Fat chance.
The police academy was a tough place, and Ranma attracted trouble like sugar attracted ants.
His infrequent-at-best education made many of his courses a major effort to get through, and everyone he met seemed to decide that he should have it harder than everybody else.
Ranma thought that the combat part should at least be a breeze, but that part of his training proved more troublesome than the rest. Being stronger, faster, and more experienced than any of his instructors, not to mention being able to throw energy blasts with his hands started more than Ranma's fair share of grudges among combat trainers. Even with his practically god-like physical abilities, Ranma passed the combat and defense classes with just better than mediocre scores.
Overall, he hadn't made the best of impressions by the time he had recieved his assignment, through a program for newly graduated cadets. The man that handed him his papers said that he was being sent to a very special group that only took the elite officers, and the pay was better than normal, yet for some reason Ranma couldn't shake the feeling that the man had been exaggerating his description at best.

Ranma picked up his bags and stepped onto the train as it screeched to a stop at the station. Getting on the train, he selected a seat near the door and sat down. He took out a sheet of paper and read it over, glancing at the acronym at the top of the page.
'Hmm. DAPC, Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment. Something tells me this is gonna get complicated.'
Ranma was startled from his thoughts by a cheerful male voice ringing out from over his shoulder
. "Wow, you're goin' there too?"
Ranma looked over his shoulder to see a guy about his age with short brown hair and a cheery grin on his face staring at his transferral forms.
Ranma blinked. "Are you an officer?"
The man nodded. "Yup. Just got out of the acedemy. Can't believe they assigned me to this dumping ground. Name's Tiro Yamazaki."
Ranma nodded. "Ranma Saotome. Whaddya mean, 'dumping ground'?"
Tiro looked at him oddly. "You haven't heard? The DAPC is sort of a dumping grounds for troublemakers and rejects that still make it to graduation. Like me really. The only reason I have a badge is that the instructor didn't have the heart to reject anyone who did so well while slacking off so much."
Ranma sweatdropped as Tiro laughed. "But I thought it was some kind of special department."
Tiro sat down next to him and leaned back in the chair. "It is. What with all the wierd stuff that happens around Tokyo today, the government thought it was a good idea to create a special department to handle stuff like monsters and aliens and that sort of thing. Most of the important people thought it was a good idea. The police chiefs didn't. It sounded so stupid that when the department requested new officers, they only sent the ones they thought couldn't really succeed anywhere else. Hence you have a state-of-the-art, well-funded department with a bunch of second and third rate officers. Or so that's the story. So what're you in for?"
Ranma sighed and leaned back in the seat. "I did better than everyone else in combat training, so they thought I was some kind of troublemaker."
Tiro blinked. "Whoa. That's rough."
Ranma glanced back at him. "How 'bout you?"
Tiro laughed again. "I skipped a few classes, plus got caught with a girl in my dorm room. You wouldn't believe the timing those jerks can have just when things start goin' your way."
Ranma decided not to comment. "Uh huh."

The train rocketed through the subway, slowing down to stop at one of the many underground stations on its route.
Ranma looked up at the sign on the exit. Not his stop.
He turned to Tiro. "So, why'd you become an officer?"
Tiro looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess I'd have to say the babe factor. Chicks dig a guy in uniform."
Ranma rolled his eyes. He should have guessed. Tiro grinned and jabbed Ranma with an elbow.
"Hey, ya know, I hear the Captain in the DAPC is a woman. Not bad looking either. Eh, eh?"
Ranma poked him in the forehead. "Unlike some people, I didn't join the force to ogle women."
Tiro blinked. "Why else would someone join?"
Ranma facefaulted. He sighed as he picked himself up and answered. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe to protect people?"
Tiro blinked, then smiled and slapped him on the back. "Oh, I get it! You're one of those guys that sacrifice their personal lives for their career and everything, huh?"
Ranma flinched and leaned back again. "Uh, yeah. Something like that."
Tiro smiled. "Hey, I hear ya. If it helps, you're the type of guy that the world needs, ya know? Someone who puts other people before himself!"
Ranma looked at Tiro strangely. It felt sort of weird to actually be complimented like that. "Er, thanks."
Tiro slapped him on the back again. "Hey, don't mention it. Looks like our stop is next."

Tiro got up, hefted his bag onto his shoulder and headed for the exit as the subway train started to slow down. Ranma watched the man's back before he got his own bag and exited the train. Just like Hiroshi. They must be related or something.

Tiro called Ranma over trying to wade through the sea of people moving through the station. Ranma didn't feel much like shoving his way to the exit, and moving his duffel bag under his arm, leapt clear over a good portion of the crowd, catching his arm on a support beam. Quickly scanning the area, Ranma located Tiro, and swung himself down, just barely missing a grumpy older man that had just stepped into his landing zone.
Ranma dusted himself off as Tiro stared at him wide-eyed. The rusty old beggar turned on him angrily, shaking his fist.
"Watch it, you little punk, or I'll rip you apart!"
Ranma gave him a bored look. "Whatever." Before he had finished speaking he had kicked the man in the face, sending him back into the crowd.
Ranma turned back to Tiro, who appeared to be trying to say something. "Somethin' wrong, Yamazaki?"
Tiro's voice returned to him. "Uh... advanced martial arts training?"
Ranma blinked. "Yeah. How'd you guess?"
Tiro realized he was staring, and shook his head to clear it. "Nevermind. Let's get out of here before we get trampled or something."

Ranma looked down at his papers and then looked up at the large building looming over him. It wasn't a skyscraper, but it was big, and it looked almost new.
"Hmm... not bad, if I do say so myself. This might not be as terrible as I thought."
Ranma nodded, then started toward the building, when Tiro's hand shot out and held him back.
"What's wrong?"
Tiro pulled Ranma back, then pointed towards the entrance, or more accurately, someone heading toward the entrance.
"Check it out! Is she hot or what?!"
Ranma sighed and restrained himself from backhanding Tiro. Looking where he was pointing, Ranma saw a young woman with long blond hair and wearing a form-fitting dress that ended in a tight miniskirt.
Ranma twisted around, and Tiro found himself being dragged into the office building by his collar.
"Hey, c'mon! What're you doing?"
Ranma continued to drag him by the collar and spoke in very authoritive voice. "Now stop acting like a lech and let's go. She's out of your league anyway."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

The inside of the office was more impressive than the outside, which was saying something. Glancing around the room, Ranma noted a large group of people sitting just outside the main hallways. Dragging his complaining quarry behind him, Ranma dumped both his loads on the floor and took a seat.
Looking around, Ranma noted the different people in the room chatting. There were two guys other than himself and Tiro, the blond he had noticed earlier, and a redhead with short, slightly curly hair and wearing an even more revealing outfit than the blond. One of the guys, who had black hair tied into a fairly long ponytail, was dressed in a leather jacket over a flak vest and wearing loose army pants, was busy flirting with the redhead, while the other one was wearing some kind of blue body armor and black sweat pants similar to Ranma's own style of dress. He seemed to be looking over the group, appraising them.

Tiro got up quickly, and moved onto an intercept course for the blond woman, who seemed to be looking for someone, though she never turned toward the station entrance.
"Why hello there miss, may I help you?" Tiro said, putting on his best smile.
The woman turned towards him and blinked. "Uh, that's okay. I've just been assigned here, so I'm just waiting for the police captain."
Tiro raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so it appears we'll be working together! My name is Tiro Yamazaki! It's a pleasure miss......"
She stood up and bowed. "Sakura Tekai."
Tiro grinned and took Sakura's hand, at which she blinked. "Sakura... such a fitting name for such a-"
"Oh! Hello, what's your name?" Before he could finish his speech, Sakura slipped her hand out of his and had moved past him towards Ranma.
Ranma bowed. "Ranma Saotome. Nice ta meetcha."
Sakura smiled. "So, are you going to be working here too?"
Ranma nodded. "Yup. Looks like it."
"Oh, that's wonderful! We'll be co-workers!"
Tiro grumbled incoherent curses under his breath. She was flirting with him and he was just standing there like he didn't even realize it! How did he do that anyway?

*Ahem* "Excuse me everyone!"
Everybody in the room stopped talking and turned towards the man in body armor. The sandy-haired man made sure he had everyone's attention, then started speaking.
"Now, you've all been called here for a reason. Most likely, that reason is because you're not good enough to work anywhere else."
Ranma groaned. A few others chuckled, while Sakura looked confused.
"Anyway, you're here now, and as long as you're here, you'll be expected to follow orders. Don't think that just because the DAPC is known for getting all the troublemakers that you people can goof off all the time. Goofing off is limited to Wednesdays and Fridays."
There were more chuckles.
"No, I'm serious."
There was an room-wide, synchronized blink.
"Anyway, my name is Lieutenant Ken, but you can all call me Snake, got that?"
There was a round of nods, and Snake clapped his hands together.
"All right. To get you better acquainted with our department, and introduce you to the rest of us, let me get our senior officers."
Snake stepped out of the room for a moment, then came back with two people in tow. One was a tall man with long blond hair like Sakura, while the other one was an attractive woman with shoulder length blue hair. Both were wearing pants and heavy boots similar to Snake's, but were wearing light blue and white nylon jackets with DAPC on them.
Tiro jabbed Ranma with his elbow. Ranma jabbed him back, and Tiro doubled over.

The woman was about to say something, when Sakura called out.
"Hi Kyle!"
The blond man noticed her, smiled, and waved. "Hey sis!"
The woman stopped, and looked at her companion. "She's your sister?" She seemed almost fearful of the notion.
Kyle nodded. "Uh huh. Why?"
The blue haired woman shook her head and muttered something under her breath.
"All right, let's get started. I assume you've already met Snake, so let me introduce the rest of us. I'm Captain Asuka Takami, and this is Lieutenant Commander Kyle Tekai. We are your senior officers, and the people you'll be answering to for as long as you're working here. Is that clear?"
She waited for the newcomers to nod, then walked over to the man with the ponytail. "Your name?"
"Tycho Wattai, ma'am."
"Any field of specialization?"
"I'm a driver, ma'am. Whether it's a tank or helicopter, I can operate it!"
Asuka nodded approvingly. "Good, good. Any reasons you transferred here?"
"Well, I heard that the DAPC has good funding and I figured I could get a nice new car here, ma'am."
Asuka blinked, then shrugged. It was still a better reason than she had hoped for. She was about to move on to the redhead when Tycho stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "If I may say so ma'am, it'll be a real pleasure working with... um..."
Ranma looked over to where Tycho was suddenly looking towards to see Kyle frantically running his finger back and forth across his neck.
"Uh, never mind, Captain." Tycho sat back down, and a bit nervously at that.

Glaring at the cadet, Asuka moved up in front of the redhead. "Name?" The woman seemed to enjoy the attention of having everybody's eyes on her, and tried to look more relaxed.
"Junko Chikiko!"
"Any fields of specialization?"
"Nope, sorry."
"I see. And your reason for transferring here?"
Junko frowned as she replied. "Those fuddy-duddies back at my academy sent me here just 'cause I invited some guy back to my room. I swear, those people are no fun at all."
Asuka stared at her. "Are you serious?"
Junko rolled her eyes. "All right, maybe it happened on a couple of occasions, but that's still no reason to get all uppity over a little thing like that!"
Tiro decided to put in his two cents. "Yeah, those instructors think they can boss anybody around!"
Junko smiled at him and Tiro gave himself a silent cheer. Then Asuka glared at the both of them and they shrunk back, though Junko was still smiling shamelessly.

Asuka sighed and moved on to Sakura. "Name?" The giggling blond quickly stood up and saluted, trying to look professional.
"Sakura Tekai!"
"Any special skills?"
"I'm a highly qualified nurse, ma'am! Fully trained in CPR and other emergency medical care!"
Tiro spoke up again. "Do you do mouth-to-mouth? *Thwack* Ow!"
Sakura blinked, wondering why Ranma smacked Tiro in the head. "Yes, why?"
"*Ahem* That's enough, Sakura." She glared meaningfully at Tiro. "And how did you get transferred here?"
Sakura blushed and scratched her head self-consciously. "Well, to be honest, I was failing some of my courses at the academy when it was time to graduate. But then Kyle called in some favors to get me graduated and then transferred here. Thanks, brother!" Sakura ended her explanation while waving at Kyle, who waved back.

Asuka looked like she wanted to cry. Quickly composing herself, she walked up to Ranma. "Name?"
"Ranma Saotome."
"Any special skills?"
Ranma thought for a moment. "Well, I'm a combat expert. Martial arts stuff."
Asuka blinked, then took out a clipboard and scanned it.
"Any other noteworthy skills?"
It was Ranma's turn to blink. "Um... well, I can do this."
Ranma held up and open palm and concentrated, and a ball of glowing blue energy formed inside it.
"Cool......" was the general response.
Asuka sweatdropped. "I... see...... Your reason for transferring?"
Ranma stopped to think again, the ball of ki dissipating. "Well... I beat six of the most experienced instructors at the academy all at once in less than 2 minutes without taking a scratch......... I guess for some reason they thought that was a bad thing."

Asuka's left eye twitched. She moved up to Tiro, fixing him with a glare that seemed to draw his attention toward the holstered gun poking out of the bottom of her jacket. "Name?"
Tiro gulped. "Tiro Yamazaki."
"Special skills?"
"None."
Asuka's glare hardened. "None?"
"Yes ma'am."
Asuka took out her clipboard and scanned it, then returned her gaze to Tiro.
"According to this, one of you is supposed to be a computer expert."
The recruits all looked at each other, baffled.
Tiro glanced up at her. "Oh, I know what you're talking about. The guy who ran the Hiroshima Academy said that he decided to send that guy into a military special team or something, and that I was going to take his place."
Asuka shut her eyes tight and massaged her temples with one hand. "Can you use a computer?"
Tiro thought about it for a moment. "Um, I surf the internet sometimes..."
*C-Clack* The clipboard hit the floor and Asuka stalked out of the room, mumbling something about Tylenol.

Kyle walked over to Tiro and picked up the clipboard, then scribbled something out.
"Okay, now that we know who you are, let's get you suited up, all right? Meet me and Snake in the guys' locker room, and you ladies go meet Asuka in the ladies' locker room."
The newcomers looked at each other, then left for the lockers.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma felt a quick pang of nostalgia as he looked around the brand new dressing facility. Memories of being splashed with cold water, being gawked at as a girl, and being beaten to a pulp when having entered the girls' locker room came unbidden to his mind.
Just as quickly as they came, he shook his head to clear them. His curse was a thing of the past, as was his high school life, as was Happousai. He would never have to deal with any of that garbage ever again, and he was glad.

Kyle opened one of the lockers and revealed the inside. It held Two pairs of baggy black sweat pants, a pair of heavy combat boots, two pairs of black t-shirts, a blue jacket, a utility belt, a pair of padded blue nylon gloves, and a suit of blue lightweight body armor.
Kyle cleared his throat, then addressed Ranma, Tiro, and Tycho.
"This is your required dress. When you're inside the station, you will be required to wear at least the shirt and pants. On patrol, you must wear either the armor or a jacket. When we're on assignment however, you wear the armor, got that?"
The recruits nodded.
Kyle smacked his fist into his palm as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and none of that applies for Wednesdays and Fridays."
The recruits looked at each other, then shrugged.

Kyle nodded. "All right, you suit up, and then Snake will give you your weapon assignments."

Ranma opened his locker and decided to put on the full suit, armor and all.
Tiro nudged Tycho. "So, you expect there to be so many pretty women here?"
Tycho grinned as he pulled on his shirt. "No way. I heard that the Captain was a babe, but Junko blows her away!"
Tycho turned towards Ranma and grinned. "Though Sakura's got a nice body too, eh Saotome?"
Ranma stared at him. "Her brother's right here, you know."
Suddenly remembering that, Tycho and Tiro glanced over at Kyle, to find him whistling to himself as he changed into a red jacket, totally oblivious to the conversation.
Tiro whispered to the others. "You know, is it just me, or do you get the feeling that the Lieutenant really isn't..."
"Too bright?" Tycho finished. Tiro nodded. "Yeah, you sort of get the same thing from his sister. Though that's usually coupled with a few other feelings."
Tiro and Tycho chuckled quietly. Ranma rolled his eyes as he pulled his pants on. Didn't these people ever grow up?
"Anyway, she was getting pretty friendly with you earlier, Saotome. You going for home?"
Ranma pulled on his boots and looked at them with sincere confusion. "Huh?"
"I said, 'she was getting pretty friendly with you'." Tycho repeated himself.
Ranma shrugged as he stood up. "She's a friendly person."
Tiro and Tycho stared at him.

Their conversation ended when Kyle called them.
"All right fellas, follow me to the armory, and we can get you some firearms. Remember, only use them when you're sure the target has done something wrong."
Tiro and Tycho spared a glance at each other. Ranma grunted.
As a martial artist, Ranma had pretty much looked down upon using weapons during his fights. Occasionally he used them anyway, but he much preferred using his fists and feet. Guns were more than just looked down upon among martial artists, they were despised, hated, and otherwise vilified. Nevertheless, the use of guns and similar weapons was more than just mandatory to a police officer, and Ranma's perfect eyesight, not to mention excellent coordination and agility, had made him a natural sharpshooter. He hated it, but he still excelled at it. Life was strange.
Banishing such thoughts, Ranma followed Tiro out of the locker room.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"-And when you're on assignment, you must wear the armor at all times. Any questions?"
Asuka looked at Sakura and Junko, both of whom were looking at the uniforms with obvious distaste.
Sakura was the first to speak. "You can't possibly expect me to where these pants! They're hideous! Don't you have any skirts?"
Asuka groaned. "It's standard uniform, Sakura."
Junko nodded to Sakura. "There's no way I'm wearing this stuff. Especially the armor. I can't imagine how much this would hurt!"
Asuka sweatdropped. "Hurt? What do you mean?"
Junko smiled at her. "Well, hon, this stuff may fit well on you, but we're ahead of you by a few cups, you know what I mean? This'll pinch my chest like crazy!"
Asuka growled in a low voice and her left eye started twitching. "Well, you don't have to wear the armor if you don't want to..."
Junko gave the Captain a flat look. "Oh, so we're supposed to parade around in these big,baggy, ugly uniforms? I think a few amendments of the dress code are in order."
Asuka felt like banging her head on the lockers. She really didn't get paid enough for this.
"Look, what is it with you? What's wrong with these clothes?"
Sakura picked up a pair of pants and held it at arm's length. "They're just so... icky. Can I wear shorts?"
Asuka looked like she was going to say something, but Junko cut her off. "Look Captain, as the only females in the group, we have a responsibility to maintain the high morale of the rest of the troops. How can we do that if we can't show off our beautiful bodies?"
Sakura giggled at Junko's blatancy. Asuka sighed and headed out of the locker room.
"Wear whatever you want. Meet me in the armory when you're done."

Junko waited until she was gone before she turned back to Sakura.
"Well this is just great. I swear, I am positively sick of all these 'do things by the book or get thrown out on the street' supervisors."
Sakura frowned. "Still, that was kind of mean. You know, the comment about her chest?"
Junko laughed. "Nothing but the truth, girl. She's gotta learn to live with it sooner or later."
Junko put down her bag and pulled out some spandex pants. Taking out another pair of shorts, she started sizing up Sakura.
"So, you putting the moves on Saotome?"
Sakura's blush was instantaneous. "Uh, well, I did want to get to know him better..."
Junko smiled and handed her a pair of shorts that seemed to redefine the term "short".
"I hear ya, girl. I was gonna go for it myself when you got to him first. Is your brother available?"
Sakura laughed as she started to tell Junko about how clueless her brother was.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Snake clapped his hands together as his eyes swept the room. Noting Asuka's absence, he shrugged and decided to go on anyway.
"All right, I know you're all eager to get your hands on a gun, so let's get started!"
He laughed. No one else did. Blinking, he coughed and started speaking in a more serious voice.
"Now I'm the department's weapon and demolitions expert. If you want a gun, and you don't outrank me, nothing leaves the armory without my permission. Now we're all going to have to answer a few questions to determine what sidearm you're issued. Now this is all state-of-the-art weaponry, so if you break it, at least make sure you kill something first."
Again there was silence, although he didn't seem to be expecting anything this time.

"Yamazaki, what weapon class do you like?"
Tiro blinked and stuttered. "Uh, pistol, I guess."
"Can you hit a parked car at 50 feet?"
Tiro blinked again. "Yes."
Snake grabbed a blocky looking handgun and tossed it to him. Tiro panicked, and barely managed to fumble the weapon into his hands.
"20 mm. Magnum Advanced. Use it well."
As Tiro stood there stunned, Snake turned toward Tycho.
"Wattai, what class?"
Tycho thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "Automatic or assault weaponry, I guess."
"You like machine guns or flamethrowers? Or do you like explosives better?"
Tycho considered the question carefully before answering. "Light machine gun, please."
"I assume you can hit the side of a barn?"
Before Tycho could mumble "what," a large rifle nearly a meter long was thrust into his chest.
"35 mm. Pulse rifle. Never use it without backup ammo cartridges."
Snake turned to Ranma.
"Saotome?"
Ranma looked at him and shrugged. "I'll do good with anything. I don't really care."
Snake grinned. "I love a man that likes a little diversity. You shoot well?"
Ranma nodded. Before he knew what was happening, his hand shot out and grabbed a rifle out of pure reflex. Before he had finished dropping the rifle, he was forced to catch several other weapons, including what looked like an automatic shotgun and several small cylinders.
"Pulse rifle, Luger, hand flamer, rail gun, grenade launcher, fusion charges, T-Bolt pulse cannon..." Snake turned back to Ranma, who was trying to juggle 7 of the explosives and a grenade magazine, and gestured to the gun that resembled a shotgun, "be careful with that, by the way. It's untested."
Ranma's concentration broke, and the incineraries fell to the ground, many of them bouncing off his head on the way down.

Kyle looked at the vast array of weaponry and shook his head at Snake.
"He can't even carry all that. Start him off with like two or three of those. And make sure he knows how to set those charges first."
"Better yet, why don't we give him an actual test before we hand him something that can level a building?"
Everybody's head snapped to attention, to see an irate Asuka walking towards the group.
Snake rolled his eyes. "C'mon Captain, he's a combat expert. This is what he does!"
Ranma looked distastefully at the railgun as he picked it up, then hooked the strap over his shoulder.
"I'll use this one. I don't need this other stuff."
Snake looked disappointed, but started picking up the other guns and explosives.
Tiro looked around. "Hey, where're the others?"
"Right here!"

Tiro turned around at Sakura's voice and stared. And drooled. Tycho's reaction was more passive, but not by much.
Sakura was wearing blue shorts and a white tank top with her jacket tied around her waist. Junko wore a pair of spandex biking shorts and a flak vest similar to Tycho's that exposed far more cleavage than it covered.
Kyle turned toward Asuka. "Is it Wednesday?"
Asuka groaned and held her head in her hand. "Are you two really going to wear that?"
Sakura blinked. "Why not? I think it looks good on us."
Tiro grinned and nodded. "It does! It does!"

Ranma ignored the whole scene, trying to figure out how his gun worked. Picking up one of the 2-foot rail cartridges, he began poking the weapon in various places with it.
Asuka sighed. "Fine. Wear whatever you want. Snake, don't give them anything without a safety, all right?"
Snake pouted. Kyle saw Ranma struggling with his weapon and went over to help him.
Snake smiled broadly at Junko. "What gun you want?"
Junko shrugged, the subtle motion causing Tycho to start choking on his own drool. "Gimme whatever's standard. I'm not particular."
Snake mumbled something and threw her the same kind of handgun that he had given Tiro. "20 mm. Magnum Advanced. Takai?"
Ranma grabbed Tiro, who had been trying to inch toward Sakura. "C'mere and help us with this, would'ya?" Tiro looked Kyle, who was purple from the effort of trying to jam the ammo into the gun, and sighed.
Sakura frowned. "I don't know. I don't really like guns."
Asuka rolled her eyes. Snake gaped at her like she was insane. Tiro tried pushing a button on the side of the rail gun, and a compartment snapped open and pinned his hand to the trigger base.
"DON'T LIKE GUNS?!?! Why the hell did you become a police officer then?!"
Sakura winced from being yelled at. "I wanted to work with my brother..."
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Get it off! Get it off! It hurts! It hurts!"
"Hold on! I've almost got it in!"
Ranma sweatdropped. "Uh... help?"
Snake stared hard at Sakura for a moment before he tossed her a small rifle.
"Here's a bolter. Don't use it if you don't want to." somehow he managed to sound disgusted at the prospect.
Sakura nervously grabbed the weapon out of the air and miled weakly at Snake. "Heh heh... thanks."
"Got it!" Kyle yelled in triumph and closed the ammo compartment on the rail gun as Tiro collapsed to the ground in considerable pain. Trying to locate the safety, he began to try diffeerent buttons on the device.
"Hey, wait, don't mess with that!" Kyle ignored Ranma as began fumbling around the trigger.
Asuka walked to the back of the room and turned around, trying to imagine that everyone was paying attention.
"All right, now that you've all been registered to the DAPC, you'll be recieving your ID badges shortly. We'll have a short tour of the station, and then you can all go home for the day. Tomorrow you new officers will be recieving your first briefing, and-"
"Wait, I think I found it..." *Thoom!*
A white-hot bolt impacted the light right above Asuka, making a nice big hole in the ceiling, and showering everyone in the room with sparks. A moment later the rest of the lights went out, as well as all of the other electronic devices in the building.

"..........................................................." Kyle would have chuckled nervously, but he was afraid it would have given away his position in the dark.
Tycho's voice penetrated the darkness. "Since the power's out, can we just go home now?"
"Sakura! Are you okay? Where are you? *Thwack!* Ow!"
"Dammit, Tiro, watch where you're grabbing!" Ranma had been having a bad feeling about this place since the beginning, and now that feeling was only intensifying.
Asuka rubbed her forehead. Had she been able to see, she would have lunged for the bottle of painkillers on the desk. "This is not a good sign..."
Snake clearly agreed. "Been a hell of a first day hasn't it?" Snake turned on a flashlight.
"Alright people, follow me to the labs, where we'll introduce you to our scentific personnel, which consists of a med school dropout and an assistant undertaker who likes to do autopsies for fun."
Ranma was worried. "You are joking...... aren't you?"
Kyle shook his head. "You'll wish he was joking when we're done. It only goes downhill from here."
Ranma sighed and braced himself for whatever lied ahead. What on Earth possessed him to sign up for this?

**********************************************************************************

Author's notes:
Okay. #1: I really don't know anything about the Japanese police force, heck, I hardly know anything about the American police force, so much of the stuff I talk about regarding structure, rank, and just about everything else are either guesses or info I got from prime time sitcoms. Who says TV isn't educational?
#2: If some of the characters (other than Ranma) seem familiar, they should. Kyle is essentially a modern-style version of Gourry Gabriev from Slayers, and Tiro is a somewhat toned down and more competant version of Ataru Moroboshi. If any of the other characters (again, besides Ranma) resemble ones from other anime, then it's a coincidence. Really, it is!