First, I'd like to say that I do not own Ranma, who is the only character from any anime that will be featured in this chapter. Second, I'd just like to say that in beloved memory of those that lost their lives in the World Trade Center bombing, major terrorist ass will be kicked throughout this chapter.

Guardian
Chapter 6
The Angels of Freedom

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

"No no, the ratio of neural enzymes to normal body fluids is too high to be secreted at the normal metabolic capacity." The figure in a lab coat, undoubtedly a scientist, rechecked the figures on his console to be sure they were accurate.
His partner frowned. "Well, then decrease the ratio until the biological factors are optimal. We'll have to start looking for a new chemical supplement to enhance the metabolism. Until then, you can-......" the man suddenly stopped talking.
His compatriot looked up at him, wondering what had caused him to fall silent so suddenly. When he looked to where the other man's eyes were glued, the reason was actually quite obvious.

Alexandra Tokima sauntered along the middle path of the large research facility, her slight smile the only acknowledgement of the two scientists' stares.
All throughout the room, the reaction was much the same, with every male scientist stopping their work to stare at her, and every female scientist stopping their work to mutter about the idiocy of the opposite sex.
Alex smiled a bit wider, keeping her eyes and her path set on a set of inconspicuous metal doors off to the side of the facility.
Then, of course, there was old Yoshi, who continued ignoring her and typing away at his workstation. Deciding that she really didn't want the old man's attention in the first place, she simply put her nose up a little higher and reached for the knob.
"Tokima, is it just me, or do you leave one more button of your blouse undone every day you come in?"
Alex froze and bristled. Looking into the reflection on the doors, it was clear that the old scientist hadn't even turned around, and was still typing away at his computer.
"Just because you have no fashion sense..." she muttered quietly as she passed through the doors, and into the long hallway, the polished steel of the walls catching every ray of light around her.
She stepped through another pair of metal doors, into a typical meeting room, with a long wooden table with several chairs surrounding it.

Alex sat down in one of the chairs on the side, and took a moment to compose herself, crossing her legs and buttoning up her outfit all the way. That accomplished, she fished a small remote control out of her pocket and pushed one of the buttons.
"Activate command module. Password: venom."
The was a high-pitched whine of machinery, and an obviously computerized voice came back to her. *VOICE RECOGNITION CONFIRMED. SUBJECT ALEXANDRA TOKIMA IDENTIFIED. ACCESS GRANTED, LEVEL BETA. COMMAND?*
"Access wavelength frequency 87-4. Tell them I have my report ready."
*CONFIRMED. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE FA HAS TAKEN A HEIGHTENED INTEREST IN YOUR PROJECTS. THEY ARE RATHER ANXIOUS TO HEAR FROM YOU.*
Alex nodded, and a square from the wall on the far side of the room slid up to reveal a large screen. It turned on, revealing five shadows that one could just barely make out as human heads, and one black screen.
Head #1 spoke. "Alexandra. It's good to hear from you again."
Alex smiled and nodded. "Yes, it has been too long since my last report. I apologize, but the paperwork has been piling up. I find myself less often planning attacks and developing weapons, and more running the company."
#3 shrugged. "Ah, well, I suppose we should get right down to the point. How goes Project Mobius?"
Alex leaned back a little bit, her smile never wavering. "As you know, the first subject has passed all tests and is now in full-scale production. The second subject's production is proceeding ahead of schedule, and is now in the final optimization stages before its own mass production. Further prospects are being explored, but we require more time to research the gene therapies we've been manipulating."
#2 nodded. "Yes, very good. We've learned that the government forces have named the subjects 'vamps' and 'carriers' respectively."
"I like it. Has sort of a nice ring to it," mused #1.
The fifth head spoke. "By the way, about the government......"
Alex sighed, and her smile was quickly gone. "It would appear that through a combination of coincidence and sheer luck, a little-known department of police officers known as the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment stumbled upon the... vamps... at one of our final preliminary tests and managed to capture and test one."
#5's silhouette seemed to loom slightly. "May I remind you, Tokima, that the creatures you are creating are far from mutant soldiers. They are terror weapons. And a part of that fear comes from the ignorance of those that rally against us. The more they know about their enemy, the better they will perform when fighting against it."
Alex lowered her head slightly. "I understand sir. Again, I apologize."
#1 rolled his eyes, though nobody could see clearly enough to catch the motion. "Geez 5, cut her some slack, wouldja? She's done her job."
Alex looked up again. "I'm undeserving of your sympathy, but still, thank you...... uh, where is......"
#3's shadowing hand rose up to wave the question off as if unimportant. "Eh, #2 had #6 assassinated last Thursday."
"I did not!" #2 yelled, "You can't prove anything!"
"Oh, would you come off it? Everyone knows you did it." #1 leaned back in his chair, making his figure even harder to discern.
"There's no proof! No evidence! Hundreds of people had the motive!"
#5 sighed. "Yes, but to be perfectly blunt, you're a terrible liar. I could tell you had offed him before it was even confirmed he was dead."
#2 sweatdropped, which was mysteriously visible despite the shadows. "Well... I mean... there's no proof! Couldn't you at least keep your observations to yourselves?"
Alex coughed, suddenly making herself once again the center of attention. "Also... #4...."
#3 shrugged. "He's out sick. We just put a mannequin in his chair."
Alex sweatdropped heavily.
#1 settled back into a more serious posture. "In any case, we've reached a crucial point in our conquest of the corporate machine. With a few more political victories, the Freedom's Angels will lay the foundation for a free society, one run through power and economics! A strong society!"
Nobody could tell, but #5 grinned. "Umbrella Corporation's last research center was looted and destroyed last week. It took a huge number of men, and most of their resources were lost to us, but we were able to salvage a complete genetic printout of the retrovirus. It has already been sent to Yoshi for study and development."
Alex paled slightly and quickly ran the thought over in her head. As a fairly high-ranking member of the Freedom's Angels, she was allowed a fair level of access to most of their intelligence files, and Umbrella Corporation's experiments were as sick and twisted as they came, even to her eyes. With a wacko like Yoshi using that research, who knew what would happen?
#3 continued. "We've also begun 'negotiations' with a new company that may be competing with you in the field of genetic mutagens, a startup known as Sintek. Their particular brand of study will definitely come in handy in the future."
Before Alex could say anything, #5 spoke again. "It should also be noted that we've finished our takeover of Genom. What little they had assembled has already been destroyed, disbanded, or stolen."
"It's rather a good thing too," piped up #2, "I don't know what would've happened if these...... 'Boomers' had gone into full-scale production. The plans we've recieved outline some very powerful weapons."
#5 nodded. "Which is why we need you to take a step up in your attacks against Shiromir. As you are doubtlessly aware, right now we recieve most of our supplies from questionable sources and at sub-standard quality. These materials are useless towards the construction of Genom's creations. We must take Shiromir Industries as soon as possible before full-scale production can begin. Understood?"
Alex nodded and stood up. "Of course, sir."
"Sit back down, Tokima, we're not done with you yet," #1 admonished. She did so.
#2 spoke up. "Say now, how's the CEO of Wraith doing these days?"
Alex's lip twitched slightly. "He's doing very well. In fact, I don't think he comes to his office anymore except to flirt with his secretaries and pick up his paycheck."
"Then he hasn't been contributing fully to the recovery of his company or this new research his people are engaging in?"
"He hasn't been contributing at all." Alex stated bluntly. "All Warris is concerned about now is money and sex. He came to us begging to help him get back on his feet, and then handed all of his work over to us and occasionally stopped by to tell us how great a job we're doing."
"I see..." #5 mused, "well, at least he isn't curious about our experiments, but I think he's still outlived his usefullness. I'll leave his unfortunate accident up to you, Tokima."
She grinned maliciously. "Thank you sir. I'm honored."
#1 leaned forward. "Now, just one more thing Tokima. This DAPC. They're the ones that destroyed our carrier on its first public test, correct?"
Alex nodded, not really concerned with it. "Correct. I wouldn't worry about them though. I've looked into their files."
#2 leaned forward. "Really? What have you found?"
Alex chuckled. "Only that they're the most pathetic group of government agents in Japan, possibly in all of Asia. Their department is well funded, but most of the officers are idiots. Other than one of their officers, I don't think there's anything special about them at all."
#2 seemed to lean in even further. "Which one?"
Alex blinked. "Well, there was the dossier on one Ranma Saotome. Much of the information was blank or non-applicable, and his marital status was referenced to a different document. Other than possibly being a criminal trying to pass himself off as an officer, I didn't give him another thought."
#5 hit a button off-screen. "Tell me, would this... Ranma Saotome happen to look like this?"
Suddenly, the sixth screen flashed with static, and was soon replaced by a still-motion shot of Ranma jumping out of the Rhino APC.
Alex shifted uncomfortably, wondering what they were leading up to. "Yes, that matches the picture in his file."
"This picture is a freeze-frame of the video captured during our ill-fated raid on a truckload of tea. Do you recall that little incident?" #5 asked, almost accusingly.
She should have been nervous from his tone, but she wasn't. She was too busy trying not to laugh. A small squad of mechs and a full squad of troops to capture a Lipton truck! And they failed! She felt sorry for the poor bastard in charge of that operation.
"Y-Yes I *snicker* recall that little in-incident *giggle*."
#5 tried to glare at her, but once again the lack of light made the gesture pointless. "Good. Now watch the video."
The freeze-frame started moving, and Alex settled down into her chair, smile still on her face, as Ranma began moving. Among all else she found his form easy on the eyes, so she could stand to watch him for a little bit.
Her smile died a slow, painful death as she watched him flip-kick a mecha onto its back.
Her eyes started growing as his body blurred around spouts of automatic gunfire.
She leaned forward as someone off-camera threw a grenade at him.
Then she fell back into her chair as he caught it, looked at it, then pulled the pin and threw it back at its source.
The screen went dark.
#1 coughed. "All of our men at the battle either died, surrendered, or ran. The armored squadron was completely destroyed. All the vehicles were confiscated, including the Lipton truck itself. Whether or not the DAPC are a bunch of idiots, they somehow attacked from behind our lines and singlehandedly dispatched a majority of our forces."
#2 jumped in again. "This recording indicates that we must take a step up in dealing with local authorities." He paused. "And in troop weapons training."
Alex twitched in her chair.
#5 reached off-screen again. "In any case, you are instructed to deal with them in any way you see fit. Right now we have our hands full managing our recruits and other resources. In any case, make sure that these problems are dealt with before they start hindering our productivity. You are dismissed." He pushed the button, and his screen went black, followed soon after by all the screens except #4. Eventually someone remembered that the mannequin couldn't push the button by itself, and turned the screen off themselves.

Alex sat in silence for a few moments, digesting this new information.
She sighed. "Computer. Deactivate signal."
*CONFIRMED. COMMAND?*
"Notify Professor Konta immediately. Tell him I want to see him. Then deactivate."
*CONFIRMED. PERSONNEL NOTIFIED. HAVE A NICE DAY.*
There was an audible whine as the machinery shut down, and after a few moments Yoshi strolled into the room.
"Why hello. What can I do for you?" He smiled up at her.
She scowled, then threw Ranma's file at him. "For one thing, you can wipe that stupid grin off your face!"
Yoshi blinked, then readjusted his glasses and picked the folder up off the floor. "I may be mistaken, but I sense something of a tone of hostility. Is something wrong?"
"My, how perceptive you are," she commented dryly. "Look, I want every last bit of information you can gather on this Saotome gentleman. I want every space in this dossier filled, if with nothing else than with an explanation as to why we can't attain the data." She paused, as if considering something. "And I want whatever document it is that contains his marital status."
The aged scientist blinked and cocked his head to one side. "Are you sure about that?"
Alex blinked. "Of course I'm sure! Now stop wasting my time and get to work!"
Yoshi shrugged, then waddled out the door. Alexandra slumped down into her chair and started massaging her forehead.
She was on her way to formulating an excellent plan that would prove the end of all her problems when a large, heavy object landed next to her, shaking the entire table.
Alex jumped up, startled, and nearly fell out of her chair when she saw Yoshi wipe the sweat from his forehead.
It had undoubtedly been accumulated from carrying the ludicrously big book that was currently making a permanent indentation in the wooden table. It's cover was roughly 1.5' by 1' and it was at least 6 inches thick.
Alex blinked, and then asked, slightly hysterical, "What the hell is this thing?"
Yoshi cleaned his glasses on his shirt as he answered. "The document containing Saotome's marital status."
She stared at him, then stared at the book. "It's in here?"
The scientist rolled his eyes as he put his glasses back on. "No, this is it. A compressed 200-volume history of all the engagements to one Ranma Saotome by way of parental arrangement, tribal law, pure circumstance, supernatural phenomenae, and occasionally fate and/or destiny. It is also cross-indexed with other engagements or developing relationships with the betrothed, specific martial arts styles of the betrothed, and what the betrothed's parents have sworn to do to one Genma Saotome if one Ranma Saotome doesn't comply with their particular contracts. It also lists the past engagements that have been declared void due to martial arts contests, the bride being chased away, or the betrothed finding out that Ranma was in fact a male." He shrugged. "For your convenience, all those arrangements made with other males are grouped in appendix D. The information to complete the rest of the dossier will need to be investigated, and you can expect it sometime next week. Will that be all?"
Alex didn't respond. She was currently in an awkward position half-falling out of her chair, and her hair was sticking out at odd angles.
"Very well then, I'll leave you to review the data. Sayonara!" Yoshi smiled and left, whistling the whole way.

Alexandra didn't budge for another 20 seconds, and she fell the rest of the way out of her chair.
Sighing wearily, she stood up and opened the cover, flipping past the copyright page and the Tokyo Times literature reviews to get to the table of contents.
'Hmmm... perhaps I should plot Warris' assassination first. This could take a lot of time.'
She placed her finger down on the first item, which was apparently a 40-page introductory summary of Ranma Saotome's engagements entitled, "Love is Hell".
"...................... Yes............. I think I'll kill Warris first."
She closed the book and calmly walked away.
__________________________________________________________________________________

(Saturday)
Asuka cleared her throat meaningfully. "*Ahem* Tycho Wattai, in light of your good behavior, fairly good service, and your reluctance to leave me alone, I am hereby withdrawing your suspension from this department. Welcome back," she declared in an imperious voice.
She wasn't even looking at Tycho, who was in fact kneeling on the floor in front of her, his eyes shining. "Oh thank you! Thankyouthankyou!!" He dove and hugged her legs, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Let. Go. Of me." There was a definite drop in the surrounding temperature, and Ranma, Sakura, and Tiro shuddered involuntarily.
Tycho was on the other side of the room before anyone could blink. "Sorry, sorry."
Asuka glared at him before turning around and speaking to Tiro, who was clearly ignoring her in favor of trying to look down Sakura's shirt.
Ranma continued watching the news, in which a group of Freedom's Angels were holding a crowd hostage in a shopping center. He had wanted to go there himself and help, but Asuka had stopped him, saying that it was out of their jurisdiction. It sounded stupid to him, but he figured there must be some reason why they ran things the way they did.
*Here we can see the terrorists up on the main podium, between the loudspeakers. The terrorist leader is currently giving a speech of some kind, while his subordinates have their weapons aimed to open fire right into the crowd, and have threatened to do so, if the city commences with military or police action against their cause.*
Ranma shook his head sadly and gulped down some more of his soda.
*Police forces are currently positioned around the area, but don't have authorization to move in for fear of civilian casualties. I'd like to take this time to remind our viewers that hostage situations are very delicate operations and-... wait a minute. There seems to be a disturbance among the main police force stationed outside the shopping center... I'm not sure what's going on...*
At that moment a rocket smashed into the podium and detonated, sending the surprised criminals tumbling to the ground in the background. The captive audience (bud-um cha!) quickly dispersed, leaving the Angels of Freedom to pick themselves out of the rubble caused by the explosion.
Unfortunately, this subjected them to a outburst of maniacal laughter, and a far more substantial outburst of heavy vulcan fire.
The camera zoomed out a bit more, and the source of the gunfire was soon apparent.
"Hey look! It's Snake!"
Sakura looked over and gasped. Asuka stopped strangling Tiro, and let his body drop onto the floor.
"My God, no......"
From what the camera could catch, the terrorists were reassembling and trying to return fire, but were being cut down too fast to mount any real defense.
*It would appear that a vigilante has appeared on the scene! He's dispatched nearly all the terrorists already and is even now-*
*Hey, what are you doing here? It's dangerous, you know.*
"Hey, Kyle's there too!" Sakura squealed.
The reporter immediately zeroed in on him. *Sir! Do you know anything about these vigilante actions?*
Kyle blinked. *Vigilante? Who, Snake? He's a police officer, same as me.*
The reporter blinked. *But I thought police actions had been restricted until the hostage situation could be resolved.*
Kyle scratched the back of his head. *No kidding? Uh........... I'd have to check on that and get back to you.*
*Gaugh!!* One of the criminals collapsed onto the ground a few meters away, his body centered in a pool of blood.
Kyle ignored it, slipping his hands in his pockets. *What are you doing here, anyway? What's that thing you have there?*
The reporter blinked again, then took a moment to stare at her microphone. *It's a, uh, microphone sir. I'm from Channel 8 News.*
Kyle blinked. *News? You mean like TV?*
She nodded.
Kyle looked at the camera, as if noticing it for the first time. *You mean I'm on TV?*
She nodded again, this time with a sizable sweatdrop on her head.
"Aye-aye-aye," Asuka muttered, her face in her hands.
*Whoa! Cool! Hi Mom!* Kyle started waving to the camera, which was trying to move towards the battle scene now that the crossfire had stopped.

Snake stepped out into the open, his sandy hair waving slightly in the light breeze, which also served to draw away the smoke wafting from the barrels of his vulcan cannon.
"Terrorists killed: 13. Civilian casulaties: 0. Hoo yeah!"
He shot a glance at the cover he had used during battle, an oversized fiberglass statue of Sailor Chibi Moon, now riddled with bullets, and smiled.
"And nothing of value was lost!"
Tossing the VC over his shoulder, and stopping to pick up the rocket launcher, Snake left the scene, the bloody corpses of the terrorists and the countless numbers of spent ammo casing the only evidence he was ever there.

The camera zoomed out slowly as he walked away, giving the whole scene a 'hero walking into the sunset' effect.
Asuka turned off the TV.
"So how come they get to go and I don't?" Ranma complained.
Asuka's fist shook noticeably, and she had to restrain that arm with her other hand.
"Because they outrank you." Asuka answered simply.
Suddenly the lights flickered, and there was some very loud commotion from upstairs, which drew everyone's attention away from the previous crisis.
"Good God of wine and whiskey! He really is alive this time!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!"
"Christ, he's breaking free! Run for it Yamma!"
There was some more ruckus from upstairs, followed by the DAPC's science and medical experts evacuating the building as if their lives depended on it, which they probably did.
Asuka started rubbing her head again. Tiro reached under a desk and pulled out two shotguns.
Ranma took one and loaded it.
*Cha-chunk* "Well, this is still better than those mutant mealworms they created on Friday."
Tiro shuddered. *Cha-chunk* "Agreed. Well, let's go kill it."
Sakura sighed. "I'll get the mop."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Alex frowned as she looked over the latest reports from the FA operations. Three operations out of four had failed, and the one that had succeeded had only managed to garner a small supply of weaponry to bolster their dwindling arsenal. Running a huge criminal orginization, particularly one that relied mainly on satisfying the desires of lower-class ex-convicts well enough so that they'll shoot what you ask them to, was quite expensive. Properly equipping them was even more expensive, especially as guns were already illegal in Japan, and more and more weapons smugglers were growing wary of Freedom's Angels and their considerable reputation.
'We've attracted too much attention, so naturally it's becoming harder to find allies. Which is where I come in.' With Wraith's biochemical labs and DNA replication facilities, they could grow soldiers. And with Genom's plans and Shiromir's factories, they could build more.
So far the FA's recruitment propaganda had been fairly effective, though the number of people who joined could hardly form an army. So someone had come up with the idea of destroying prisons and releasing the prisoners. Many of the convicts joined for the promise of being able to do whatever they wanted, plus strike back at the society that imprisoned them. Some joined out of gratitude. Most though, simply didn't have anywhere else to go.
Unfortunately, prisons were almost as hard to break into as they were to break out of. Operations like that cost time, lives, munitions, and money.

She pushed those thoughts from her head as she entered the lobby of the hotel. Hoga Warris had, as befit his personality and wealth, chosen to host a small business meeting in a cushy luxury hotel in the most expensive suit the place offered.
It didn't take a person of Alexandra's intellect to assume that Warris wanted to do much more than discuss the affairs of his corporation.

Lost in thought, she made her way to the elevators, ignoring all the attention her very presence created. Several bellboys pushed and shoved to get to her first, only to stop short when they realized she didn't have any luggage.
She entered the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.
As the matter of affairs entered her thoughts, her mind was quickly drawn back to the huge book that passed for a file on Saotome's marital status.
Frankly, the matter boggled her mind, and she regretted asking Yoshi for it, and regretted actually taking the time to read it even more. It had given her little useful information, save that this Ranma character had traveled a lot in his youth, and that he was apparently quite the womanizer. The last point she supposed could be useful; it would make him that much easier to seduce and assassinate if it came down to that. Hell, if she could convince him to join the FA she might even keep him for herself; he did have a fine body.

Smirking at the thought, she stepped out of the elevator as the doors slid open.
She nodded to the girl in a bellboy's uniform who was standing just next to the elevator, then walked briskly down the hall and knocked on a large door.
The door swung open widely, and she was treated to the despicable sight of Hoga Warris grinning at her.
"Why Alex! It's so good to see you again! Come in, come in!" Alex grimaced as she entered, feeling his eyes travel up and down her body even as she faced away from him.
"Yes Warris, the... pleasure... is all mine." She didn't bother trying to hide her obvious disgust at his antics; he never noticed any way.
Hoga Warris was 55 years old, and was the type of guy that should be well on his way to retirement. The years had not been kind to him, and Alex suspected that he had to pay for all of his 'female companionship' nowadays.
Warris sat down at the edge of his spacious bed, and laid a hand on the phone. "Let me call down for some drinks-"
"I already have," Alex interrupted, "they'll be up here in a minute. I don't intend to be here for long."
Warris sighed. "Very well, I suppose we had best get to business." It was said with a slightly bitter edge to it as Hoga settled down. No matter what he did, he had never been able to get Alexandra in the sack. The woman simply didn't want to cooperate, a standpoint that Warris intended to correct as soon as possible. Women were only good for keeping notes and keeping your bed warm, in his opinion.
Alex nodded. "I'll get straight to the point. My superiors want you to purchase a new petrochemical plant that just opened up to boost our income."
Warris blinked. "What? Why?"
She leaned back slightly. "Well, Wraith Labs simply isn't producing like it used to be, and because of that, the Freedom's Angels are supplying much needed resources to cover your company's operating costs, as well as your own considerable salary. Even now, a majority of Wraith's revenue is made through patents, as all the factories have now been retrofitted to produce our bioweapons."
Warris blinked again. "They have? Seriously?"
"Yes. The FA would also appreciate a... personal contribution to our efforts in freeing Japan from the weak, corrupt entities that currently reign over this proud nation. The same entities that almost cost you your business."
Warris leaned back a little. "Well... that's, uh, a lot to ask." Suddenly a light seemed to turn on over his head. "Tell me, if I were to help you with these things, what would I get in return?"
Alex raised an eyebrow. "You mean besides the protection of the Freedom's Angels, the freedom from taxes and law, and the promise of a position of economical power in our new Japan?"
He rolled his eyes. "Please, spare me. I was thinking of a more... immediate incentive." He leaned forward, smiling lecherously. Alex didn't budge.
*Knock knock knock*
"The door's open," Alex called without looking.
Warris looked over her shoulder, annoyed at being interrupted at such a crucial moment, until he realized that the person bringing in the drink tray was a busty young woman.
She wheeled the cart around between them, and Warris reached into his robe pocket and took out a wad of bills.
"Let me take care of that, dear." He started counting his yen in front of her.
"It's already paid for sir." She lifted the cover off the two bottles of brandy.
"Well then, here's a little spending cash for you." He slipped a few thousand yen into her pocket, taking the opportunity to feel her up.
Visibly shuddering, the young woman looked at Alex, and unspoken communication passed between them.
"Th-thank you sir. Have a good day." the girl quickly left the room, and bitter disappointment once again reigned over Hoga's features.
"Really Warris, you should learn to control yourself. You're almost old enough to be her grandfather." She poured herself a glass of liquor and took a long drink.
She had to force the liquid down her throat when she saw Warris leering at her again.
"You're right, of course. I should be looking for someone a bit more... mature, right?"
"Yes. Perhaps you could go pick up a girlfriend at a nursing home."
Warris nearly fell over, taken aback.. "Wha-what?"
Alex continued, finally managing to enjoy herself. "Or if you'd prefer someone who wouldn't object so much to your attentions, you could always look into a mortuary."
His expression of surprise quickly turned to anger. "How dare you! Who do you think you are?!"
Alex laughed lightly. "I'm sorry. I've been saving those lines since the very first day you tried to sleep with me. Seeing how this is the last time I'll see you, alive that is, I thought I'd finally use them."
Warris paled. "What? You... you're going to kill me?" He was barely able to choke out the question; suddenly his body seemed quite weak and tired.
She laughed louder. "Me? No. Not me. By the way, I think there's something on your leg." She smirked at him, then collected one of the bottles of liquor and left the room as he clawed at his leg.
Screaming in, Hoga tried to pry off the vamp attached to him, but its grip was firm and the CEO of Wraith Labs soon lapsed into unconsciousness.

Alexandra was smiling warmly as she entered the hallway and directed that smile onto her assistant, who was standing next to the door.
"Well, it's up to you to finish up. When he wakes up, attract his attention to get him into the hall, then scream to draw some witnesses out of their rooms."
The girl nodded and began stripping off the bellboy uniform, revealing a simple skirted outfit underneath. Alex accept the clothing and folded it under her arm. Bei was an accomplished hand-to-hand fighter, and would have no trouble fending Warris' mindless body off until the special poison within that particular vamp finished its work and consequently finished his life.
"Oh, and Bei?" The girl stood at attention, eager to recieve any further orders.
"If possible, could you give him a good kick between the legs? For me?" Both women shared a quiet giggle, and as Alex entered the elevator, a slight spring could be detected in her step.
__________________________________________________________________________________

(Monday)
*Psht* *Calling all cars, calling all cars, this is an emergency. I repeat, we have sighted a carrier at the Midori outlet center.* *Pshhhhhht* *Target appears heavily damaged, though it has already dispatched several officers. Requesting backup.* *Psht*
Ranma was quite sure that he was the only one in the car with the level of perception necessary to see how close they were coming to being killed outright. Tycho took the word 'emergency' and took it to mean 'find out how fast the car can go'.
"Wattai! Look out for that-!"
*Clang* Tiro's shouted warning died in his mouth as the car missed the light post by mere centimeters, and fell back into the distance, along with the driver side mirror.
Kyle shook his head from his position in the back seat. That was going to leave a mark.
"Would you slow down?!" Ranma would have slugged him one already, but reasoned that the only thing worse than having Tycho at the wheel was having no one at the wheel, especially at this speed.
"Sure! As soon as we get there!" Tycho laughed at his own little joke, and stopped just in time to swerve around the one lone car that had not evacuated the shopping center parking lot.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Tycho leaned forward and pumped the gas pedal even further to pick up speed as he angled his way between the curb that set off the parking spaces, and prepared to turn before he hit the curb that set off the sidewalk.
Ranma and Tiro gulped, and prayed that nothing bad would happen.
Then Kyle opened his mouth.
"Wattai!"
Startled, the overzealous driver quickly turned around. "What?"
"Look out for the curb!"
Suppressing a groan, Tycho turned around and slapped a hand over his eyes in exasperation, which cost him the few precious nanoseconds he had left to actually make the vital turn.
A car tire hit a 90-degree cement corner.
The car was soon airborne.

The carrier grunted to itself as it searched out more victims, the heat sensors in the empty pits of its eye sockets searched hungrily for human warmth, human energy, to appease its touch.
Black ooze flowed slowly from its wounds, each one eventually being plugged voluntarily or other wise by one of the vamps that swarmed inside it. They were fairly small holes, made by low caliber handguns, and didn't even serve to slow the creature down as it stalked through the evacuated shopping center.
Suddenly it turned. There was a considerable concentration of heat to its left.
Had it actual optical organs rather than crude heat sensors, it would've noticed that the heat source was coming at him rather quickly from behind a 10-foot bronze likeness of Godzilla.
*WHAM!!*

*SMASH!!*
The statue fell heavily onto the concrete ground, the DAPC car being stuck on it back virtue of the several spikes on Godzilla's back that were firmly embedded into the bottom of the automobile.
Those unfortunate enough to be in that car each released groans of varying intensity.
Tycho sighed. "I hope this flying car thing doesn't become a theme with us."
Kyle looked out the window, and down at the growing pile of black muck that was collecting under the statue.
"Hey guys! Mission accomplished! How cool is that?"
"Hey Ranma, is it just me, or does it seem like these things are getting easier to kill?" Not getting an immediate response, Tiro looked over the back of the passenger seat and sweatdropped.
Ranma had neglected to reply both because his face was currently embedded in the dashboard, and because he was busy promising himself that he would never forget to put on his seatbelt ever again.
Tiro turned to Tycho. "This is it. Seriously. You're not allowed to drive any more."
Tycho gaped at him. "But... but you can't do that! This is what I live for!"
"Not for long, you won't." Ranma muttered darkly.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Alex sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"This is excellent work Bei. Congratulate your agents for me."
Bei blinked. Her boss had just praised her, but looked anything but happy. "Is there something wrong, Miss Tokima?"
Alex frowned and sat down on her desk. "Well, while this data does tell me a lot about his fighting ablities, which is really his most interesting aspect, from the looks of it it was put together from rumors."
Bei bigsweated. "You're, um, very perceptive, Miss Tokima. As a matter of fact, almost everyone in Nerima, which is the district we traced him to, had heard of him, but few actually knew much about him. Though everyone interviewed agreed that he was an extremely powerful martial artist, and some kind of perverted playboy. Some of the girls had heard stories of him hosting battles in the girls' baths and occasionally breaking into the girls' locker rooms."
Alex nodded. "Right. If we can assume that this is true, even this little bit about him throwing energy blasts from his hands, then that's going to make him tough to deal with. This man downed a GC-411 battle mech by kicking it in the torso, bei."
Bei sweatdropped and shrugged.
Alex took a sip of coffee, then looked over some of the less vital information. Apparently he had disappeared at age 18, failing to uphold the Tendo engagement (pg. 297), and because of that his parents had disowned him. Not that it mattered much, as Ranma had been long gone and probably still didn't even know. Genma Saotome was currently hospitalized after being beaten half to death by a mob of angry parents and guardians with engaged daughters (specifically the ones on pages 58-280).
Ranma had in fact traveled a lot, from Japan to Korea to China, and there were even a few girls waiting for their fiancee in Siberia. How Genma had reportedly gotten by in these countries only speaking his native dialect was a mystery.
Then there was the connected rumors, from ridiculous things like Chinese Amazons and ghost cats to the mysterious red-headed pigtailed girl. Some claimed she was obviously Ranma's sister, some thought she was another fiancee or perhaps his secret lover, while a suprisingly large portion, which she hoped would get their heads examined, actually claimed that Ranma and the redhead were one and the same.
From there the report went on to make a series of guesses as to the workings of Ranma's life, mostly based on contradictory sources, she suspected.
She handed her assistant the folder. "Thank you Bei. You've done good work."
Bei blinked. "Miss Tokima? Uh... what are we going to do about Saotome?"
Alexandra smiled at her. "Saotome is a very special man. And as such, dealing with him requires very special measures. Here," she took out a slip of paper and handed it to Bei, "call this number, please."
Bei looked confused, but walked over to the phone and started dialing.
Alex's smile widened slightly as the electronic dialing tone sounded, and swallowed the rest of her coffee.
'Soon, Ranma, soon we will see what you are truly capable of. And if you survive, well, it looks like I may have another project on my hands.'
__________________________________________________________________________________

(Wednesday)
"Atchoo!"
Ranma sniffled and got up from his lounge chair, which was resting on the roof of the DAPC headquarters.
"Funny, why do I get the feeling that should've happened two days ago?" He wondered aloud.

Over on the other end of the roof, Snake was explaining to Junko how to aim and operate the massive and totally unnecessary missile turrets that were posted there. Junko wasn't really interested, but she had dedicated herself to getting to know all the male officers better (except Ranma, since he was taken... sort of), so she tried hard to pay attention.
"So you see, after you rotate the turret and adjust the firing angle, you arm the missile with this button here," he flipped up the casing and pushed the button, which turned red.
Junko nodded mechanically. It was sort of fascinating, but not so much as how this man could've actually found two missile turrets to mount onto the roof of a building in the middle of the city.
"And then you choose from the valid targets with this cursor here, see? You can fire a missile without a lock, though. To fire a missile at any time, just hit this." He slapped the large, rectangular button to emphasize the simplicity of the device. It lit up.
*Fwoom!* The roar of a rocket taking off into the sky blew Ranma and Tiro off their lounge chairs.
Snake sweatdropped and had the decency to look embarrassed. "Oops."
The unguided missile traveled its arc upward, then, with no target to pursue, pointed down and began a speedy descent onto a wide, two-story building.
Ranma rushed to the edge of the roof. From that vantage point, it was possible to make out the words on the banner over the building's doors, proclaiming it the soon to be finished 'Largest Pokemon Toy Store in the World'. Ranma rolled his eyes, as this was clearly evident from the huge fiberglass pikachu that adorned the building's roof.
*KABOOM!!!*
The missile hit, and Pikachu was gone, along with the entire second story of the building.
Those gathered stood at the edge of the roof, staring unbelievingly at the destruction.
"Eh," Ranma shrugged. "No big loss." He walked back to his chair.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Yoshi Konta looked about his lab with a frown, walking amongst the multi-million dollar equipment and the genetic data printouts so complicated that only him and a select few of his collegues could understand them.
He took a moment to observe the carrier suspended in a tube of liquid on the far side of his lab, before shaking his head at it.
"Bah! Is this the best I can do? What are you? You are nothing but an ugly robot meant to scare people! I want more than that! I can do better than that!"
After a moment of recovering from his passionate outburst, and kind of wishing that he had an audience other than the semi-dead creature in the nutrient water, he cocked his head slightly in thought.
"Hmmm... I feel like......... creating something new today." His gaze darkened, though a grin slowly spread over his face.
Sliding a hand into his pocket, he withdrew a vial containing a green liquid. The vial was labeled [Umbrella].
Grinning happily to himself, he inserted the tube into one of his microscope fixtures.
"It's a wonderful day to play God!"

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

Statues of popular Japanese characters/monsters destroyed in this chapter: 3

End Chapter 6