Disclaimer: All must hail California, the land of happy cows and good cheese. Behold, the power of CHEESE!!!

Guardian
Chapter 11
Fun With Cloning

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"Whatever this 'demonstration' is, Igov hopes it is brief. There is much work needing be done on new factories." The large man grumbled to himself as the elevator began the short descent into the secret laboratories of Wraith.
Alex sighed as she listened to the low hum of the oiled wheel above her. "It's not so much a 'demonstration' as an unveiling, I think. Although I agree that whatever it is, it would be best if Konta had simply sent us a data file and went back to work." She glared contemptuously at the elevator twin doors, such that it seemed she was practicing for when she would ultimately glare at Yoshi.
Bei merely kept her eyes locked on the display screen, feeling the tension in the air uneasily. She really hated it when Alexandra was like this; she would snap at any little thing, and it made her terribly difficult to please. At the same time it amazed Bei when Alex was so irritable, as Yoshi was the only person that could ever make her so uptight. Around everyone else, even her clear superiors that enjoyed ordering her about, she maintained a solid image of strength and calm.
*Ding!* *Third sub-basement level. Contaminant storage, genetics testing, and spooky, mad-scientist type laboratories* The elevator chimed out. *Try not to breathe in too deeply, and have a nice day!*
Alexandra walked hurriedly into the complex while Bei and Igov followed at a more sedate pace, the latter two glancing aside at the various shadowy figures encapsulated within large glass cylinders embedded in the walls of the facility.
Before long the terrorist general had reached a particularly large workstation set apart from the rest. It was composed of a wall of computers and equipment, set in a ring around a very large glass cylinder, which itself was positioned below a dish with numerous manipulator arms attached. Alex noted that the liquids inside the cylinder were cloudy to the point that she couldn't make out what else was in the tube, if there was in fact anything else inside.
She waited for her companions to join her, and then straightened noticeably before looking directly at the figure in a white lab coat hunched over a computer terminal.
*Ahem* She cleared her throat delicately, arms held behind her back in a position of perfect respectful composure.
*Click* *Click-click* *Beep* *Tak* *Tak* *Tak* Yoshi input some commands into the terminal, then turned as the outputs scrolled down a screen next to him.
Alex twitched. *Ahem!* She tried a little louder.
Yoshi frowned, then turned back to the first terminal and fished a floppy disk out of his pocket before sliding it into the disk drive.
Igov and Bei glanced at each other as a vein popped up on Alexandra's head.
Alex twitched a few more times, then opened her mouth and took a deep breath...
"Ah! Alex! Good of you to show up!"
*Clack!* Alex slammed her mouth shut, and then winced as she hurt her jaw doing so.
Yoshi grinned in that sadistically cheerful way of his, and then gestured for the group to come closer.
"Come! Come! It's almost ready! I want you all to see this!"
Alex's glare began heating up, and Bei and Igov wisely decided to stay where they were, not putting themselves between the woman and the bane of her existence.
Yoshi noticed, and blinked innocently. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?"
Alex visibly fumed, then let out a deep breath. "Never mind. Let's just get on with this. What did you want to show us?"
Yoshi nodded, and then crossed the workspace to fiddle with another computer terminal. "I've been working on a new project to complement Mobius as the new modules are being completed. It's a bit unique, as recent battlefield observations demand a new approach to our genetic warfare development, but I like to think of it as a big experiment in and of itself."
Alex frowned. "Battlefield observations? What are you getting at?"
Yoshi turned toward his audience, grinning. "Have you ever really thought about the idea behind the war machine? No matter how big you build the tank, and no matter how thick you make the armor, no machine is impervious. Mechanical, or biological." He hit a button on his console, and a nearby screen held above the containment cylinder lit up, revealing a green outline of a K-series mutant. "K-736. Termination by multiple piercings of the cerebral cortex." The head of the outline flashed red, and the screen reset to show another unblemished green outline. "K-288. Termination by concussive blast within the chest cavity by manner of an armor-piercing tank shell. K-730 suffered the same fate." He turned to Alexandra. "No matter what we create, can we exceed man's capability to destroy it?"
"Igov supposes not."
Alex and Bei blinked, not expecting the Russian to take much a part in the demonstration.
Igov grinned slightly. "Igov has been to many battlefield, and no weapon is indestructible. No armor impenetrable. The tools of man overcome any obstacle, any foe."
Yoshi nodded slightly. "I thought you might appreciate this. I thought that perhaps we were looking in the wrong direction for destructive potential." Yoshi turned toward the containment cylinder and began typing something on the control console attached to the base.
"Wait a minute." Alex muttered, realization coming to her. "Are you telling me that you've created a HUMAN? After colossal killing machines, lethal retroviruses, mind-altering parasites, and rampaging mutants, you just took off and made us a HUMAN??" Alex clenched her hand into a fist as she spoke.
Yoshi stopped typing and looked up in thought. "Well, technically, no. I copied a human, I didn't make him."
Bei sweatdropped. "Why am I not surprised..."
Yoshi placed his hand on a lever next to the holding tank, and then turned to the three terrorists, smiling. "And now, I give you-"
"GOOD MOTHER OF CHRIST!!! HELP MEEEEEE!!!"
Everyone present jerked their heads across the room at the scream, their eyes wide.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!! IT'S EATING MY BRAIN!!! MY EYES ARE ON FIRE!!!" A scientist suddenly zipped past in a mad rush, clutching his head in agony. It wasn't easy to get a good look in the short time they saw him, but Alex and Igov could make out a large worm with a huge mouth full of jagged teeth hanging out from a hole bored in the back of the man's skull.
Yoshi frowned as the man's screams echoed through the laboratory, and pressed a hand to a clip on his coat collar. "This is Konta in sub-basement three, we're going to need a janitor in here in a few moments. Tell him to bring some Raid as well. Out." He straightened and composed himself, then put his hand back on the lever.
"I'm sorry for the interruption. That sort of thing really doesn't happen that often around here."
The three terrorists all shared a single uneasy glance, and Bei began looking around at her surroundings a bit more nervously than before.
"Now, I give you our newest soldier. I named him after the origin of his DNA." Yoshi pulled down the lever, and a loud engine rumbled underneath the containment tube before water began to get sucked out through some vents at the bottom of the cell.
"His name is Viper." Yoshi grinned as Alex blinked in surprise.
The water quickly flushed out of the tube, revealing a fairly muscular figure of average height with light, sandy hair wearing only a pair of Hawaiian shorts.
Alexandra paled slightly, and took a step back. Swallowing deeply, she raised a hand unsteadily to point at the figure. "You... You cloned Ken Yakata?"
"And you dressed him in underwear with little pineapples on it?" Bei added, fairly disgusted.
Yoshi nodded to Alexandra. "More commonly known as 'Snake'. Yes. Viper is an almost perfect reproduction of the original, with digitally mapped brain inputs to even replicate his personality and natural talents, as well as programming many basic skills and special abilities."
Alex chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "I... see... and his obedience?"
Several of the machines above the containment cylinder started moving, and the top of the cell opened itself up to allow in a manipulator arm with what looked like a stitching needle on the end of it.
Yoshi shrugged in response to Alexandra's question. "Hard to say at this point. Up until now all our control methods have proven flawless, but the human brain is a complex machine, and not one easily manipulated. But I can promise you, without a shadow of a doubt, that if you give this man a gun, lots of people will die." He smiled at that, an air of satisfaction surrounding him.
"And this is powerful weapon?" Igov deadpanned, nonplussed. "Igov has many soldier at beck and call, all well trained. You think to accomplish what with one man?"
Yoshi's smile only got bigger. Behind him, the manipulator arm began needling a pattern onto the clone's bicep, and after a few seconds Alex realized that the machine was tattooing the FA's cobra and barbed wire insignia onto Viper's arm.
"Oh, but one man can do so much, my good General." The light momentarily flashed off his glasses, and Yoshi let out a deep, disturbing chuckle. "So much more than you can imagine..."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ranma! Dude! Good to see you!" Tiro shouted happily, rushing up to his fellow officer as he entered the building and slapping him on the back. "What's up? How'd it go?"
Ranma blinked, taking a few glances around at the interior of the headquarters lobby. It was still largely cluttered from the party held on Christmas Eve, and Ranma suspected that Asuka would go to him first to try and get things cleaned up. "How'd what go?"
Tiro frowned. "You know, the whole thing with Sakura? Or did you go with that Mizu chick?" Tiro stopped, and then rubbed his chin. "Hey man, what happened to you anyway? It's like you just up and vanished after the party."
Ranma shrugged. "Well, after I left headquarters, I wandered about Tokyo looking for a place to spend the night. Then I bumped into the guy who tried to kill me back in the sewers where we found all those mutants, but we're cool now, so he found me a hotel for the night. Then I woke up and found him gone, and with a section cut out of this treasured photograph that I take with me everywhere I go. I think he may be hunting down my ex for some reason. Anyway, after that I wandered around on Christmas, until I stumbled upon a secret society of demonic Ninja and dispatched them all, coming to within an inch of death while doing so. Then, when I was totally exhausted, a beautiful woman, who may or may not have had butterfly wings, I'm not sure, took me into a small house of purple crystal and laid me down on a bed made of ivory and silver. Then I woke up this morning in some tall grass in a deserted lot down the street, and made my way here." Ranma finished, sighing deeply and fingering the collar of his jacket.
Tiro blinked, then nodded slightly. "Well, I had dinner with my terrorist cousin and a Russian cyborg. We played Pictionary."
"Typical holiday for you too, huh?"
"Yeah."
The doors slid open, and Tiro jerked his head around to look toward the entrance. "Captain! So good to see you!"
Asuka sighed at Tiro's unfathomable cheerfulness. "What do you want?"
Tiro blinked, a tad put off. "Yeesh. I was just going to ask how your holiday went..."
Asuka snorted, walking up to the main desk in the DAPC lobby and dropping her purse onto the counter. "For me, a day with my family is just a different type of headache. Leisure is a luxury that I enjoy precious little of." She began digging through her purse to find her access card.
"Hello everyone!" Sakura shouted happily, entering alongside her brother and Tycho.
"Yo Captain! Ranma, hey, how's it going?"
"Hey, who owns the white Mitsubishi out front?"
Asuka's head jerked up, and she narrowed her eyes at Tycho. "I do. Why?"
Tycho stopped short, and began to sweat. "Uh... really? I mean, no reason. I was just wondering. It's a nice car, by the way." He then grinned in such a way that everyone in the room suddenly felt a powerful urge to shoot him on the spot.
"Well, it was nice when it still had a hood," Kyle remarked absently, "I mean, NO car looks good with the whole front part sheared off like that."
Asuka twitched violently as her glare started heating up, and Tycho gulped deeply before stepping behind Kyle.
"Hey! Somebody stop him!!"

The entire group whirled around to face the stairs, and Asuka's eyes widened before she was suddenly bowled over by something large and heavy that she couldn't quite make out before it had already slammed into her.
*Whomp!* "Ow!"
Growling, Asuka tried to push herself up off the floor, and throw off whatever it was that was on top of her, but found herself firmly pinned down and unable to lift the massive weight that was over her.
Of course, the shouting didn't help.
"Holy mother!! What the hell is that?!"
"Geez! It's taken down the Captain!"
"I'll get its neck! Try to hold those claws down!!"
"Are you crazy?! I'm not going near that thing!"
"Is that a gun in its mouth?"
By this time, Asuka had managed to squirm enough so that her face was no longer pressed up against its firm, metal-hard body, and thus able to get a good look at what had tackled her.
She quickly wished she hadn't put forth the effort.
Practically laying on top of her was one of the fiercest-looking freaks of nature she had ever seen. It was the size of a man, but had the body structure of a lizard, with powerful-looking back legs, a thick tail, and two smaller front legs that ended in razor-sharp claws. From there, things got weird. Its entire body was covered in a series of large brown plates that were overlaid down its body, and perhaps most strangely of all, two extra limbs that stuck out from its back and hung over his head and posses two thick talons each.
Asuka was far more concerned with the head, however, as that was the part that was looking down at her just a mere two inches away. It's skull was formed into a thick crest that extended over the middle of its back, and also formed a nasty-looking beak. Set in two narrow slits carved into its skull, as if to prevent the beast from expressing anything EXCEPT deadliness, were two glowing red eyes.
Asuka gulped. The monster glared down at her, jerking slightly to the side as Ranma grabbed it and tried to pull it away.
She noted that it had a Pancor Jackhammer automatic shotgun occupying its maw, a fact which she greatly appreciated at that moment.

Ranma grunted as he firmly grabbed the creature around the neck, fitting his arms under its neck crest. Hesitating slightly at the frightening warning growl that the thing elicited, Ranma readjusted his own neck so that it wouldn't be such a convenient target for the claws above.
"Ranma! Try and get it to open its mouth! Kyle, will you give us a hand over here?" Snake yelled, rushing down from the stairs and running around to the front of the creature.
Ranma blinked as Kyle rushed over and tried to hold back the claws mounted on its back. "What? No! It's on the Captain!"
Snake looked down from where he was trying to pry his gun from the monster's beak. "Oh. So he is."
Asuka shivered as the creature atop her began to writhe under Ranma's grip. "Snake, if you're responsible for this thing, so help me-" She cut off as the thing snorted fiercely, blasting air into her face.
"Actually, I brought him," Seras chuckled, walking down the stairs calmly.
Tycho, Sakura, and Tiro all stared as the commonly wasted doctor sat down on his heels and then whistled sharply, beckoning the monster with his index finger.
The large creature craned its neck to the side to look at the professor, then hastily spit the shotgun out of its mouth and clambered over to Seras, dragging Ranma and Kyle along with it.
"He's, uh... stronger than he looks," Ranma remarked, carefully letting his arms slide out from around the creature's neck so that he could disengage himself. Kyle wasn't nearly so careful, and had already jumped away out of slashing range. "And he looks REALLY strong."
Asuka held her eyes shut tight as Snake lifted the slimy autoshotgun off of her face. After he was done, she carefully raised a hand, while still lying on her back, and tenderly wiped some alien saliva off of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
Then she jumped to her feet, her face red with fury, and jabbed a finger at the large beast.
"Tuko, you had better explain this now, and had better explain this WELL!! Or... or... I'll have Snake kill that thing!"
Snake brightened considerably at that, and immediately began scrubbing drool off of his shotgun with his shirt.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down! It's all right! He was just playing around!" Seras tried to explain, holding his hands up in the air. At his feet, the creature glared about the room and let out a low hiss.
"Where did he come from?" Kyle asked curiously, scratching his head.
Seras smiled proudly. "Well, over our vacation during Christmas, I apparently got too drunk to remember how to get home. So I wandered about and eventually found myself in a large Christmas party held by software developers. I think. Anyway, I'm not very clear on how the rest of the night went, but I think I won some sort of drinking contest while I was there, because I woke up in the Houston Airport in Texas wearing a sailor fuku."
"Boy, was I surprised to find him," Snake interjected.
Seras continued. "Anyway, the big guy here was right next to me, with a red ribbon tied around his neck. I call him Hunter."
Asuka nodded her head slightly, settling down. "Okay, makes sense... well, for you, anyway. But what is it?"
Seras shrugged. "I haven't the slightest."
"Well, whatever he is," Ranma remarked, looking at a small line of writing that seemed to be etched into the side of Hunter's carapace, "he's copyrighted by Blizzard Software."
An uneasy silence settled over the room as everyone stared at Hunter, unsure of what to say next. Then Sakura stepped up to him and patted him over the head. "He's so cute!"
*Thud!* Mass facefaulting ensued.
Sakura began stroking the beast under its neck, and it let out a low-pitched hiss that really could have meant anything. "Can we keep him?"
The entire room nearly fell down again.
Kyle staggered to his feet. "I don't know... taking care of your own killer alien is a lot of responsibility!"
"What does it eat?" Tycho asked, propping himself up on a desk.
Seras shrugged. "I don't really know."
"Aw, it looks like he has a tummy ache." Everybody in the room turned their heads to look back at Sakura, who had began to rub Hunter's belly soothingly.
The alien beast swayed on its legs slightly from side to side, then his entire body suddenly jerked and he began coughing fiercely.
"Haock!! Graghk! Plakth!!" With a final heave, the DAPC's new pet hacked up a big red slimeball that hit the floor in a wet blob. Upon a moment's inspection, it was revealed that the slime itself wasn't red, but that there was actually a red object covered in various biological fluids.
Ranma blinked. "Hey... isn't that the electric collar you made for that terrorist guy up in the lab space?"
Seras scratched his head. "Why, so it is...... I was wondering what happened to him."
Everyone in the room sweatdropped heavily except Sakura, who went back to petting Hunter.
"The poor thing, the electric shots must have hurt his stomach!"
"Or maybe the terrorist's skull?" Kyle wondered aloud. Everyone sweatdropped again.

Asuka sighed wearily, rubbing her head. "Well, whatever. If that's all, I'm going to my office to-"
"Actually," Snake interrupted, freezing Asuka in her tracks.
"God damn it..." the Captain muttered, and then slowly turned around. "Yes?"
Snake had a big grin plastered over his face, and Asuka fiercely resisted the feeling of dread that threatened to overwhelm her senses. "Well, I thought you might like to know that we got some new equipment in over the holidays."
"What, some new guns?" Tiro asked. "Do we really need any more weapons?"
Snake looked at him as if he was stupid. "Of course we do! But you're wrong, anyway. Well, sort of. Technically, I guess you could say that."
"What is it Snake?" Asuka snapped. She really just wanted to get this over with and return to the protected bubble of relative sanity that was her office.
Snake raised a hand up and beckoned to his companions with his index finger. "Follow me."
The assembled officers did so, leaving Seras to return to his lab, and Snake began talking as he led them down the hall and past the locker rooms.
"Remember those two IS-2s that we captured at the hotel?"
"The Russian tanks, right?" Tycho asked.
"Right. Well, I have some pals in the R&D labs, and we like to collect those sorts of things."
Ranma blinked. "You collect tanks?"
Snake shrugged. "Tanks, automatic weapons, bombs, ballistic missiles, you know, a little bit of everything. Anyway, I already have an IS-2, so I sent the captured ones to them." He turned toward Ranma. "Actually, they're the ones that made your rail gun."
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Okay... so what do want to show us?"
Snake finally reached the door to the garage, and threw it open. "They're pretty cool guys, and when somebody does them a favor, they reply in kind."
"........................" Everyone stared into the garage, stunned silent. Ranma idly raised a hand to scratch his neck below his pigtail. Tycho started to grin. Sakura was at the rear of the group with Hunter (who had followed her), and unconsciously hugged him to her a little bit.
As usual, it was up to Kyle to break the silence. "Wow. That's a big tank."
Snake smiled broadly, nodding his head. "Isn't it?! This is the Firestorm Mk. IV prototype armored weapons platform. It sports a revolutionized 140 mm. anti-armor cannon, a heavy minigun firing station mounted atop the main turret there, a 200 mm. anti-sliver artillery cannon mounted on the side, guided Black Jacket missiles, and muti-warhead cluster rockets mounted in the compartment on the side opposite the artillery piece!" Snake proclaimed proudly, fists on his hips.
Ranma took a visual stock of the hulking death machine, cataloguing the different weapons as Snake pointed them out. The artillery cannon, which was the only item that looked particularly out of place among the assortment of unnecessarily big guns, was nearly the length of the entire vehicle, and looked to be mounted on a lever so that it could be lifted up to fire at an angle, though it could still only fire forward, attached as it was to the tank body. The entire machine was a very dark gray, though it didn't look as if it was painted.
Snake continued speaking. "The Firestorm boasts an experimental new alloy armor that was designed for use in developing fusion reactor cores! Redundant sensor arrays located on the turret and body allow for reliable visual navigation and targeting, while state-of-the-art fuel cells allow an unparalleled operation time and movement distance before refueling! How cool is that?!"
"......................" Everyone continued staring at the tank, unsure of how to respond.
That is, until Tiro shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I got a Playstation 2 for Christmas."
"Whoa!"
"You're kidding!"
"That's awesome!"
"Dude, can I come over your house?"
Snake's left eye twitched as everyone but Asuka immediately surrounded Tiro. "What is the world coming to when simulated destruction and killing is preferred over the real thing?" he muttered, irritated.
Asuka sighed and clapped her hand over his shoulder. "Give it a rest, Snake. Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I actually think it's pretty neat that some psycho gave you a big enough cannon to wipe out half the Japanese armed forces."
Snake blinked and turned towards his superior officer, smiling hopefully. "Really?"
Asuka smiled. "No. And if I had the time or patience, I would have this thing returned to where it came from, in several pieces if possible." She turned around pointedly, ignoring Snake's hurt expression. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got paperwork to do, so don't bother me."

Snake watched her go, his left eye twitching. Then he sighed, and let his frustration flow out of him.
"One day... one day I'll show them all! Just you wait!" He mumbled to himself, jabbing a finger at the door Asuka had walked out of. "Someday, I'll-"
*Crunch!!*
"Whoa!! No Hunter! Down boy!"
"Christ, he's eating the squad car!!"
Snake blinked, and then turned around toward where the DAPC's newest member was chewing through the hood of a police car and was ripping the bumper off to gnaw on.
"Hey! That's my car! Down, Hunter! Bad... thing! Stop!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Darkness.
Emptiness.
The inky void washed thick over the new mind that was Viper. In his unconsciousness, he did not dream. Did not remember. His subconscious did not speculate.
For how could a consciousness that had never been conscious think? An entity that has experienced nothing, remember? A mind that had never wondered, dream?
Pain. A flaring red bolt in the blackness.
It fascinated this new consciousness, and it followed the feeling. Like an insect flying toward a streak of light in the dark.
More pain. A rhythmic hum of dull jolts, coursing through his body.
Electricity?
How could a mind that had experienced nothing before put a name to a feeling? What was going on?
The pain intensified.
Light.

Viper jolted upright, suddenly taking in the entire room as his eyes snapped open.
The details did not come slowly, nor did his eyes need time to readjust, as he thought might be the case. Of course, he had no idea why he thought that would be the case in the first place. Odd.
He was in a small room with metal walls, with a single door in front of him. He was lying on a thin, hard hospital mattress shoved into a back corner with a white sheet over him.
Frowning, Viper turned to look at the place his head had rested.
Spaced an equal distance from the impression his head had made, so that they would contact his shoulders, were two metal pads with wires coming from them. No doubt the source of the electricity.
'But how do I know that?' Viper wondered to himself, staring at his bed. 'Metal conducts electricity. Wires conduct electricity. But it's safe to touch the wires while the metal pads will shock me. How do I know?'
He stared for a few moments longer at his bed, then shrugged and pushed his feet over the side of the mattress. 'Eh, who cares?'
Slipping off the bed, he stood up and tested his legs for balance and strength. Nothing seemed amiss at all, so he looked down at himself to take stock of the rest of his person.
Viper frowned. Hawaiian shorts. This would not do.
Looking back toward the bed he had awoken on, he noticed a pile of clothes underneath it. Smiling, he grabbed up the ensemble. He had a pair of jeans, some socks and boots, and a big black shirt with white letters that said: [I support gun control! Always use both hands when you shoot someone in the face!]
Putting on the clothes he had found, Viper made sure that everything was neat and straight, and then cast a final look at the metal room he was in.
Then he turned toward the door, grabbed the knob, and twisted it.

The two Freedom's Angels blinked themselves awake as they heard the scraping sound of the door they were guarding, and turned as the heavy steel door slowly opened.
The door had opened so that the door swung out right in front one of the guards, who could only see what was coming out of the room by the little plastic window set into the heavy barrier. The other guard, however, could clearly see the man that stepped out, and whistled at the sight.
"Damn, they really did do-"
*Wham!* Viper sucker-punched the man in the face, and at the same time kicked the door hard, causing it to swing back further on its hinges and smash into the guard on the opposite side.
"Ow! The hell?!" The terrorist shouted, holding his nose. What was going on here? This guy was supposed to be on their side!
Before he could recover enough to make a half-decent attempt to defend himself, Snake had grabbed the barrel of the terrorist's AK-47 and then used that hold to put some extra force into a kick to the man's stomach.
The guard gasped as he fell backward onto the hard tile floor, noting with a fair amount of dread that his automatic rifle had been ripped from his grasp.
Trying to recover his breath, the stunned terrorist looked up fearfully into the eyes of his attacker.
"But... why?"
Viper heard the door behind him being moved as the other guard tried to push it closed, and he kicked back to slam the steel barrier back against the wall. Then he checked his newly acquired rifle and grinned.
"What is this human preoccupation with 'why'? Things happen, and if you're lucky, you're still alive afterward."
Then the clone cheerfully leveled the AK-47 at the terrorist's face. "You're not lucky. So who cares why?"
*Rattattattattattattattattatta!!*
__________________________________________________________________________________

"So now that the subject has been deployed, it will automatically seek the target area without further instruction? I didn't realize the chemical processes were so precise."
Yoshi nodded absently to his fellow scientist's question. "Yes, the control system makes it possible to cause certain synapses in the brain to-" Yoshi stopped talking suddenly, and deliberately cleared his throat.
The man next to him blinked, and was about to ask why Yoshi had stopped talking, when the door to the small lab space opened with such force that it slammed against the inside wall and left an impression in the metal surface from the door knob.
The man's eyes widened, and he quickly lost control of much of his thought processes.
Alexandra Tokima stood in the doorway, her hair in disarray and her chest heaving from what Yoshi could only guess was a hard sprint down to his lab space. Yoshi also guessed that in her haste she had left Bei in the dust somewhere behind her, as the shorter girl wasn't present.
Yoshi looked Alex over and sighed. "Yes? What is it now?"
Alex grit her teeth and walked right over to the diminutive geneticist, grabbed him by the collar, and then lifted him up in the air so that she could look him straight in the eyes.
"Don't take that tone with ME, you arrogant little toad!! Your 'experiment' has gone out of control! I'm going to rip off your arm and beat you to death with it!!"
The other scientist's eyes kept getting larger and larger, and he suddenly got the urge to find a place to hide.
Yoshi, for his part, blinked innocently. "Out of control? How so?"
"He broke out of the room we were holding him in, dispatched the guards, and then left the facility, killing everything in his way! A fifth of our armory is gone and 23 men are dead!" The terrorist general spat.
"How many wounded?" Yoshi asked suddenly.
Alex blinked. "None. Why?"
"I figured as much," Yoshi thought aloud. "He's very thorough."
*Thud* Alex let Yoshi fall to the ground as she let go, and the small man landed unsteadily on his feet. "What are you going to do about this?!"
Yoshi shrugged. "I don't see a reason to do anything. By whatever means he used to leave this complex, our scans show that he's making good progress toward his target. To stop him now would be a foolish waste."
Alex narrowed her eyes, but her temper cooled slightly. "And what is this... target. You didn't tell me any of this."
Yoshi adjusted his glasses. "Why, the headquarters of the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment, of course! I thought it was fairly obvious. What better place to use a clone of one of their own officers?"
Alex frowned. "I suppose..." then her gaze heated up again, "but what does it matter? Even if he succeeds, he'll kill anything that he sees, including us! What use is a weapon if it can't be controlled?"
Yoshi rolled his eyes, an action which notably increased Alexandra's temper by a few dozen degrees. "I don't expect you to understand the mind-boggling complications that are involved with chemically controlling a human mind, Alex. I'm sure you have less complex ways of getting men to do what you want." His droll expression made the woman twitch, but she managed to hold herself in check.
"In any case," Yoshi continued, turning around, "the control processes we're using involve branches of science barely comprehensible to the common mind, and are unimaginably difficult to implement. I hardly think it's unfair to ask for some margin of patience and tolerance concerning their execution. I'm certain you can find it in your best interests to forgive a few minor setbacks and mistakes."
With a disgusted snarl, Alexandra whirled around and stalked out of the lab, grabbing the door knob and slamming the door closed hard enough that the reinforced hinges creaked and shook from the force.

Yoshi calmly went back to observing a series of computer printouts, apparently unconcerned with Alexandra's intrusion.
His companion wasn't so strong of will, however, and took a few moments to get his bearings before turning to the master geneticist.
"Konta, I thought you said the control processes were working perfectly."
Yoshi looked up, and then nodded. "Yes, they are."
"...... Oh. Okay."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nerima, Japan.
Few other places in the world had seen so much destruction and unrest as the little district of Nerima. As a district of Tokyo, it was an inferno of trouble among hotspots. No citizen of the deceptively peaceful-looking area had been spared the frequent rampages of the local fighters, and on every street and wall could be found signs of repair, as if some massive beast had torn the town itself to pieces.
It was commonly known that being a resident of Nerima, you were privy to the "ugly side of martial arts".
And yet, on this day, the land seemed subdued. As Calvin Asmodeus walked the streets of Nerima, there was an almost imperceptible sense of... loss, perhaps? Or maybe regret?
Wolf could not say exactly what the feeling was, but a quick look around told him that something was missing. Like a dam that had sprouted a single tiny hole at its base, this area felt as if its life had been slowly drained from it.
Wolf couldn't exactly say what gave him this feeling. It could have been anything, really. It could have been that at every intersection there was a [No fighting; 10,000 yen fine] sign that was rusting and falling off its bolts from disrepair. Maybe it was the numerous lumber and home repair shops that had [Out of business] signs on the front. Or maybe it was because the construction worker up ahead with the [Will work for food] sign was the seventh one he'd seen on this street alone.
Wolf shook his head as the man tried to attract his attention by yelling out a pathetic-sounding story about how there were no more craters to fill in the streets any more and how all the roofs were in good shape now. Wolf moved on. He found it hard to sympathize with there being too little property damage.
He heard some paper crumple under his foot, and he stopped and looked down. Under his boot was a sign that clearly said [Do not hug pole]. Looking up at the closest pole, he noticed several of the signs plastered onto it, although there was not a one of them that wasn't torn or dirty from neglect. Oddly enough, the pole also showed signs of being repaired, and with some inspection of the repairs, Wolf noted that it appeared the pole had been completely broken in two. He wondered if someone had tried to hug it.
"Ah, can I help you?"
Wolf turned his head at the voice. "Thank you, maybe you can. I'm looking for someone. Or, at least, information about someone."
The girl who had stepped outside to sweep smiled brightly at the German, thinking perhaps to flirt with him a little and get his number. "Oh, I'd be happy to help! Ask me anything!"
Wolf bowed his head graciously in thanks and slowly lowered his shades so that she could look him in the eyes. "What can you tell me about a man named Ranma Saotome?"
As predicted, from what Wolf had gathered in his questioning so far, the girl immediately locked up, and her smile became strained.
"Ra-Ranma S-Sa-Saotome? W-Why? Why would you want to know about him?" She asked, almost in a panic.
Wolf sighed and tried to stay as calm and relaxed as possible so as not to alarm her. "I would just like to know a little more about him, that is all. If you feel uncomfortable with telling me-"
"I definitely feel uncomfortable with telling you!" The girl shouted, and then flushed in embarrassment at her outburst.
Shaking his head slightly, Wolf took out a small circle cut from a photograph from his pocket. "Very well, then do you feel comfortable with telling me anything about this woman?"
The girl blinked. It was a picture of Akane, looking only a few years younger than she was now. It looked as if there were other people in the picture with her, but with only Akane cut out, she couldn't tell who they might have been.
"Well... I guess it's okay..." The girl ventured. People that were after Akane made a significantly lesser ruckus than those who were after Ranma, and if the stories were anywhere near accurate, Ranma himself was usually the one that caused the ruckus while trying to get Akane back. "That girl is Akane Tendo, of the Tendo Dojo. She lives just two blocks down, on the right. You can't miss it. I heard that her fiance is sick or something, but I really shouldn't say anything other than that."
Wolf nodded and then bowed politely, putting Akane's image back in his pocket. "Thank you very much. I appreciate your help." Then he turned away, and continued his trek toward the dojo.
He had found other people that were more willing to talk about Akane than Ranma, but as soon as he had dropped Ranma's name, they had mostly locked up and weren't willing to tell him much. He hadn't heard anything about a fiance, sick or otherwise, from anybody else.

After a bit more walking, and after turning down three more unemployed construction workers, Wolf had reached the front yard before the Tendo Dojo.
Straightening his sunglasses, the German mercenary crossed the distance to the front door, and swiftly knocked to announce his presence.
Within a few moments, he could hear soft footsteps approaching the door. There was a clicking noise as the knob was turned, and then the door opened to reveal an attractive, long-haired brunette wearing a floral-pattern housedress. She looked to be a few years older than Ranma, and had her hair tied mid-back into a ponytail.
"Hello, may I help you?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. Clearly the woman was somewhat confused as to what he was doing here.
Wolf smiled casually. "Hello. Is this the residence of a Miss Akane Tendo?"
The woman blinked, and then nodded. "Is this about her fiance?"
Wolf raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so. May I speak with her please? My name is Wolf, but she does not know me."
She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my. I'm sorry, but Akane isn't in right now. You're welcome to stay until she returns, though. My name is Kasumi Tendo."
Wolf bowed graciously. "That would be much appreciated, thank you Miss Tendo."
Kasumi led him inside, and Wolf settled himself on the living room couch as Kasumi excused herself to get some tea.
The house seemed modest enough, with furnishings that suggested a rather tight budget. Looking through the hallway, Wolf could see out to the backyard, and barely see the entrance to the dojo.
When he observed the house closely though, he began to see much of what he saw outside, but with much greater frequency. The ceiling was a patchwork of fairly recent boards among much older ones, spots along the walls looked as if they had been replaced within the last few years, and what he had at first mistaken for a pattern on the coffee table was actually splintered indentations that had been filled with sawdust and then hastily smoothed and polished over.
"Here's some tea, Mr. Wolf. Can I get you anything else?" Kasumi asked, setting down a cup before the man.
"No, thank you, I'm fine." Wolf reassured her. "Although maybe you can help me with something I've been having some trouble with."
Kasumi blinked and tilted her head slightly to one side. "Oh? And what would that be?"
Wolf took a short sip from his cup, and then lowered it from his mouth, idly swishing the minty liquid around in his mouth before swiftly swallowing.
"Do you know a man named Ranma Saotome?" He asked finally, taking off his sunglasses as he spoke to look Kasumi in the eyes. People who didn't want to answer a question found it easier when faced with two black panes rather than a pair of eyes.
Wolf didn't need to have worried, however. Kasumi merely uttered a soft sigh and put down her tea before settling her hands in her lap. "I knew him. Rather well, actually."
Wolf noted the 'knew' that she had subtly emphasized. That indicated that she didn't know his current whereabouts. "He used to live in this district, correct?"
Kasumi nodded. "He used to live in this house."
Wolf blinked, and then slowly nodded his head. "Can you tell me anything about him? Anything at all?"
Kasumi pursed her lips as she thought. "Well, what do you want to know? I can tell you a lot about his past, but I have no idea where he's been for the last few years."
"He doesn't keep in touch?" Wolf ventured.
"It's more than that," Kasumi said sadly, "he doesn't want us to find him."
Wolf was about to take another sip of tea, but put his cup down and raised an eyebrow when Kasumi said this. "Really? Why?"
Kasumi sighed. "For a variety of good reasons, I suppose. Ranma's life was never easy, and he had a lot of problems while he lived here. I'm sad to say that my family, and my little sister Akane were the source of most of those problems. I really can't blame him at all for leaving, but..."
Wolf rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin up on his hands. "But what?"
She glanced at him, as if unsure of what she was going to say. And then she said it anyway. "It's just so different without him here. He lived in our house for less than two years, but while he was here, he became a part of Nerima. And once he left, I think that part of Nerima... died." Kasumi looked up at Wolf to see if he was giving her any odd looks, but saw that he was only giving her his rapt attention. "It just hasn't been the same since he left."
Wolf cocked his head to one side. "How did it used to be?"
Kasumi licked her lips as she thought about it. "Well... chaotic, I suppose. Ranma used to bring so much to Nerima. Bad things, mostly, but he attracted everyone's interest sooner or later. I wouldn't have been able to see a tenth of the amazing things I've seen had he never lived here. But Ranma and his friends did cause a lot of damage." She sighed wistfully, and Wolf raised an eyebrow as she smiled fondly in remembrance. "Every day there was another fight. People kept coming to Nerima, all following Ranma. People who smashed concrete with their fists, shot fireballs from their hands, and could destroy rock with a single touch." Kasumi stopped smiling. "When Ranma left, the only people who weren't happy about it were some of the girls. Ranma always was a charmer."
Wolf nodded. "But then things began to decline?"
Kasumi nodded after him. "Yes. New people still appeared and fights still happened, but they happened less frequently. And they still centered around Ranma. Only Ranma wasn't there. Every battle was like a pair of lions fighting over prey that had already fled. After enough time went by, the fights stopped entirely, a few shops up and left, including two of the best restaurants in town, Furinkan High became a heavily disciplined, well-enforced school, and everything descended into a terrible rut." Kasumi lowered her eyes sadly. "Without Ranma here, it's like the life just bled out of Nerima."
Wolf slowly gulped down some more tea, a bit surprised at the waterfall of expression coming from the woman before him. Clearly, she had been thinking on this a long time without being able to tell anyone. "Tell me, what was Ranma like?"
Kasumi smiled at that. "Oh, Ranma was just a wonderful person. I mean, he was rude at times, short-tempered, egotistical, and could be selfish and insensitive, but there was just so much good in him. He was kind, forgiving, cheerful, caring, and noble. He always just tried to be himself, and further his art and skill. And he always had a great concern for those around him, even if they didn't deserve it at all."
Wolf drained the last of his cup and set it down on the table. "I see. He sounds like a fine man. Why did he leave?"
Kasumi winced slightly, and Wolf knew that he had hit something important. "Well... he was engaged, by an arrangement, to my little sister, you see? Her name is Akane."
Wolf nodded slowly, as if hearing that name for the first time. He was surprised at the "engaged" part though. Didn't that girl say that Akane's fiance was hurt?
"As much as I hate to say it, Akane never treated Ranma very well. I suppose he treated her badly as well, but Akane took it to extremes that Ranma would never dare to go. He did an awful lot for her, but she never really opened up to him or appreciated him very much, and she was horribly jealous of his attention. It didn't make for a smooth relationship."
Wolf gave Kasumi his total attention. This was interesting stuff, and might explain the photograph he had found.
"Ranma had several other... girls pursuing him, but he kept them at bay, and stayed by Akane's side. Then, she left him." Kasumi said the last part a tad bitterly, or perhaps ironically. Either way, it seemed pretty clear that she thought her sister's choice was a mistake. "She took a man she had known for almost two years, who had traveled with her, fought by her side, and sacrificed for her, and threw him away for some college student that her friend introduced her to."
Kasumi leaned back a bit, raising her eyes to stare at the ceiling. "My other sister, Nabiki, said that she was doing it to make Ranma jealous, and I think that she was right. But Ranma felt betrayed, not jealous. And he didn't fight Kenji-that's his name-for Akane out of possessiveness or try to fight her decision and win her back. He left. Akane was quite upset at him when he did leave, but there was nothing anybody could do about it, and not even I could find it in my heart to sympathize with her." Kasumi looked down again, and stared into her tea. "Akane continued dating Kenji, and a few months ago they became engaged. With still no word from Ranma. We have no idea where he is, and Akane gave up looking long ago." She sighed. "I honestly think she gave up caring too, and that's what I feel worst about. Because I know she really isn't over him. She did love him, even if she didn't-"
The front door opened up, and Kasumi stopped herself short as she stood up to greet whoever was coming.
Into the living room walked a shorter, well-built woman with shoulder-length black hair. She was dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt, and was currently thumbing through a stack of envelopes.
"Oh! Hello Akane," Kasumi greeted, smiling at her younger sister. "Are there any bills I need to take to father?"
Akane nodded absently at her sister's greeting. "Hello Kasumi... hmmm... here's one... and two..." She slipped those into one hand and held them out for Kasumi to take as a particular envelope caught her eye.
After Kasumi took the bills, Akane sighed and ripped open the envelope she was looking at, briefly scanning the letter before crumpling it up in her hand.
"Who are these 'Freedom's Angels' guys? They keep sending me a membership application, like, every other week! Why do they want my cooking so badly, anyway?"
Wolf noted that Kasumi's expression had turned perfectly neutral. He stood up. "Akane Tendo, I presume?"
Akane's head jerked toward him, aware of his presence for the first time. "What the... who are you?" This was weird. Kasumi had brought a man home? Very unlikely, especially as this guy looked like some kind of Yakuza dealer, or perhaps a martial artist out to maim her ex-fiance.
Wolf bowed to her. "You may call me Wolf. I just had a few questions to ask you, if that's all right."
Kasumi exited the room toward the kitchen as Akane looked Wolf over.
"I don't know... what kind of questions?"
"They all pertain toward Ranma Saotome, actually." Wolf answered frankly.
Akane narrowed her eyes. "What about him?"
"How good a fighter is he?" Wolf asked, changing his previous line of questioning. This girl was obviously a fighter, so she would be more prepared, and likely comfortable, answering a question like that.
Akane blinked. "How good a fighter..." She cupped her chin in her hand, considering. "Well, he's good, but not nearly as good as he thinks. He gets lucky a lot and then acts like he's some kind of fighting genius."
Wolf nodded obligingly. "Ah... yes, thank you. He does seem very skilled."
Akane shrugged, frowning. "He's all right. He's no 'martial arts God', not that you'd know, talking to him."
"Do you know where I can find him?" Wolf asked. Of course, he already knew she didn't, and he in fact DID know where to find him, but he was still interested in how she would answer.
Akane shook her head. "No, he took off a while ago. And if I have my way, he'll stay gone too."
Wolf raised an eyebrow. "Just left? What was he doing here?"
"Just left," Akane confirmed, frowning. "The jerk didn't even say goodbye. Just ran off and left everyone, even his parents." Wolf noted that she didn't answer his second question.
"He doesn't seem very pleasant to be around." Wolf said, picking up his shades and slipping them back on.
Akane shook her head. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one. But I'm glad he's gone. Heck, everyone's glad he's gone. He never did anything around here except cause trouble, and I don't need him anyway. I already have a fiance."
"Indeed." Wolf nodded and stood up. "Well, I must thank you for your time. You've been very helpful."
Akane nodded back. "Okay. No trouble. Why did you want to know all this, anyway?"
"Curiosity. It's not often one meets somebody like Saotome, and I wished to know what molds a man like that. I think I know now." Wolf walked toward the front door and opened it, but before he left, he turned back toward Akane. "I couldn't help overhearing, as I was wandering through town, that your fiance has fallen ill. You have my deepest condolences."
Akane blinked. "Oh! Uh, thank you. Yeah, Kenji's in the hospital right now. He... He should be fine though."
Wolf nodded. "Good, good. If I may ask, what are the nature of his injuries?"
The German was quite surprised when an embarrassed flush spread across Akane's face. "He... uh... it's just..." looking down, she said, and with a heavy dose of guilt, "food poisoning. And blunt cranial trauma. It's nothing serious though!" She insisted.
"I'm sure," Wolf said reassuringly. "Again, I was just curious. Thank you for your hospitality, and good day."
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Crank* *Crank* *Clack*
The empty, lonely sounds of machining echoed within the large concrete well of the DAPC garage, its only audience the numerous vehicles stored away in the reinforced, oversized closet.
The composer lie on his haunches, staring at a collection of parts critically. His was a symphony of function and ugly precision, not beauty, for the role of a mechanic is one in which aesthetics has no place.
*Wind* *Wind* *Creak*
The last sound of that particular verse, however, was not one that came from Tycho and his stainless steel orchestra, but that of another man, a composer of different instruments, entering the driver's sacred hall.
"Hey Wattai," Snake greeted automatically.
"Hi Snake," Tycho greeted back absently, holding a screwdriver in one hand and a monkey wrench in the other.
Glancing at Tycho, Snake observed his squad car critically. "Hmmm... well, I was going to ask you to fix my car, but we stopped Hunter from tearing up the engine much, so the damage is mostly to the hood and front bumper. So I'm gonna take it to an auto shop. That cool?"
"Cool," Tycho replied, still not glancing in the lieutenant's direction.
Snake slipped into the driver's side of his car, and leaned out the window toward his subordinate. "I'll be back in a few hours! If anybody needs me, I'll be downtown, okay?"
Tycho nodded toward his pile of metal. "I'll tell them."
*Chooooooom* The unsteady grind of chains shook the garage as the main door opened, pouring light and fresh air into the stale concrete cell of the garage.
Snake sped off without another word, and the heavy grind returned, once again casting the vehicle bay in its collection of shadows.

*Wind* *Wind* *Clank*
Tycho returned to his work in earnest, his mind forming blueprints and connecting the various parts with their representative drawings.
*Crank* *Klink* *Slam!*
Once again, his composition was interrupted from an entrance behind him.
"Hi Snake," Tycho greeted absently.
Viper blinked, then looked toward the DAPC's head mechanic. "Hi." Then the evil clone looked around the garage, and grinned wickedly.
"Hey, you," he said, jabbing a finger at the preoccupied driver, "I feel like blowing up something, so I'm going to take this tank here and wipe out some buildings, maybe mow down a few crowds of innocent bystanders and cause general havoc and confusion. That cool?"
"Cool," Tycho replied, still not glancing in the clone's direction.
Grinning maliciously, Viper jumped up atop the armored war machine, lifted the entry hatch, and then slipped inside.
"The keys are right here! Perfect!" Then he popped his head out of the tank turret and turned toward Tycho. "If any of your companions wish to stop me, I'll be annihilating people downtown. They cross me at their own peril."
Tycho nodded toward his pile of metal. "I'll tell them."
This time, the grinding chain of the garage door was followed by the much heavier grind of tank treads as the armored machine lumbered out onto the streets of Tokyo, its massive cannons primed for destruction.

*Clank* *Clank* *Wind*
Suddenly, Tycho's eyes shot open in revelation. "Wait a minute!"
He pointed to the collection of parts he had assembled so far, "This plug goes in the exhaust port for the piston, not the fuel injection system! Aw, man! Now I have to take the &#*%^$@ thing out again!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Junko tiredly hit the button on her car radio as the station went to commercial again, interrupting the flow of music with inane praise for objects nobody needed and stores that nobody ever visited.
She was late for work, not that it really bothered her. Though Asuka gave the impression of being very strict, the police captain had long ago given up on actual discipline, and everybody knew it.
"But still, I should have gone a little easier on the booze last night," she muttered to herself, rubbing her head irritably. At least the guy she woke up next to was really nice. What was his name again?
*And so temperatures remain in the 9-11 degree Celsius bracket, with a chance of hail tomorrow, and a heavy chance of snow all weekend.*
"Come on, come on..." Junko mumbled, moving forward as the cars began moving, only to stop again as the light turned red, with vehicles stuck all the way across the intersection before her. "Dammit..."
*In local news, a rogue tank has appeared out of nowhere in central Tokyo, and is even as we speak wreaking a path of total destruction downtown, destroying everything in its path as it roams the streets.*
Junko blinked. "Well THAT'S not good..." she turned her attention fully toward her radio.
*Core, the Central Organized Response Echelon and elite armed forces for the general Tokyo area, has been deployed in order to contain the situation. Civilians are advised to avoid contact with armed forces at all costs. The rogue unit is currently headed east down Yake Avenue, and approaching Kimone Street.*
Junko looked up, frowning. "Bull. That's the street I'm on. There's no-"
*KA-THWOOOM!!!* A car three vehicles ahead detonated violently, throwing the frame up in the air and blowing out shrapnel as fire rushed out into the surrounding cars.
Junko blinked as people began to scream and evacuate the area, jumping out of their vehicles and rushing away from the direction of the sudden hail of explosives.
"Well, crap."
*KA-THWOOOM!!!* Another car on the opposite side of the street went up in massive fireball, and the shell continued on to blast aside the vehicle immediately next to it as well.
Junko stared as the massive armored machine rolled into the intersection, heedlessly crushing the car directly in front of her like a steamroller. Shards of glass sprayed across the asphalt as metal was smashed flat atop plastic and vinyl as the tank moved on, smashing the vehicles of the next lane flat as well.
Junko continued staring as the tank stopped in the middle of the intersection. After a few moments, the hatch opened up, and Junko's eyes widened as someone who looked very much like Snake popped out and manned the minigun mounted atop the turret.
"Wither and burn, pitiful insects!! Fall before a storm of lead!! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!"
Junko leaned back in her seat and massaged her forehead as the Firestorm's heavy assault machine gun tore apart the cars viciously, leaving twisted, hole-ridden hulks of scrap wherever its aim wandered.
The redhead sighed. "Dammit! This is just what I need..." Putting pressure on the gas, Junko rolled over the flattened remains of the cars that had previously barred her progress, and speedily made her way to headquarters.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma licked his lips thoughtfully as he tested the weight in his hand, and thought of the different vectors of travel. Rotating the large metal disk in his hands experimentally, he cast a final glance at the eager retriever of the saucer before tossing his arm back and then swinging it forward, releasing the heavy steel object in a graceful curve that arced to the side as it glided through the parking lot.
Grace, however, could not save the ill-fated toy.
*Krangk!!*
Ranma winced at the sound of teeth rending steel as Hunter pounced fiercely on the flying object, clamping down hard and bringing it down to the asphalt of the parking lot.
Ranma quickly jogged up to Hunter and began to snap his fingers rapidly, at which point the beast stopped tearing the metal disk apart and let it drop onto the ground.
Picking up the utterly twisted and mutilated saucer, Ranma sweatdropped before turning back to the others and holding the decimated object in the air. "Looks like we need another manhole cover, guys!"
Tiro groaned. "Another one? Can't we just, you know, not play frisbee with Hunter any more?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Tiro, it's very important for pets to get some good exercise, you know."
"But those things are heavy!" Tiro complained, pointing to a small pile of twisted-up iron disks. Most of them were manhole covers, but there were a few, almost unrecognizable shards that were once hub caps. Needless to say, the thinner, lighter objects hadn't held up quite as well to Hunter's mighty jaws.
Kyle scratched his chin in thought. "Well, Snake has some spare armor plates set aside in the garage for the Rhino. Will those work?"
Sakura blinked. "I don't think so. Those are square, not circular."
"Do you think it really makes a difference to him?" her brother remarked drolly, jabbing a thumb at the killer alien.
"Attention!"

All the DA officers present turned sharply at the voice, and found Asuka standing at the back door to headquarters.
They all spent a moment staring at her quizzically, and the Captain sighed.
"That means stand up straight."
They all quickly did so.
Asuka cleared her throat, and then strolled over to her subordinates, hands clasped behind her back.
"I know that it seems like a long time since we've done any actual, regular work, but today we have to get back in gear." She began pacing back and forth before the row of officers. "Saotome, you'll go on patrol with lieutenant Tekai..."
Hunter, who was wondering why he had stopped being the center of attention, had walked up next to Ranma and had begun nudging the martial artist with his metal-hard head. While Ranma was doing his best to ignore the beast, he had noticed that Hunter's tail had settled directly over Asuka's path.
"Uh, Cap-"
"Tiro, I want you to go on patrol with Sakura, and you had BETTER NOT goof off like last time!" Tiro gulped as Asuka glared at him, and neither noticed what was happening on the ground until it was too late.
Hunter jerked as Asuka's heavy boots fell onto his well-armored tail, and it apparently disturbed him just enough for him to bare his teeth and growl menacingly.
"Ggggraaugh!!"
Asuka looked down sharply, not even bothering to see what was wrong. "Don't. Even. Think about it."
Hunter's red eyes blinked, and he whimpered slightly and ducked his head down.
Everyone stared. Kyle whistled.
"Wow. The tables turned pretty quickly there, huh?"
Asuka snorted, and removed her foot from over Hunter's tail. "He's just an oversized dog. You just need to let him know who's boss."
"Just an oversized dog with an extra pair of arms," Tiro ventured.
"And claws," Sakura added.
"And an insatiable hunger for human flesh..." Ranma muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Asuka was just about to wrap up her briefing, when the squeal of car tires attracted everyone's attention, and a new car entered the parking lot.
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "So Chikiko decided to come after all. Let's see what excuse she has for us."
Nobody said anything further, and they all watched with a sort of morbid, detached interest as Junko parked her car and hurried out to meet everyone.
"Miss Chikiko, you're late," Asuka remarked, as if just realizing it.
Junko nodded, and seemed somewhat out of breath. "Yeah, I know, but this is important! I think Snake's gone crazy! He's taken off on a homicidal rampage and he's running around and killing people!"
They all stared at her.
"Well THERE'S a news flash," Ranma remarked sarcastically.
"I mean in a BAD way!" Junko urged, frustrated.
The assembled officers blinked, and began to exchange worried looks.
"Tell me what you saw," Asuka commanded, fingering her lips thoughtfully.
Junko nodded. "I was on my way here when this big tank with a huge cannon attached to the side, in addition to the one on the turret, just blasted its way through an intersection! Then Snake appeared at the top, and started cutting up everything with a minigun!"
"Damn it!" Asuka spat. "Not only has he lost it for real, but he has his new toy with him."
As the others exchanged worried glances, Asuka began to pace again.
Junko sighed deeply, regretting that she had to bear the news. Then she noticed that something was amiss. "Ranma, why is there a zergling next to you?"
Kyle blinked. "Zergling? How come you know what it is?"
Junko shrugged. "I used to date this one guy who like video games more than sex. Nice guy, but it was so BORING!"
"All right, that's enough." Asuka stated, causing the assembled officers to stand at attention again. Looking back and forth across the row, she sighed.
"Obviously, our priority in this case the safety of civilians and the preservation of the city. Meaning that Snake is going down, and going down hard. Is there any here who feel they are unable to shoot, and kill, a former friend?"
Ranma raised his hand. Everybody stared at him. He stared back.
"Oh, come on! I can't be the ONLY one who has a problem with this! Not even you, Sakura?"
Sakura shrugged. "Well, he started it." The other officers, except Asuka, nodded in agreement.
The police captain rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she looked at Ranma. "Then again, I'll bet you could disable Snake without killing him, couldn't you Ranma?"
Ranma nodded. "Sure! Just get me close enough and give me some time!"
Asuka nodded. "Okay then. If you get to him before one of us do, he's all yours."
Ranma sweatdropped. "You're too kind. You've only known the guy for how many years?"
Asuka gave him an annoyed glance. "Don't start that with me. This is a critical situation, and I can't let things like that affect my judgment." She turned away, and began leading everyone into the headquarters. "Besides, I've expected him to snap for a LONG time now."
There was little everyone could do but nod to that, and they all continued to follow her into the garage.

Asuka slammed the door to the main garage open and quickly stepped through, shaking her head sadly when she saw the vacant spot that had previously held the DAPC's latest weapon of major destruction.
Then she noticed that Tycho was sitting cross-legged in a corner of the garage, with an unidentifiable pile of junk in front of him.
"Tycho! Have you seen Snake?" Asuka asked, frowning.
"Nope," Tycho replied automatically, looking over what he had built so far.
Asuka's frown got deeper. "So he just took the tank without you even noticing?"
Tycho blinked slowly. "The tank is missing?"
Everybody present sweatdropped, and Asuka sighed.
"Never mind. We're taking the Rhino," Ranma and Kyle stepped ahead of the group to open the heavy doors to the transport, when Tycho spoke up again.
"No you're not."
Asuka blinked. "Why not?"
Tycho picked up a bolt and looked at it closely. "Rhino's not running right now."
"It's not? What happened?"
Tycho sighed, and let the bolt drop and fall back into the pile of tiny bits of metal. "A few nights back I came out here, removed the Rhino's radiator, melted it down and left it in a puddle to cool outside my house. Then I took some cement and set it in both the exhaust pipes. After that, I drained the fuel and filled the tanks with red wine, before I finally took out the entire engine and did some stuff to it."
Kyle blinked. "Stuff? What did you do?"
Tycho shrugged. "I don't remember, but whatever it was, it was very thorough." He pointed down at the collection of metal at his feet.
Asuka stared at the pile of junk metal. Tycho seemed to have been working on fixing what he had done, and there was now a single pipe connected to a small metal box that had some wires sticking out of it.
She looked up at Tycho, her expression leaden. "WHY?"
Tycho blinked. "Why? ...... I don't know. I was drunk."
'I will not kill Tycho, I will not kill Tycho, I will not kill Tycho... one fellow officer in a day is plenty...'
Asuka turned toward her subordinates. "All right, change of plans. Chikiko, you're with Sakura. Tekai, you're with Yamazaki. You'll take the squad cars out and follow us to the hotspot."
Junko sweatdropped. "Squad cars... against a TANK?"
Asuka sighed. "We have to work with what we have. Don't worry though, you're not to engage Snake until he exits the tank... assuming that happens, of course." She turned toward Ranma. "You're with me Saotome. We're taking the Nighthawk."
"The what?" Ranma muttered, following Asuka.
As the garage doors rumbled open, she led him to the far side of the garage. "You remember way back, when you had just started here, the attack cycle that Wattai totaled?"
Ranma blinked. "No."
"Well, whatever," Asuka muttered. "Here it is anyway."
It looked sleek enough, Ranma observed, almost like something out of a Batman movie. It was all black, with a large shield mounted on the front that curved back to cover the sides of the driver. It also had quite a few miscellaneous attachments, many of which Ranma assumed to be weapons.
Asuka slipped a crash helmet on, and then sat on the large seat of the motorcycle, sliding forward into the grooves meant for the driver.
Ranma scratched his head and shrugged. Climbing on behind her, he slid forward and wrapped his arms around Asuka's waist, like he always saw people do on TV.
She looked back at him. "Aren't you going to put on a helmet?"
Ranma blinked. "What for?"
She stared at him through the shaded visor for a few seconds, then shook her head and turned forward again. "Right... you'll probably just flip away or something if we get in an accident, huh?" She gunned the engine, and Ranma jerked backward as the bike glided out of the garage.
"Uh... I guess... why?"
"Never mind," Asuka said. "We'll actually be very lucky if we end up getting hurt by accident." Asuka hit a button on the dash as she slipped into traffic, sliding from one lane to the next to pass the cars in front of her.
"This is Captain Takami guys. Junko, where did you see Snake last?"
*Psssht* *Going east downtown. Down the main roads, it seemed. The guys on the radio say those areas have been evacuated and Core soldiers are moving in.*
Asuka changed lanes to get alongside an 18-wheeler, and sped up to pass. Despite being a motorcycle, the armor plates and protrusions mounted on the side actually gave the Nighthawk a profile comparable to a small car.
"All right, we're going in hot. Me and Saotome are going to try and get in first and draw some fire, hopefully get a feel for the situation without getting ourselves killed. I want you guys to follow my lead, but try to stay out of range while Snake's still got a tank gun under his control."
*Do you think we really stand a chance against Snake?* Kyle's voice wandered over the radio.
Asuka frowned underneath her helmet. "He's only one man, Kyle." She switched off the radio, and Ranma noted that her grip on the handlebars tightened.
"You didn't answer his question," Ranma noted.
"That's because I don't have an answer," Asuka replied neutrally, and then gunned the Nighthawk's engine as she sped downtown.
__________________________________________________________________________________

John Remerick took another long look over the forces that made up the blockade, and then turned back to Mia.
"It looks like we're as ready as we'll ever be. Do we have a positive ID on the driver?" He asked the last question with a bit of hope, which his assistant was honestly rather disappointed to see.
"Yes," Mia sighed, "It's definitely Snake, from the DAPC. Colonel Tekai has tried to notify them of the situation, but he says that the only person he could get a hold of was too drunk to communicate with."
John tried to hide his satisfaction, he really did, but there was just something about the situation that seemed to scream out that this was what he had predicted would happen and warned against. The whole scenario; Snake going crazy and running around in an illegally acquired tank, the DAPC nowhere to be seen... It all just made too much sense.
"I told them. I told everyone. The DAPC is a menace and a threat," the general muttered to himself, but loud enough for his highest-level officers to hear. "Now I'm right. God help us all, I'm right."
He turned once again toward Mia. "Colonel Tokima, contact the other blockades and get a status report. This man will NOT escape alive!"
Mia nodded and turned toward the communications van, while John's other officers stood at attention.
The blockade was an almost solid row of guns and armor. Core soldiers knelt among APCs and tanks in their ghastly protect-gear, heavy machine guns and rocket launchers leaning against their shoulders. M-1 tanks, purchased from the American military, were lined up next to each other across the width of the street, creating a wall of armored death. Merely one of four, of course.
All to kill one man.
John felt a sudden chill go down his spine, and he frowned deeply. Suddenly, something seemed wrong. It wasn't anything he could point out; merely an instinct. And yet, it was his instincts that had saved his life so often on the battlefield, and made him a general in the first place.
"Sir!" Mia shouted, rushing up to her commander. "Blockades two and four report that everything is ready and waiting! Blockade three, however..." she bit her lower lip as she hesitated, a signal that John knew meant that she was nervous. "Blockade three isn't responding. We can't communicate with them at all, and none of our communications relays can detect their comm unit."
Another colonel turned toward her, surprised. "Is there some kind of interference?"
"Yeah, being dead can usually 'interfere' like that," John spat.
The man looked shocked. "Dead? The entire blockade?!"
The general snorted. "I'm sure there were a few survivors. Our men are the some of the best out there, after all." He sighed deeply, massaging his forehead as he looked down at the concrete walk underneath him. Whatever minor satisfaction John felt at being right about the DAPC and finally being able to do something about it was drained away as the full complications of the situation hit the general head-on. "Tell our forces to move out and meet at blockade two."
Mia frowned, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Sir, I'm rather familiar with Mr. Yakata's file, and I must say that it's actually quite likely that he'll swing around and try to destroy the other three blockades rather than escaping."
The looks of disbelief on the faces of the gathered colonels and majors were nothing compared to their expressions after they heard their general's response.
"I know. That's what I'm afraid of."

Mia blinked at the seriousness in John's voice, and felt her nervousness rise a few notches.
Turning around to give the order, she caught a glimpse of a sunlight reflecting off a metal plate, and her ears picked up a smooth rushing sound. Both came from behind the blockade.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!!! MISSILES INCOMING!!!"
It was not the orders they had been expecting, but Core wasn't said to be the best in Japan for no reason, and a split-second later, the soldiers were scrambling and hitting the dirt like upset ants.
John hit the ground next to his Humvee, and looked back to see two white streaks flying in swirling arcs toward the communications van.
*ShhhhhhhHHHH-KSHYAKOOOM!!!* The entire vehicle bounced into the air as a massive fireball swept it up, and the nearby soldiers were either knocked aside from the blast or peppered with hot shrapnel as the van's walls and equipment burst outward in blackened, flaming chunks.
John didn't bother to look for the attacker before turning to the blockade and issuing his orders.
"Infantry units, fall back! All armored units, hold position and return fire! Get those rocket platforms out of the-"
*KABLAM!!!* A 140 mm. shell stabbed into the side of a Y-71 mobile missile platform, exploding with far more force as the armor-piercing munitions detonated the ammunition stores and blasted apart the thicker armor of the launcher.
The Core soldiers all began to retreat behind the armor, firing the occasional burst from their weapons between the tanks that were quickly trying to reorient themselves to return fire.

Mizu grunted as a metal plate flew from the wreckage of the Y-71 in a wild arc and slashed across her shoulder, knocking her down onto the asphalt of the street. She got up immediately, ascertaining that the shrapnel had not managed to get past her armor.
As she was picking up her rifle, she looked at the heavy armored bulb that covered her shoulder and grimaced. A deep gouge had been cut into it, and she could actually see through the cut and make out the Kevlar padding beneath the metal shielding. She was glad that she had possessed the presence of mind to move her head when she saw the vehicle explode; she wasn't sure that her helmet could've taken the hit so well.
*Boom!!* *Boom!!*
Mizu picked up her machine gun and rushed away from the armor line, glad that the blockade tanks were starting to return fire.
*KABLAM!!!* *Boom!!*
She winced as the second Y-71 got tagged and detonated, though that only left the heavy armor for the rogue tank to fire upon.
*Thoom!!*
Mizu frowned from beneath her steel mask. That didn't sound like a tank cannon. More like an artillery report.
*KA-KROOOOM!!!!* The ground shook as a tank turret was caved in from the explosion, blowing the armored shell open and tearing off the main cannon in a gigantic fireball that seemed to swallow the entire vehicle.
Mizu watched at the resulting dome of fire swallowed two of her fellow soldiers who were positioned behind the tank, and she tossed her weapon on the ground as she rushed over to help.
"Stay away from the armor! Back up and find firing positions! Fire at will!" A commander barked orders as missiles streaked from behind the armor line, all slamming with deadly accuracy into the seemingly unstoppable behemoth.
As the fire retreated into the center of the artillery cannon's impact crater, Mizu pulled one of her companions away from the destruction, flames still licking at his charred protect-gear. A quick glance to the side revealed another soldier assisting the other casualty in a similar manner. The protect gear would have protected the men from the flames, but didn't adequately shield them from the force of the explosion or the searing heat from the blast.
*KABLAM!!!*
Mizu winced under her expressionless mask as another tank fell before the Firestorm's mighty cannons. This was going to be a long day.

John cursed under his breath as he watched an artillery shell streak over the armor line and slam into the ammunition truck, destroying it completely and wiping out the resupply crews nearby in a single titanic blast.
While the armor line was faring better than the lighter vehicles, they simply couldn't do enough damage to their attacker. Looking at the dark steel goliath, John could make out a number of malformations and dents in the heavy armor, but not a single sign of significant damage.
*Boom!!* *Boom!!* *Boom!!* Another tank salvo went off, and another series of explosions momentarily engulfed the Firestorm.
*Boom!!* *Kaboom!!* The rogue tank's gun blasted into an M-1's turret, damaging the main gun but leaving the rest of the vehicle intact. Through the shroud of smoke, however, the American general could make out the Firestorm's heavier weapon being raised at a calculated angle. *Thoom!!* *KA-KROOOOM!!!!*
A major crawled up behind him, using the Humvees as cover. Not that Snake was firing at them, or that the lightly armored vehicles would provide them with any chance of survival if he did, but it was what they were trained to do.
"Sir, we have to order an infantry rush! The treads are the weak point! If we can disable his movement, we can withdraw and call in some air support to finish him off!"
John sighed. "No. Keep moving the infantry back, and have the rocket soldiers fire off the last of their rounds. Then order the tanks to retreat back to base down the street."
The major gawked at him. "But... But sir! You can't possibly believe that he can take out an infantry wave with a tank gun and an artillery cannon!"
"Not with those weapons, no," John admitted, sliding down the side of his Humvee to sit on the ground. "But I've seen a little more of the schematics on that tank than you have. The higher-ups actually have seen the plans for it already, but refused to invest money into making any more of them due to the sheer expense of a single unit." He turned toward his subordinate. "The Firestorm Mk. IV is designed to deal with any kind of direct threat short of a jet fighter, which is very difficult to utilize due to the number of very tall buildings in this area. In the case of an infantry attack, panels on the sides open up to release a four-rocket salvo into the oncoming units. The rockets each split apart into multiple warheads, and do damage over as large an area as possible." John sighed heavily. "Maybe if we could get behind him... but from the front, a lightly armored attack is nothing short of suicide. I intend to preserve as many of my men as I can, Major."
*KA-KROOOOM!!!!* John ducked as a piece of armor plating whipped through the air, and grimaced as it cut right into the hood of his Humvee, digging deeply into the engine underneath the thinly plated cover.
"So, how about that retreat?" John asked dryly. The major stuttered some kind of panicked response and ran off, leaving the general to fend for himself.

After a few moments, and another tank explosion later, the infantry division was in full retreat, having round a corner further down the street to take their (comparatively) lightly armored soldiers out of the line of fire. The remaining two M-1 tanks had mobilized to try and avoid destruction, but the width of the street afforded little room to avoid the Firestorm's punishing weapons. They were not expected to make it far following the infantry.
"Mia! How are we looking?" John shouted, jogging through the ranks of armored Core troopers as they found defensible positions among abandoned cars and trucks.
The buxom colonel sighed despondently. "As far as losses among the soldiers, we're actually doing pretty good..." She bit her lower lip nervously, "but you saw the communication, resupply, and artillery teams blow up yourself. And I doubt any of the armored units are going to-"
*KROOOOM!!!* The sound of the special-issue artillery fire was slightly faded as it boomed throughout the empty streets of downtown Tokyo, but it didn't stop any one of the men there from flinching badly.
Mia cringed. "We've got to get out of here sir. We were hit too hard and too fast to mount a good enough attack to get through that armor. It's only because of your orders that we have as many survivors as we do."
John nodded. "Right. Get Major Garuki over here. He has a cell phone. We can call central command and..." the general trailed off, and his expression twisted into a scowl as he looked past Mia's shoulder toward something down the street.
The colonel blinked, then looked back herself, swallowing deeply when she saw the squad car riding leisurely down the street, the alien-fetus insignia of the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment printed boldly across its front door.
John stepped toward the car, adjusting his gloves and flexing his fingers. Mia sighed. Though it was clear that the DAPC, or at least a rogue element of it, was responsible for this mess, she still had to feel sorry for whoever was about to get the chewing out of their life.
Of course, much of that last thought was slashed into little pieces and burned when Snake himself stepped out of the vehicle and waved to her commanding officer.
"Hey Remerick! What's going down, man? What's with all the firepower?"
John gaped and nearly fell over backward as he scrambled back away from the man who had just stepped out of the car. "The... wha... bu... ga... ther... they... bu..." Several of the Core soldiers outright dropped their weapons in shock, while others immediately raised them and aimed for the lieutenant's head.
Snake blinked, and then looked from one end of the crowd of soldiers to the other. Every one of them was staring right at him. "What? Did I get motor oil on my face or something?"
John twitched, and then unsteadily jabbed his index finger at the man before him. "Are you Ken Yakata?!"
Snake blinked. "Last I checked. Why? There any other Ken Yakatas around here?"
As one, the entire crowd of soldiers shifted their eyes to look toward a single man who was at the corner of the intersection up the street. That one soldier stood shock-still for a moment, then turned around to peek around the corner toward the battlefield.
*KROOOOM!!!* The soldier flinched back, and then turned toward everybody else. "Looks like it! And he destroyed our last tank!"
Snake blink-blinked. "What??" Confused, he stalked up the street toward the intersection, the gathered soldiers parting hastily for the lone policeman.
Then he looked around the corner.
"Hey! That's my tank!!"
Putting a hand over his eyes, Snake squinted to see the figure that had emerged from the vehicle, and was firing minigun rounds into the dead armor out of pure spite.
"Hey! That's my face!!"
Mia put a hand to her head as a wave of dizziness overtook her. "There... there are TWO of them..."
John felt like crying.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Vrrah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!* An almost solid beam of lead drilled stitches into the charred armor husks of the demolished tank, a fierce, if not wasteful, battle cry of a fierce engagement waged and won.
"Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Suck lead, insects!! You're not worthy to fight me!! I'll wipe you all out!! All of you!! Every last one of you!! I'll-" Viper stopped his ranting as his breath caught in his throat, and he cut the engine to his minigun as a faint screech caught in his ear.
His eyes narrowed as a sleek black shape turned the corner way down the street and began barreling toward his position.
"I smell trouble..." Slowly, his frown curled into a grin, and he whirled the minigun turret around to face the incoming threat.
*Vrrah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!*

Asuka reflexively ducked her head as bullets began pelting the general area of the Nighthawk Attack Cycle, the minigun proving somewhat inaccurate at such long range.
*P-ting!* *Tang!*
"Come on... Come on..." Asuka muttered as she pressed the cycle for more speed, the rapid fire from the tank bouncing off the Nighthawk's significant frontal armor.
"Gotcha!" Asuka flipped up a switch on the dash in front of her, and then hit the button directly under it.
Ranma felt the weight of the cycle shift as two metal boxes directly behind his legs shifted outward, and then angled themselves upward.
*Fwooosh!* Ranma jerked back in surprise as a series of missiles erupted from the boxes, speeding up and then turning back down to streak toward the man atop the massive war machine.
"Out of curiosity, was it Snake who acquired this motorcycle for us?" Ranma asked.
Asuka jerked the motorcycle to the side, taking her out of the immediate stream of fire. "Yes. Ironic, isn't it?"

*Vrrah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!*
*Fwooosh!*
Viper blinked as streams of white smoke erupted from the rear of the motorcycle he was attacking, and then scrambled back inside his armored shell, slamming the heavy hatch down atop him.
*Boom!!* *Boom!* *Boom!!*
The evil clone smirked slightly as the warheads pounded the turret. He was sure the minigun was trashed, but he had other weapons at his disposal.

*Vrrrrrrrrooooooom...* Asuka sped by the armored hulk, observing what little damage she had done.
"Well, that was probably our best shot to take him out right there. Crud."
Looking back, the police captain grit her teeth as she saw the Firestorm's main cannon taking aim. Cutting sharply to the left, she cut most of her momentum and leaned. A 140 mm. tank shell sliced through the air right above her head, swiftly followed by the cannon report, and then the ultimatum of the detonation.
*BOOOM!!!*
*Scrrreeeeech!* Asuka turned around and began heading back toward the tank, sliding from side to side to make herself a harder target to hit.
*Shoooom!* Multiple rockets blasted out of the front of the Nighthawk's armored nose, and white streaks turned into red fireballs as the warheads impacted the heavy armor.
The cycle turned away from its course to meet the Firestorm head-on, and Ranma frowned. There was no way that they'd be able to take out a tank like this. A different solution was needed.
Asuka's concentration, which was mostly focused on avoiding the pointy explosive things that kept being fired at her, broke when she felt Ranma's arms let go of her waist, and the weight on the Nighthawk shift.
"Saotome, what are you-" She glanced back, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw Ranma jump atop the Firestorm, using the ruined minigun as a grip to steady his landing.
"I should've known he'd pull something like this..." she muttered, bringing the bike around for another pass. Then she smiled a little bit. "I could really get used to that guy."

Ranma made sure he had his balance as he landed atop the turret of the Firestorm, and then cracked his knuckles before grabbing a hold of the entry hatch.
"All right Lieutenant... time to come OUT!!" He shouted, and then yanked hard on the armored plate with all his might.
*Boom!!* The tank turret rotated and fired, oblivious to the intruder atop it. On the street, Asuka hugged the ground to one side, and the shell once again whipped by with less than a foot to spare.
"Rrrrgh... ugh!" Ranma finally let go of the handle and fell back onto his rear, panting.
"Okay, that was stupid," he muttered. "This thing was made to shrug off missiles, it's not like I could just rip it apart..." scratching his chin in thought, Ranma scowled. "Damn it! I'm just not strong enough! I'll bet Ryoga could've done it!" He was about to make a loud and mostly pointless vow to get "in shape" and bulk up a bit, when something about that last thought struck a chord within him.
'Wait a minute. If pig boy was here...' He looked toward the hatch. 'Well, it's not like I've ever practiced the move, or even seen it done in a while, but if that dope can do it, so can I!'
With that, Ranma stood up, and after flexing his hand, stuck out his index and middle finger.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"So, wait, why aren't you guys out there fighting?" Snake complained, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, come on! You're supposed to be the best in the business, yet here you all are, hiding behind a bunch of buildings while my guys are doing the dirty work! Is this my tax money at work here? Give me a break!"
The great many glares he received for the statement were mostly rendered ineffective, as almost all of them were delivered behind armored face masks.
One soldier nearby John whispered to his commanding officer. "Can I shoot him anyway? I know he's not guilty, but we can make it look like a misfire later."
"Hold your fire," John muttered, and then spoke louder to the irate DA officer.
"I'm sorry Mr. Yakat-"
"Call me Snake," Snake interrupted, a slight smirk on his face. "The nickname just has a bit more... edge to it."
John twitched. "I'm sorry Snake, but I've already lost too many men today because of that..." he gestured in the general direction of the conflict, "thing that looks so much like you. I intend to testify that you're not to blame for this incident, as was originally thought, but I refuse to allow any more of my men to die!"
Snake frowned at the general's dead-serious expression, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough. Shotgun." He held his hand out in the general direction of the gathered soldiers, all of whom started casting each other confused looks.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, a single armor suit that conained Mizu Toketsu (not that anybody could immediately tell) stepped forward and tossed the lone officer an automatic shotgun.
Snake snatched it out of the air, and nodded toward the ghastly iron figure. "Thanks."
Mia blinked. "You're not actually going out there, are you?"
Snake smirked. "That man took my tank, and took my face. And so I will take his life." *Cha-chung* He cocked the shotgun, and then strolled out into the street, letting it hang almost casually in one hand.

Mia shook her head, and then turned toward her superior. "General Remerick, we have to stop him! He'll be killed!"
Everybody immediately turned to look at her like she was insane.
John just sighed. "You can't stop a man like that, Mia. Destruction is in his blood." He turned away. "Besides, so long as at least one of them dies, I honestly can't find it in my heart to care. This world just isn't big enough for two Snakes."
His assistant began to protest, but the general turned away and shouted to his men. "Move out! We're going home!" 'And may God forgive the human race for what has transpired here today...'
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Don't look for the breaking point, FEEL the breaking point," Ranma mumbled to himself, eyes closed. His fingers were currently hovering over the entry hatch to the Firestorm, and Ranma knew he was running out of time.
Whenever Ryoga used the breaking point, he never really concentrated on what he was jabbing at, and yet it always worked, so long as he hit rock or plastic or some other non-living matter. Besides that, it would work even when he missed what he meant to touch and poked something else instead. Therefore, Ranma had long since figured out that it didn't really matter where the 'breaking point' was on the object he was blowing up, it was all just a fancy ki trick that the body picked up by learning to focus power at a single point, or something like that. The whole idea of objects having a single, pressure-sensitive "breaking point" was probably just a load of nonsense that the Amazons had made up to explain the technique and teach it. Ryoga, being as dense as he was, probably didn't realize it himself. Hell, the lost boy never cared about how a technique worked, so long as it DID work, which had led to more than one major defeat in the past.
*Boom!!*
'But how did he do it then?' Ranma groused, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. 'Focus! Focus on the hatch!'
*Boom!!*
'I still can't see anything! If I jab it now, I'll just hurt my finger!'
*Fwoooosh* *Thoom!* *Thoom!* *Thoom!* *Thoom!*
'Waitaminute... if it's not an actual point on the metal, why am I focusing on the metal?'
*Sha-KOOM!!!* A wave of heat rush over his body, causing his jacket to whip about in the air.
Taking a deep breath, Ranma flexed his fingers once more before forcing himself to calm down. 'Okay, let's try this. Clear your mind... just focus your energy...'
*BOOM!!!*
'Almost there... I can feel it! Just a little more...'
And then, it came. A single flash of light, a point, on the edge of his consciousness. Idly, Ranma noted that he was absolutely correct in his assumption; the point didn't correspond to the hatch, or any part of the metal, it was merely a focus point for the energy within him.
*BOOM!!!* *Skeeee!* The shrill sound of metal scraping against asphalt filled the air, and the spark in the empty void that was Ranma's ki flared.
'Asuka!'
Ranma's eyes snapped open.
"GAME OVER, TRAITOR!!! Bakusai Tenketsu!!" His fingers left a light blue streak as he jabbed them into the heavy armor of the tank entry hatch, and they sunk deep into the dark gray metal, leaving a deep impression in it.
There was a bright flash of light from within the impression, and Ranma averted his eyes momentarily.
Then, the light abated. And then... nothing.
Ranma slowly withdrew his hand, disbelief etched across his features. "It... It didn't work? Bu-But I-"
*RRRRRRRRumble*
Ranma blinked as the entire turret began to vibrate rapidly. "Uh oh."

*KAAAAA-BLAAAAAAAAM!!!!* And incredibly bright flash filled the street as the turret's armor literally tore itself apart, sending chunks of shrapnel flying in all directions. Buildings' windows in that section of the street spontaneously burst, showering glass among the deadly steel rain.
*Wham!!* Ranma hit the ground hard from where he was thrown by the explosion, and then started rolling, unable to stop his momentum. *Smash!!* The concrete wall of an old office building did the job quite nicely, though, and Ranma groaned as he slowly fell onto the cement sidewalk below.

Asuka held a hand in front of her eyes at the flash of light, and forced her mind to try NOT to think about how Ranma had done that. It was exercise she was getting better at, what with all the practice she got.
*Smash!!* She looked to her right, and then gasped as she saw Ranma's body hit the side of a building. Obviously he hadn't been well-prepared for that blast, and she could even make out some shards of metal that looked to have embedded themselves in his chest and stomach.
Finally freeing her leg fully from the now-inoperable Nighthawk motorcycle, the captain staggered over to where Ranma had fallen, favoring her right leg.
"Saotome!! Hang in there!! I'm coming!!" Finally reaching him, she fell down onto her knees, and then looked him over, wincing. She was right about the shrapnel, though it looked much worse up close. "Can you still move?" She asked hoarsely, hoping more for a response than anything else.
Much to her relief, Ranma groaned, and then opened his eyes. "I'm okay... I meant to do that."
Asuka sweatdropped. "Okay? How are you okay?" She let his other comment slide.
Ranma twitched, "Well, my left foot doesn't hurt," he moved his arms and began to push himself up, "much."
Asuka pushed him back down, frowning when he winced. "Oh, no you don't Superman. You're staying here until we can get an ambulance."
Ranma looked past her, toward the exposed chassis of the Firestorm tank. "I think it's a little early to be cutting out now..."

Viper blinked.
And blinked again.
And again. And then again.
But no matter how many times he blinked, the display in front of him was still gone.
In fact, much of what had filled his vision just a few seconds before was gone. The display, the targeting reticle, the turret controls, the sensor relays, the TURRET ITSELF. All had just... exploded.
The rampaging clone raised a hand, stuck a finger in his ear and twisted it, hoping the action might help to restore his hearing. That had been awfully loud. And rather destructive, if the total obliteration of the Firestorm's heavily armored turret was any indication.
Of course, that brought up other questions. Like, how come he was unharmed? Looking around at the street, that was now in plain view, it was easy to see that the explosion spread debris everywhere on the outside, but not a single bolt had burst into the tank, where he was.
Oh! Look! Police officers!
Grinning to himself as he took up his shotgun, Viper decided that the reasons for the tank's destruction were unimportant. After all, it was gone now. Who cared why?

Asuka blinked. "What?"
Ranma grunted and pointed behind her. "Snake, he's still-OH GEEZ!!" In a move that surprised both of them, Ranma jolted to his feet in front of Asuka.
*BLAM!!!* The shotgun blasted Ranma away as he took the hit full in the chest, and Asuka was almost bowled over as he flew back.
"Ranma!!" In a practiced motion, she had her 9 mm. Baretta trained on Viper before he could cock his shotgun. "Suck lead, you bastard!!" *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
Viper threw himself to the side as Asuka opened fire, dropping his shotgun in panic, while also managing to toss something else. While adjusting her aim, the police captain caught sight of something flying in the air toward her, and responded accordingly.
"Grenade! Shit!" Putting the safety back on her gun, she threw herself at Ranma and tackled him, using her momentum to roll the both of them away from the explosive.
*BOOM!!*
Asuka was about to get up and resume firing when Ranma beat her to the punch, lifting them both to their feet.
Both Viper and Asuka's eyes widened.
Snake's clone twitched, and he flipped another grenade pin out of its socket with his thumb. "Damn man, what does it take to kill you people?!" He backed up his hand to toss the explosive.
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "It takes more than you'd think, Snake!"
The clone blinked, and before he knew what was happening, there was a blurred fist heading toward his face. "What in the-" *Pow!!*
Ranma grinned in satisfaction as the Snake look-alike slammed hard into the remains of the Firestorm, and then suppressed a grimace as his entire body flared in protest. He didn't even want to take stock of his injuries at this point; he had never actually been shot before, and he just KNEW that there was going to be some kind of stupid little complications involved that would manage to interfere with his fighting.
Wait... didn't he have a grenade in his hand before?
"Oh geez!" Asuka shouted, and Ranma whirled around just in time to see the armed explosive bounce on the cement sidewalk, and Asuka take a bad fall on her injured leg.
"Asuka! Nooo!!"
*BOOM!!* A concussion wave blasted up a cloud of dust and debris as the explosive did its job, and Asuka was thrown hard into a pile of rubble that had doubtlessly been created much earlier in the engagement. Ranma grit his teeth before clenching his hand into a fist and then turning back around.
*Pow!!* A right hook took him squarely across the jaw, and Ranma staggered back at the blow.
'What the hell? Snake was never this strong!' Ranma's mind swam as his entire body screamed in agony.
Clumsy from his current condition, but still swift, Ranma bolted forward with a straight punch.
To his complete amazement, his opponent deflected the punch with his right arm, and then slammed Ranma back with an open-palm strike with his left. The hit left the pigtailed officer short of breath, and after a few moments of trying to remain on his feet, Ranma realized that the Snake look-alike had actually struck one of the metal pieces still in his chest.
Viper grinned, shaking his head sadly. "Does it hurt, boy? That's okay. It won't hurt for much longer." He picked up his shotgun that he had dropped previously, and slowly raised it at the struggling martial artist, aiming for his head. "Buh-bye now."
*BLAM!!!*

Viper's arm suddenly broke apart into a spray of blood, his shotgun going flying off to the side and the sleeve of his shirt seeming to disintegrate before the 12 gauge fire that had taken him in the side. The clone's eyes bulged, but he released no scream, no cry, and slowly turned murderous eyes to his side.
Ranma finally let his legs collapse, and his knees hit the ground. On his enemy's arm, streaked with blood and torn from buckshot, was the cobra and barbed wire of the Freedom's Angels.
Turning his head to look at his apparent savior, he witnessed his second amazing revelation of the day as Snake strolled up to the decimated battleground, both hands on his borrowed shotgun.
Snake shook his head at the clone's glare. "Now now now, it's not very nice to be running around and causing chaos like that to ruin someone's reputation." He wagged a finger at the seething man. "Not that I have much of a reputation to ruin, but still. It's the principle of the thing." *Cha-chung* The shotgun was cocked, and aimed at Viper's chest.
Viper sucked in some air, and then spat a bit of blood onto the ground. And then, ever so slowly, he stood up straight, letting the torn, bloody remains of his arm hang down loosely for all to see. "You don't have the guts."
*BLAM!!!* Viper's body was tossed back like a rag doll from the blast, and Ranma looked away as the clone's body hit the ground, leaving a big red streak as it skidded to a stop.
"Pfft. Whatever." Snake rolled his eyes, then walked up to the bloody corpse, shaking his head. He stared into his copy's eyes for a few moment, then looked to the side at the Firestorm, and then turned toward Ranma.
"Saotome, I..."
Ranma could see he wanted to say something, but the warning alarms that went off when he saw Viper's fingers move were more urgent. "Snake's still alive! I mean, the other Snake's still alive!"
Snake blinked. "Wha-?" Then he whirled around, and his eyes bulged.
Viper scowled as he pushed himself up off the asphalt, blood still leaking from his back. "I'm not... going down... that easy, you little-"
*Blam!* The clone's head jerked to the side involuntarily, and then it fell back down onto the surface of the street like a lump of lead.
"Who..." Ranma and Snake both jerked their heads to the side.
Asuka stood with her handgun drawn, panting heavily and trying not to put any weight on her left foot.
Then she staggered closer to the corpse, and took closer aim at the clone's head.
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Click* *Click* *Click*
Ranma and Snake stared at the scene wide-eyed as their captain finally stopped pulling the trigger, having depleted the remainder of the clip.
Snake swallowed deeply. "Uh... please, don't mistake this for a complaint, but I saw that you were buried under the rubble over there... how did you know that wasn't me? Did you see me shoot him, or what?"
Asuka sighed deeply, holstering her pistol, and brushed a hand through her hair before turning a considerate gaze upon her third-in-command.
Then she snorted, and turned away. "Who says I knew it wasn't you?"
Snake turned several shades whiter, and he chuckled nervously.
Asuka didn't face the man, but it was very clear who she was talking to as she issued her orders. "Snake, I think it's fairly obvious that you weren't responsible for this, but I'm still rather upset about this whole situation. So if you would make yourself useful and contact an ambulance for Cadet Saotome, it would be much appreciated."
Snake gulped and saluted quickly. "Ye-Yes ma'am!"

Ranma craned his neck, one of the few muscles that didn't feel like it was on fire, to watch as Snake ran off toward his car, and then turned back toward Asuka.
"You saw the cobra tattoo on that guy's bicep, didn't you?"
Asuka smiled. "Oh, hush. He deserves a little stress after what we just went through."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"And then he SHOT you? That's horrible!" Sakura exclaimed, hugging Ranma's arm a little tighter.
Ranma chuckled and shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't that bad. It was really the pieces of metal jammed in my ribcage that hurt." The pigtailed man was currently reclining in an office chair, surrounded by everyone but Asuka and Hunter (the latter of which was supposedly out chasing cars, or some such nonsense). He wasn't wearing a shirt, which showed the heavy bandages wrapped around his chest, stomach, and around his head. He also had gauze around his left arm, but had insisted that he didn't really need it. Sakura was cuddled against his right arm, squeezing it for all it was worth, while Junko had volunteered to give him a shoulder massage. All in all, it was a much better than the treatment he got from his fiancees back in Nerima when he had been put in the hospital after that whole Reversal Jewel fiasco (they never did really explain that whole mess to him).
"Okay, what I'M wondering is how the hell you blew off the tank turret. You never really explained that," Kyle muttered, scratching his head.
"And when I find a way to explain in words you can understand, you'll be the first to know," Ranma said drolly, leaning back into his pillow. When he realized that it wasn't a "pillow" so much as "Junko's chest", he jerked his head right back up. Not that she seemed to mind, but it was the principle of the thing.

*Ahem*
Everyone in the room turned to look at Asuka as she entered the room, clearing her throat. For some reason, the captain looked embarrassed, which was not lost on Snake as she deliberately stood in front of him.
"Snake... I've done a little thinking about it, and... well... I wanted to apologize."
Everyone in the room blinked and exchanged glances.
Asuka continued. "When I heard about the situation, I was overly quick to judge, and was far too willing to use lethal force against you, a fellow officer who I've known for some time now." She sighed, and lowered her head, unable to continue to meet his gaze. "When I look back, Saotome was the only one willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and I'm ashamed at how readily the rest of us prepared to hunt you down."
Everyone around Ranma winced, and slowly lowered their heads guiltily.
Well, except for Tycho. "Hey, don't forget me! I was too high on gasoline fumes to know what was going on!"
"Right. Saotome and Wattai," Asuka muttered dryly. "My point is, I'm sorry, and I hope you'll forgive me." She bowed low, and Snake could only blink in astonishment.
Then the DAPC's weapons officer shook his head, smiling. "Asuka... don't worry about it! Of course I forgive you!" He turned around to look at the rest of the officers. "I forgive all of you! I mean, seriously! It did look pretty bad, but you were all just doing your jobs!" He grinned. "Besides, we're talking about ME. Your reactions were more than reasonable."
The entire room began chuckling.
Snake's grin widened. "And if it makes you feel any better, had I been in your position, I wouldn't have even HESITATED to gun down each and every one of you!"
The chuckles suddenly became far more nervous.
Asuka sweatdropped, but patted the lieutenant on the shoulder. "Well, the important thing is that you forgive us." Then she turned toward the rest of the room. "So, who's up for pizza? My treat!"
"Yahoo!!"
"Whoopee!"
"Score!!"
"Pardon me..."
Everyone stopped cheering at the polite, but firm voice that they did not recognize, and slowly turned toward the entrance to the room.
Standing there was a man in a formal business suit, carrying only a manila folder with some papers in it.
Asuka frowned. "Can I help you?"
The man nodded. "Yes, thank you. Where can I find the captain of this squad? A Ms. Asuka Takami?"
Asuka nodded back. "Speaking."
The man pursed his lips and looked around at the other people in the room, as if unhappy that he'd have to speak in front of anyone but Asuka herself. "I see... well then, best get this over with."
Asuka blinked as the man opened the folder under his arm, and took out one of the papers. "What's this about?"
The man sighed, then straightened, and said in his most professional voice, "I'm from the government. I've been ordered to inform you that the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment has been officially disbanded. You're fired."

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

Terrorists butchered: 24
Core soldiers massacred: 64
Miscellaneous military personnel toasted: 21
Civilians slaughtered: 71
Terrorist clones sliced 'n diced: 1
Scientists devoured by inane running gags: 1

End Chapter 11