La Femme Ranma
A Ranma � / La Femme Nikita crossover
Part 5: The IceQueen and the Chameleon
By Akraen (S. Metcalf)
[email protected]-=- -=- -=- - * - -=- -=- -=-
"The target works under the codename "IceQueen". She first appeared within our notice about four months ago. Her trade consists mainly of blackmail, loan-sharking, and corporate espionage; she also apparently runs several smalltime betting pools and there are rumors of a child pornography trade."
The assembled team who were being briefed all shared a hard glint in their eyes when they heard the last detail given. By profession they were killers and as such they became hardened to some things which would normally horrify a person such as murder and torture, but there were still certain things just deemed wrong and one of the worse of these was taking advantage of children.
Before entering this place Ranma wouldn't even have known what pornography meant but sadly the 'real world' is a very dark and torrid place. It didn't take long for all the veils and illusions about life to be removed from his mind. In some ways it made his memories of the middle Tendo sister just a little bit dirtier. Oh, he had long ago figured out the reasons Nabiki had done the various things she did, although admittedly it was only by pure chance that he first made the discovery.
He had snuck into her room in search of a particularly embarrassing set of photos he didn't want to become public knowledge and had instead found Nabiki's private ledger. He didn't understand what all of it meant but he knew better than to sit there trying to figure it out, so he quickly returned the room to its state prior to his invasion and silently left. Later that day if anyone who knew Ranma had any idea of his location they would have known the world was ending. He had actually visited a neighboring district's library and had spent hours laboriously trying to understand it all. It's times like that when he would be thankful for his perfect memory of details which he usually used only for combat situations. Eventually he had conquered the challenge of basic accounting and had his efforts rewarded with the knowledge of the exact state of the Tendo's budget.
After that day he no longer tried quite as hard to avoid Nabiki's 'scams' and camera lens, as well as coming to understand her just a little bit better. That didn't mean that he liked being a victim of her though, and now that he better understood the consequences behind such photos the only thing that kept him from losing the respect he had for her was the knowledge that due to the rules of Furinkan she had no other means of supporting her family.
Ranma was shaken from his introspection by the voice of Operations as he continued his pre-mission briefing, "..eason we have designated her as a target is due to her recent theft from one of our subsidiary accounts. It is possible that it is a coincidence that she hacked into the system and retrieved funds from us but it seems far more likely that she did so on behalf of an enemy cell. Your team is to first scout out the situation further to check for outside involvement in the hopes of avoiding the chance of alerting whoever is backing her. If no one contacts the target you are to retrieve the target and bring her back for questioning."
Ranma suddenly felt a chill and shivered self-consciously. 'I haven't felt something like that since the last time just prior to a fiance showing up while the others were in the room with me.. kuso!'
"The security around the target will probably be minimal at best and so the mission would normally be given to a less proven team; however, due to the location being outside of normal operating areas and your recent knowledge of the outlying regions, your team has been designated for this mission. Michael, you recently were transferred to your company's Tokyo base. As such, you and your wife, Nikita, will be renting one of the homes in the neighborhood near to where she lives. In addition, Nikita, you are going to be taking over the English teaching position of the local school as the former teacher was transferred to a school that needed her services more. This will allow you to keep a closer eye on the target since she will also be there."
Nikita quietly asked, "How is a teacher able to cause such an effect?"
"Allow me to solve your confusion. She is not a teacher at the school.. she is a student."
While the rest of the assembled agents was absorbing the latest news, Ranma had lost the chill in favor of a deep-freeze. He had a very bad feeling now that he knew exactly where this was going. After all.. what are the chances of there being another schoolgirl in Tokyo with such an interest and ability in moneymaking schemes...
"Birkohf, you will be the tactical support for the mission, which means that due to the differing time-zones between control and the field that you also will need to adjust your off-line periods accordingly. Ranma, due to your age and your familiarity with the customs you will be enrolled in the same class as the target. Since you are much more likely to blend in with your features as a male you will be registered accordingly. You are to gain the trust of the target and attempt to be accepted into her organization using whatever means necessary."
Ranma looked away from the man as he told the other operatives what their roles were to be, refusing to allow him to see his repugnance for what he was being asked to do. He was honor-bound to comply with his orders yet at the same time felt a deep revulsion with the thought of seducing some girl only to betray her. Beneath the table, and out of sight from anyone else, his hands clenched spasmodically as he fought down his disgust and tried to keep his outer shell of non-caring.
"Remember people, this may be a long duration undercover protocol but you are expected to treat every day as if it was the first day. Any slacking from the tediousness of your roles will not be allowed, do I make myself clear?" Operations allowed the implied threat to hang in their minds for a moment longer before dismissing the meeting.
As Ranma quickly began to leave, he was stopped short by the head of section calling out his name. Pushing aside his feelings for a bland countenance, Ranma turned to face the man. Operations turned and headed toward his private office, forcing Ranma to follow him as he was obviously not dismissed like the others. The two were shut away from the eyes and ears of the rest of section when the soundproof door closed shut behind them, leaving Nikita and the others only to wonder on what was going on behind that door...
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"Did something about the briefing bother you?" Operations asked grimly as he faced down the boy sitting on the other side of his desk.
Ranma felt like he was in the principle's office back at Furinkan.. only the scissors were a lot deadlier. "I can't follow mission guidelines on this one, sir." Ranma stiffly replied.
The man silently looked back at him without saying a word which caused Ranma to squirm uncomfortably where he was sitting. Finally, the peace was broken when Operations laid down the law, "Ranma, we cannot have our agents dictating what they will or will not do. Regardless of your feelings on betraying this girl it has to be done. I will accept no refusal on this matter."
Ranma shuddered slightly as he looked into the other man's eyes as it was the gaze of a predator. Even Nabiki at her most manipulative best didn't quite pull off the same aura of menace and, for the first time since his ex-fiance's near-death, Ranma felt true fear without any exposure to the aftereffects of the cat-fist training. "I'm not trying to dictate to you and I know my duty, sir. I might not like it but I'll do it.. but this goes beyond that.." Ranma broke off what he was saying to stare at his clenched fists for a moment.
".. The girl that you want me to get close to.. I already am.. sort of.. She almost became my sister-in-law."
Silence once again held the room in its thrall for an extended period of time. Eventually the head of section one returned his reply, "Well.. this could indeed complicate matters.."
-=- -=- -=- _*_ -=- -=- -=-
"Class! We have a new student today. Please introduce yourself, young man." the teacher waved the boy forward.
"My name's Hibiki Maro. I've been.. traveling for my entire life in search for the rest of my family. I'm happy to meet all of you and hope we can see more of each other. Thank you." the 'boy' seemed to fold in on himself self-consciously after doing the obligatory first day speech.
One of the girls in the class raised her arm to ask a question, which caused the teacher to groan slightly and silently pray for the boy's soul. "Yes, Tendo-san?"
The girl gave a polite cough before asking the new kid, "Did you say your name was Hibiki?"
The boy kind of stuttered out an affirmative and blushed out at being singled out by a girl. The girl in question smirked as she saw her effect upon him. "Never mind, I can see the resemblance for myself."
"P-pardon me?" the boy bravely replied.
"Ignoring for a moment the wild state of your hair and your well traveled clothing, the small protrusion of your incisor teeth, and the familiar bandana and umbrella ensemble.. by the way that red color suits you.. your manner of speech around girls would still betray you for a Hibiki."
Having settled the question of the newest 'lost boy' 's identity she lost interest in him and turned back to her notebook of the day's take in the betting pool. So it was a complete surprise to her when she found herself lifted from her seat by her blouse and shook like a rag doll by a wide-eyed lunatic.
"You know another Hibiki?! Who? Where are they?! I must know!" the new kid in class shouted in her face as he continued to thrash her untrained body about.
The entire class were cringing in sheer terror. Not because they were scared about this wild barbarian who tossed people about like they were stuffed animals. Not because they were afraid that they would be next in his wild rampage of berserk behavior. No, the boys and girls of the classroom (and, by some mystical unexplainable phenomenon possible only in Nerima, the rest of the school) were all cowering in their desks for a quite different reason than worry of bodily harm. Someone had manhandled Nabiki Tendo.
News of this sign of cataclysmic events about to be unleashed would soon spread throughout their rural community. Soon.. soon all of Nerima would find itself held hostage by the knowledge of their eventual doom at the hands of its most feared citizen.
The teacher gulped back his cries of doom and sent waves of hatred at his newest student. He had not managed to survive five years of teaching at the district's worst school and two years of the middle Tendo child's subjugation just to lose it all due to the arrival of this beast. Cautiously, he tried to avoid the wrath of the true force of Furinkan High "P-put her down.. now!"
The boy shook his head around in confusion before noticing his audience. His attention then was drawn to the girl faintly struggling to free herself in horror and shame. "Oh, god.. what have I done..?!"
Hurriedly he set the girl back down on the floor amid tears of self-loathing and urgently scoured her body for signs that he had not permanently injured her in any way.
Every man, woman, and child within the building shared a single thought of escape as a mass exodus of the classrooms occurred in the time when the boy first began his perusal of the girl for injuries. By the time he had finally concluded that she was alright and had stepped back in relief the area surrounding the school had the same population as an evacuation zone.
The only girl remaining within the disaster area looked at the only boy to also remain in that current locale in shock and gradually growing outrage. Her face regained its calm composure as she spoke for the first time since the.. attack.. began, "You are going to pay for this. Until then, however.."
Suddenly a huge mallet struck the astonished boy, sending him to careen through one of the windows in shock. 'Oh, god... it runs in the family..!'
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The Tendo compound used to have an aura of violence about it but it also had been a place of happiness. That had all changed of late with the removal of its spirit in the form of the disappearance of the fate-cursed fiance of its youngest inhabitant. Instead it had taken on the gloom and misery of its occupants after that momentous departure.
This day, however, it pulsed with malevolent vengeance to even the least sensitive of individuals. The origins of the oppressing dark emotions were easily spotted by witnessing the large space that was given to the middle child by her siblings and parental figure. Dinner was eerily quiet on the parts of these noted beings. The vengeful girl sitting apart from them though was given to ranting and laughter that even had driven a certain gymnast into hiding.
A common thought persisted in each mind witness to the state of the normally emotionless girl.. God help the forsaken soul who had earned her wrath.
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School the next day was a very tense affair, with everyone edging nervously away from both the local mercenary and the poor fool who had been cursed with the bad luck of getting lost while trying to find his home only to end up lost in the classroom.
The hostility in the atmosphere only increased when the target of the negative emotion approached the girl responsible for creating it.
"What do you want?" she bit off as she stared at him with open hatred.
"Look.. I'm sorry, Tendo-san. I didn't mean to do anything wrong to you. I didn't know what I was doing at first.. and was only trying to make sure you were alright afterward. I swear that I didn't mean to grope you. Please say you'll forgive me..? I couldn't forgive myself if a pretty girl like you hated me due to my actions."
Nabiki Tendo stared at the boy before her in shock. Due to her position and reputation as a mercenary, no one had ever had the courage or the caring to call her pretty. 'Of course,' her intuitive mind warned her, 'he could have said that just to soften me up..' She didn't think that was the case, however, as he didn't seem to be the type to be intimidated; beside which there was the evidence from Ryoga's attraction to her little sister.
Ryoga had spent only a small portion of his time in the company of Akane and had become devoted to her to the point of being unable to see any wrong in her actions. It is possible that for this newest Hibiki the same could be said of his instantaneous reaction to her presence.
A demonic smile settled into position as the perfect way to make this boy pay for his treatment of her. "So you think I'm pretty..?" she drawled out teasingly.
The poor boy's mind was unable to handle her teasing causing his reply to be stuttered, "Y-yes I d-do.." and he broke out into full blush.
'Gotcha!' she inwardly smirked. "Does that mean you want to date with me..?" she asked flirtatiously causing everyone who knew her to shiver fearfully. For the object of her 'affections', however, it seemed to have an entirely different effect.
"Y-y-yes.. I-I'd.. y-you.. d-date with.. l-love to.." the poor boy intelligently responded.
"Good. I'll see you tonight? 7-ish..?" she waited for a response but when it became obvious that it would not be forthcoming she nodded as if he had responded in the affirmative and continued, "Remember to wear something nice and bring enough money. There's this quaint foreign place I've been waiting for a chance to try.." the girl left the besotted boy standing there in the middle of the courtyard amidst a gossiping throng.
"That is cruel.. forcing that poor boy to date her.." one girl croaked out.
"That was heartless.. he's going to become destitute in days.." a boy choked up the nerve to append.
"That poor, pitiful, stupid wretch.. no one deserves such a cruel fate.." another anonymous girl in the crowd contributed.
The talk would have continued but it was at that point which the other Tendo girl who attended Furinkan entered the courtyard from the school building causing all talk to cease. It was not a very good idea to mess with a Tendo.. only the truly stupid or hormone-driven would normally even attempt it. Which is probably why Akane had such rotten luck with the boys of the school.
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Surprisingly enough, the newest couple sensation of the academic world of Nerima lasted for a lot longer than anyone had given them credit for. Perhaps it is because the male part of the relationship seemed to have an almost unlimited supply of money that eventually outlasted her desire for revenge. Or perhaps the uniqueness of his response to her piqued her interest even when she still thought she hated him. It could even have been possible that she was already primed for a relationship after having seen her sister form one with a certain martial artist and had secretly longed for someone of her own to rescue her and be teased by. Then again it was also possible that some demonic beast decided to wreak havoc, as they tended to do in certain districts of Tokyo, and by some mastermind plan, that only it was a party to, targeted the unlikely couple to bedevil and enchant.
Whatever the reason behind the success of what was once considered to be a doomed relationship, there was no denying that it existed. The heart of an ice maiden had thawed. But this was Nerima. Nothing ever existed in this sleepy little district without a hitch or a complication. Perhaps the nay-sayers who had predicted an expedient demise of the budding love were right after all. The sad thing about the district of Nerima is that anything was possible.. except a perfect solution.
The day that marked the end of one of the most romantic relationships to have been born from hatred had nothing to distinguish it apart from any other. The two had walked together to class while discussing business as the younger sister stomped nearby, fuming at her sister flirting with one of those pervert boys. This had become a ritual someplace during the courtship after the elder sister had learned of her boyfriend's keen mind. His mind reminded her of someone else's, actually, only more evolved.
She had quickly recognized the sheer brilliance of the mind possessed by Ranma and had thought it almost tragic that it was wasted in only using it during battles. He could have been so much more.. Actually she had almost decided to make a play for him herself in an attempt to see if his mind could be salvaged. She eventually gave up on the idea after she realized that in order to make him willing and able to utilize his brain she would first have to destroy a lot of which made him who he was. She might have thought it a shame that he would never amount to more than a martial artist.. but it wasn't worth destroying the kind and innocent boy that she had come to know.
She no longer regretted that decision to return the Saotome engagement back to her younger sister, as her new boyfriend exhibited all the potential that she had seen in the young martial artist and was as devoted to her as the former had been of her sister. She would miss the boy that she had come to think of as a friend/sibling.. but she wouldn't have missed getting to know Maro. She sent out a silent prayer to the missing friend and snuggled closer to Maro.
Nabiki broke out of her memories when she felt the arm encircle her briefly in a gesture of comfort. It had taken her a while to trust this boy with her heart. But her business had been a fortification even harder to breach. Even the mightiest of defenses though could stand no match for the wonderful boy with which she had fallen in love.
Again Nabiki returned to the present when she heard the screeching of tires and saw a car come barreling at the three of them. It was going too fast and the street was too narrow without anyplace to dodge to. They weren't going to make it. In that moment as the life she had lived played itself out before her eyes, she looked longingly up at the rooftop where safety awaited and wished for the first time in her life that she had stuck to martial arts and had the skill to jump onto rooftops with passengers in tow like Ranma appeared to do with ease. She made her peace with the world as her mind sent one last message out, 'I love you Maro!'
In that instant before certain death she felt a mighty shove from the side which caused her body to fly across to the opposite side of the street. She noticed that her sister was in the same position in the air but could not see her boyfriend anywhere. 'Oh god, no.. I can't lose him..'
Nabiki snapped her gaze back to the side of the street they had been and was forced to stare in mute horror at the sprawled form of the boy she had begun to make lifelong plans about, who had obviously been the one to have pushed the two siblings out of the way with all of his strength. It had been costly, however, in that he ended up sprawled on the sidewalk. Their gazes met in that moment before the impact struck his helpless form.. and then it was over.. he was gone from her sight as the vehicle smashed into the place they had been walking.
She screamed out his name in emotional pain. The scream altered slightly midway as the mighty shove sent her body slamming into the wall on the opposite side of the street. She heard a thud similar to the one her own body had made upon its contact with the wall, which she assumed to be from her sister's impact.. and then the world faded away in a swirl of pain too deep to fathom, both within and without.
-=- -=- -=- _*_ -=- -=- -=-
Nothing seemed to matter to her anymore. When she had come to she had immediately asked about Maro only to be told he had been declared dead upon impact. She never got a chance to see him again. The damage had been too extensive for the police to ask anyone to identify him so a genetic tissue test was done based on a sample provided by Ryoga when he next came to town.
Nabiki tossed back the liquid within her shot glass, only to grimace after the fact when she began to become disoriented. She hadn't thought she had taken enough yet that evening for such a profound effect, but welcomed it anyway.
Her head smacked into the bar counter and the world finally followed her desires and became a comforting nothingness.
-=- -=- -=- _*_ -=- -=- -=-
She came to in a blindingly white room. She noticed through her disorientation that someone was standing within the glare of the light but she couldn�t tell who it was.
"Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?" she asked as she held a hand to her throbbing head.
"You should rest, Nabiki Tendo. Your body needs time to recover from the drugs placed in your drink." the person coldly replied.
She knew that voice but couldn�t match the identity of the person due to the cold tone, which acted like a mask. She mentally went through a list of people it could possibly be.
The person tossed her something which she discovered to be a newspaper. Staring at her was a picture of herself along with a short but devastating headline.
= Local student joins boyfriend in death. =
"It is a fascinating article, actually. It seems that the distraught girl never got over the death of her significant other. She was drunk and attempted to walk home. She never saw the truck she stepped in front of."
"You can't do this.. there's no way you could possibly get away with it.."
"The damage was too extensive.. they had to identify the body by genetic testing.. it was a closed casket ceremony of course.. feel comfort in knowing that your family was spared the agony of having to see your body in death.."
She inwardly seethed and felt cold fear grip her soul at the same time. She realized suddenly that they could and indeed had done this to her.
"Why are you doing this to me..?" she lashed out while trying to withhold her tears.
"Your skills attracted our attention.. simply put, my dear, you were too good to pass up. Consider yourself recruited." after saying this the man began to exit the room.
"Who are you?! Do I not have the right to know my captor..?" she screamed out in a fury.
The figure stopped and looked at her for a moment. Finally he seemed to nod and then he walked forward until she could see him fully for the first time.
"Maro?!" she cried out in anguish. On the one hand she felt alive once more with the knowledge that he was not dead but the most powerful emotion right now was pure hatred at the betrayal from someone she had loved.
The boy shook his head slightly. "Sorry, no, that�s not my name. We needed someone to get close to you and I was the best choice since I already knew what made you tick. You would have recognized my real name, however."
"Who are you then, you bastard?!" she snarled at him.
"Perhaps this will help.." The man in the room with her worked his unruly hair into a braided pigtail behind his back. She would have denied the truth which this single gesture was placing within her mind, but she was not allowed that luxury. Before her very eyes the man dumped a glass of water over his head and became instead a red-haired girl.
She stared in utter disbelief at the one person in the world she would never have associated with this cruelty. "How could you do this to me..? I _loved_ you!!" she choked out between tears.
The girl stared at her emotional display coldly and replied without any warmth at all, "I know." before turning to leave the room.
Nabiki Tendo collapsed in tears of horror and hatred within the white room.
On the other side of the soundproof door another girl was also crying although none would ever know it. "I know.." she whispered to herself.
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[Author's Notes: This marks the end of the material already written up, chapter 6 though has already passed through the planning stages and is just getting under way being built. I'm hoping that this time there will not be months between completed works. But even if there is, the story as it is could be considered a completed work in its own right, which is typical of my style of writing. I have never been a fan of the tradition of leaving readers hanging by ending chapters/stories with more questions unanswered and instead feel that almost all of the time each new chapter should be able to stand alone on its own without any need to produce further. One of the biggest advantages to writing like this is that if you never again work on something because lose interest or time, your fans will not be left permanently hanging on the edge of their computer chairs waiting for that next episode.
There are so many great author's out there whom, although I have dearly enjoyed the wonderful contributions they have made to our fanfiction community, have left me frustrated for release.. in agony for months or even years waiting for the next piece of the giant jigsaw puzzle which makes up their complex stories.
I have never really understood why the cliffhanger endings grew to become so popular anyway. They do not make the audience like the author any more or any less, and it takes just as little effort to put together a completed puzzle and then later to append around it than it does to leave a big gap unfilled and leaving the picture look incomplete.
I realize that this rant will probably not effect the greater majority of writers out there, but I truly hope that at least some of you will take these words to heart and think before you decide how to end your works just an extra bit more. In my opinion, however expert or amateur in origins it may be, we as writers should put some thought into the happiness of our readers.. why should we create unnecessary angst and anxiousness in their lives when we can so easily avoid it..?]
I'll get off my rant/soapbox now and close off this chapter by thanking all of the readers who have written in to me with their comments, both good and bad. During those down times when I swear I may never be able to write again I stop and re-read the letters that you all have sent in and gather just that little bit of extra courage needed to continue when I realize that you all have cared enough to take the time to tell me what you think about my stories and writing skill. I hope to continue to hear from everyone in the future.
- Akraen (S. Metcalf)