Iria: Zeiram The Animation Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Right Path ❯ The Right Path 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Right Path
AceTalon
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
Chapter 2

Uriko paced the room. Where was that boy of hers? He was
supposed to have been back a half an hour ago. Ranma should
show a little more respect for his mother. After all, wasn't she the
one who always tried to find girls for him to check out when he was too
shy to look for one himself? It was still difficult for her to believe.
Her own son! Afraid of girls. That just wouldn't do. Luckily, it was
probably just a phase. Now, if only she could sucker one of the girl's
parents into paying a dowry and marrying the boy off before the boy's
father ever found out. She couldn't have him sleeping with every girl
he saw or else no one would pay a dowry to get the boy. Which would
mean less money for her to do with as she pleased. With the way
things were going now, she probably wouldn't be given permission from
the council to have another child.

"Honestly, with everyone living so long It'll be a damn long
time before I get permission to have another child!"

"I swear, if that boy messes this up it'll be his last
mistake," she swore vehemently, balling up her left hand and hitting
the palm of her right. No son of hers would turn into a prostitute!

She heard the front door open and close. "Uriko? Are you
home?"

"Yes dear," she called back. Best not to think about it now.
Not with her husband home.


Maeda shut the front door and sighed. Being the advisor to the
Queen of Mercury was tough work, especially when the queen was smart
enough not to need an advisor. For any other planet his job would be
one of the most rewarding, but when the queen needed no help handling
things he had very little to do unless an emergency occured. Of
course, the chance of that was slim. There hadn't been an emergency in
hundreds of years, before he ever took his oh-so unimportant position
as advisor. Before the purification, before the extreme longevity.
His only goal in this life was to make sure Ranma got jiggy with it
with as many girls as he could find for the boy.

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

A mile or so away Ranma sneezed.

"Must be getting colder," He thought. Strange, it didn't feel any
colder, and the snowstorms weren't supposed to come around for a few
months. "Better use that new coat I bought soon."

For anyone who didn't live on Mercury, it would have been
common sense that it wouldn't be a cold planet, but a hot one. A
really hot one. It was only because of the Queen's magic that everyone
on the planet wasn't a lump of ash. Not even Queen Mercury could
control the weather enough to make it a cool temperature for everyone.
Instead, the populace had to settle for weather that was more than a
little cold. It was also a safety method. If the Queen controlled the
weather, no one in their right mind would assassinate her or they'd die
soon afterwards.

Ranma walked a little faster, just in case he was catching a
cold.

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

The only problem was his wife. Ranma's mother continued to
try to keep him from getting into that kind of behavior for some
reason. Why she did, he had no idea. The boy needed to sow some oats
before it was too late!

"Uriko, the boy needs to learn some things about life," he
thought. "What we should have done was encourage sexual behavior when
he hit puberty, about 20 years ago." After all, Ranma couldn't very
well become a man if he didn't act manly. If he didn't act manly, then
who would treat him like one? Maeda especially didn't want other
people to treat Ranma the way the boy's mother did. That would totally
have devastated Maeda if everyone did.


He exchanged pleasantries with his wife, talking about stuff
that wasn't important. The two always avoided the subject of their son
because both had totally different views on how Ranma should live his
life.

"How was work today, Dear?"

"Very boring. I almost wonder sometimes what it is I'm
supposed to do." Maeda ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Why's that?" Uriko raised an eyebrow. She didn't keep up
with politics too often, unless it had some juicy gossip somewhere in
it.

"The queen can handle everything; she doesn't need me around,"
Maeda said this with an almost uncaring shrug.

"Oh dear, don't say that! Besides, all of the rulers have an
Advisor."

"Thats precisely why I still am her advisor."

"What happen to you if you lost your job?"

"Probably take a different job, maybe be a minister of the law
or something else in government. Mercury wouldn't fire me.
"I'm a backup plan. In the unlikely event that something goes
wrong, she can hang all the blame on me."

Uriko gave a small gasp and covered her mouth.

"Oh my, that isn't very nice!"

"No it doesn't. There isn't much I can do about it though."
Maeda shrugged helplessly. He looked outside, it was getting darker.
"I'll wait for Ranma. Then I'm going to bed."

"Okay, Dear." Uriko got up and left. She'd talk to Ranma
later. It wouldn't do to have Maeda hear what she had to say. Maeda
took out a bottle of sherry and poured himself a glass. Good liquor
always made him feel better before he had one of his 'talks' with
Ranma.

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

Ra nma absently entertained the idea of scaling the wall to his
room to escape the 'talk' that was no doubt going to take place once he
walked into the house. He inwardly smirked at the thought.

"Yeah, it would get me out of a talk," he thought, "And lead me
straight to the hospital with a broken arm."

He couldn't scale a tree very easily, much less a two story
wall. That, and the chance of accidentally stabbing himself with an
icicle hanging off the edges wasn't a great thought either.

It wasn't as if the talk was a life changing experience, but he
was tired of hearing the same two 'talks' over and over. One from his
father and one from his mother. He could almost hear it now while he
opened the door.

"Ranma, why haven't you done anything manly recently?"

"Ranma, meet this new girl I found you. She lives at..."

"We aren't getting any younger here, boy! Hurry up and find
some girls to get close to."

"Its important to follow the advice of your mother, so don't
get too close to anyone until your mother can find you a nice rich
wife."

"Ranma, hurry up and have sex already!"

That last one shook Ranma out of his little daze, surprsing
him. The old man said that just now. It wasn't just some strange
comment Ranma imagined him or his mom to say.

On second glance, the man wasn't saying it to him, per say. He
was muttering in his sleep.

"Thats it, my boy. Be a man," he murmured in his sleep, an
empty bottle of liquor in his hand. There was a mostly empty bottle
still on the table. Ranma shook his head.

"Jeez, dad," he muttered. "You really don't know your limit.
"After all these years you've been drinking, you still can't see it
coming." He shrugged. "Oh well, better for me. He'll get a headache
tomorrow and I escape another pointless talk." Ranma took the mostly
empty bottle and poured himself a cup, about to drink it. He
needed something to calm his nerves after everything that George told
him. Ranma brought the cup to his lips several times and stopped to
set it down after each attempt. Finally he sighed, giving up the
mental battle, and set the cup back on the table. He needed his wits
while he thought about it. His line of reasoning would be gone after
the first gulp of the stuff. Drinking to ease the nerves wouldn't
help.

Ranma climbed the stairs slowly, thinking about his meeting
with George next to the school. He looked out a window, the black sky
looking back at him expressionessly. The Mercurian boy felt a twinge
in his heart. He finished walking up to his room and stared at the sky
through the balcony window. There was no moon. No light anywhere on
the planet as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was at times like
these where he felt truly alone. And after talking with George it now
brought out the lonliness with greater ease than it ever did before.

"I'm alone," he thought. "My parents don't understand me. My
friends don't understand me. Hell, I don't understand me. I'm not
even by myself in my identity." He stared out the window. The low
rustle of the tree outside his window seemed to amplify the sense of
being by his lonesome. "What do I do? What is out there that is any
different than here? Why should I do anything at all?" To beat that
lonliness. To find others like himself. Ranma turned over in his bed.
George even said it himself. That he was different. Was there anyone
else different? Why did George only talk to him? Out of an entire
school, there had to be someone, just one person, that was the same as
him.

But no, George hadn't talked to anyone else as far as Ranma
knew. A tear was trying to make its way to his face. For so many
years, the window was open with the black night visible. On the night
where the stars didn't even glimmer, like the one now, wishing that
something radical would change. That somehow his life would be better
without him knowing what needed to change. Ranma got up for a minute
to light a candle. The Mercurian boy needed to reminisce.

When Ranma was younger, much younger, sometimes he would keep a
candle lit for the whole time that he was awake until he fell asleep.
A small haven in the neverending void. He would shiver and wish the
night would just disappear. He never knew why then; now he did. The
night represented the people. Everyone. The single star in the sky
was that candle. He was there, alone, by himself.

Sometimes, Ranma wished he was part of that darkness, that he
fit in, that he wasn't different. He slowly drifted to sleep with that
last thought, blowing out the candle.


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

R anma walked up to the school. He grinned. The first day of
school for the year. It was time to make his big entrance. Good thing
on the first day of class there was a speech competition.

(in the speech competition)

Ranma walked up to the podium. "Alas," He thought. "I was
horribly unprepared for such a speech, only spending the entire
vacation on it. But enough meditative thinking! On to the speech!"

"I am the undefeatable champion of this school's Kendo club.
The rising young star in the school or total morons. But my peers call
me...The True Dumbass of Mercury High!" He paused for a moment as a
comet smashed into him, making a tiny crater around him. That didn't
faze him, however, as he immediately stood up and shouted, "Any that
wishes to date me must be defeated by me in combat!"

Ranma spotted a young lady. "Ah, tis but a mere pittance to
ignore that statment I myself just said now," he thought. He pulled
out some roses and shouted, "MY LOVE! DATE WITH ME!" He threw
himself at her with . Sadly for him, but luckily for her, she caught
him in the face with her foot, leaving him in the dust.

"Pig!" she spat and walked off.

"The ways of a women are very mysterious," he muttered,
spitting some dirt from his mouth.

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

Ranma woke up in a cold sweat. What the hell was that dream?
Was that him? And did he just willingly call himself a dumbass?
He'd had some bad dreams before, but this one topped it. What did he
say before he fell asleep? What would it be like to fit in? Ranma
shuddered. If that was what it was like, then he'd take being lonely
anyday. That was just too horrible beyond imagination. Ranma looked
outside. The sun was just rising, so school was going to start soon.
He changed his clothes and grabbed his coat before going out. Ranma
raced down the stairs and out the door.


Back at school Ranma didn't even bother to try to get into
class. There was no use in trying to do that, when all that would
happen was that he'd be ignored. Instead, he scoured the halls
looking for the familiar face of George.

"Where'd he go?" Ranma muttered. "He's always around here
somewhere."

Ranma needed to find him and relieve some fears he had. Either
that or discover if his fears were true. One or the other. Ranma
peeked around the corner, hoping that he wouldn't run into-

"*Ahem* What are you doing in the halls while class is in
session?" a voice said behind him.

-the principal.

The wary student turned around fearfully. Being a gigantic sized
man that had to weigh over a ton, at least to Ranma's thinking, the
Principal was a real asshole. Since he made up the school rules, that
and students had no rights in school, the Principal made up a rule that
said any student caught late in the halls by the Principal would get a
sound beating before being sent back to class. Not many students were
caught, but still, just actually having that rule made everyone dislike
him.

"Shit," Ranma thought. "Think think think!" He turned around
and looked to his sides. The principal was cracking his knuckles!
There had to be a way around this! Maybe...

"Look, a three headed monkey! And it's riding a giant spoon!"
Ranma shouted, pointing behind the principal with a surprised
expression.

"Hmm? Where?" The Principal turned around and Ranma turned
the corner and bolted. "There is no spoon. Not to mention no monkey.
What the... hey! Where'd you go?"

Ranma leaned against a wall on the fourth floor and breathed a
sigh of relief sometime in between his gasping for air. Good thing the
guy was as dumb as a brick. Suddenly, Ranma felt a hand quickly clap
his shoulder.

"Ah!" he shouted, jumping up and clutching the ceiling. He
looked down. George, that jerk! He'd snuck up behind and hit
him on the shoulder. He was clutching his stomach and laughing. Ranma
gritted his teeth. Then, realizing where he was, released his grasp
of the ceiling beam and landed on the ground not too gracefully.

"Arg," he said, rubbing his forehead, grimacing, and glared at
George again, who just started laughing all the harder at Ranma's
descent back to the ground. "George, that was low."

"Not really, you jumped pretty high," George remarked, grinning
at his own joke. He offered Ranma a hand, which Ranma took. "So what
brings you to the fourth floor?"

"Besides paying my respects to the old geezer that works out
here, not much," Ranma said dryly.

"Hah! Old geezer? Respect your elders, whelp!" George
chuckled. He leaned on the wall, waiting for Ranma to finish rubbing
the red spot.

"Yeah well, I didn't know you were such a crotchety old man,"
Ranma returned.

"I said elder, not ancient."

"Feh! Same difference."

George cracked a grin at that.

"But seriously, I was running from the principal." George shook
his head.

"Good idea. That guy is totally insane," muttered the janitor.
"Take my advice, you don't ever want to see him. Alone or with other
people."

"Yeah." Ranma looked over his shoulder, almost expecting the
sound of knuckles being cracked. "But really, I was looking for you.
I needed to ask you something."

"I'm guessing its about what I was talking about yesterday?"

Ranma nodded.

"Just as well. That's a great deal more interesting than
mopping the floor." George and Ranma walked back out of the school
under the tree they previously met under.

"So, what did you want to ask me about?"

"Well, there's something funny about my parents."

"What's that?"

"They act...peverted." Ranma squirmed uncomfortably. "No
other way to say it. They try to get me to go, well..." Ranma shifted
his weight from one foot to another and said quietly, "...do things."

"Huh? Your parents?"

"Its weird. No one else I've met is like that."

"Sorry Ranma, can't answer you there."

"Okay. Damn, I thought that it might have been some sort of
abnormal personality thing. Actually, I hoped it was."

"That bad, huh?"

"My parents both want different things out of me! One wants to
extort money using my body and the other wants me to go out and be a
prostitute."

"You'll live. Don't sweat it."

"Oh well. Before I go, can I ask you one thing?"

"Sure." The janitor looked at him hard.

"Being a rebel, do you ever have that feeling, that
overwhelming pressure, that the entire galaxy is against you? A small
light in a lightless world?"

"All the time Ranma," he said softly. "We all feel that way
For some people it's almost unbearable. Others have even tried to get
caught, to be brainwashed, just so that they can join their families.
Such an occurrance is not uncommon. Why?"

"Then I might already be a rebel." That set him back on his
heels. _Already_ be a rebel?

"My entire life, I've felt like that. Alone, pressured, closed
in. It wouldn't make a bit of difference for me."

George was silent. Did that mean this boy had already made up
his mind?

"Does that mean you're willing?" He asked. "Willing to give up
everything to join a cause? I ask you this because most of the time
people that join our cause have nothing else to live for. We look
for the people that have nothing because they are the ones that have
lost the most. This is the reason most of us joined in the first
place. We have nothing to lose. You do."

"What I have to lose," Ranma stated with finality, "is nothing
I wish to treasure. I want to join the rebels."

"I'd say this is your last chance to back out, but you seem
to have made your mind already. Alright, go to the station in Arktica.
You know, the town to the west. A man will meet you there. He'll
recognize you."

"What? No secret sign or password?"

"That crap is too suspicious. A description of you is all he
needs."


George gave Ranma a few more instructions. Ranma heard it, and
nodded

"So basically, what I do is go to the station three days from
today. Once there, wait for someone at noon to come to me, and I'll
get more directions then? Ranma was dubious. "Sounds kinda tedious."

"So, am I gonna be told what this guy looks like or am I gonna
have to wait before he's breathing down my neck? I'm not exactly fond
I'm not exactly fond of surprises," Ranma said, jerking his head up
and towards the left. No matter how he tried, he still couldn't put
the scare back in the school out of his mind.

"Don't worry. Besides, I've got three days to get your
description right."

"Knowing how ancient you are, it'll take you that much time to
get it anyways," Ranma said, laughing.

"You young 'uns never heard of the word respect, have you?"
George just shook his head. "I suggest you just do what you do
normally 'till then. Don't go all acting funny or people might think
there's something wrong with ya, boy."

"Okay, whatever."

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

T he Zeiram clone's eyes flashed from the tree's leaves. The
boy was leaving! And the old man was getting him to join them! This
would not do at all. He had to act now, before any of this occurred.
The master was not ready. His orders were to kill any suspected of
knowing things they shouldn't. Even rumours were to be silenced.
The old man knew too much, even if it was just rumors, and so did the
boy. It leaped, claws outstretched with pointed teeth ready to tear
out a throat.

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

Ranm a spun as he heard a shriek and a cry of surprise. There
were sounds of a struggle. Ranma grabbed a tree branch that had
recently fallen and ran a couple feet where he saw the most horrifying
creature he'd ever seen, perched on top of George's chest trying to
claw his neck while George was fending off the claws.

"Holy-!" He thought skidding to a halt. He clammered back to
the branch and picked it up. Ranma's hand trembled and he broke out
into sweat. George was yelling out and his futile attempts to avoid
the claws made Ranma's legs tremble, making it hard for him to stand.
He tightened his grip on the branch. Fear was plastered on the
untrained rescuer's face, but he couldn't just leave George here to die
and leave the creature to hunt him down.


The monster stood on all fours. With a pukeish green skin with
patches of pink it was not pretty. It did not blink its tiny eyes that
were narrowed to tiny slits, nor did it move its bulbous head. The
thing had no neck, or almost none. Its head was that close to its
body. It seemed to be constantly grinning, its mouth seemed to be
stuck in a permanent grin. With wickedly sharp looking teeth this was
all the more grotesque. Ranma couldn't help but gasp in shock,
attracting the creature's attention. What the hell was he gonna do?

George saved him from making that decision. The cautious old
rebel reached into his shirt and brought out an easily concealed punch
dagger. The blade slashed across the face that hovered mere inches
from his own. The monster screeched in pain and scraped his claws on
George blindly. George made a lucky strike, he caught one of the
creature's eyes. The fallen janitor shut his eyes in pain as he felt
the burning coming from a piercing sensation. There was a good-sized
hole gaping on his stomach.

Ranma wasted no time in swinging the tree branch with all his
strength, knocking the creature to the side and freeing George. He
quickly bent over George, checking the wound. Ranma was definitely no
doctor, but he could tell the wound wouldn't be too serious if he could
get George help relatively soon.

"George, can you move?" He asked quickly. The monster was
getting up. "We need to get out of here." Ranma looked up to the
classroom windows. Where the hell were the other students? Why didn't
anyone else notice what was going on?

"Y-yeah, I can walk," George weezed. The freaky thing had
knocked him down pretty hard. "But I can't get far. You'll have to
go without me."

"What? No way! And leave you to that thing?" Ranma shouted
at him.

"Boy, shut up a moment and look at it." The monster was
staring at Ranma with its malevolent eyes. It looked ready to pounce.
It totally ignored George. "You'd be safer without me to need
protection, and so would I without you trying to protect me without
you." He cracked a grin. "Take this and get your ass running, Boy."
He tossed the punch dagger to Ranma, nodding. Ranma caught it and
ran out the school gates, no time to show gratitude with a damn clone
after him.

George sighed and sat on the ground, hissing in pain at the
burning in his chest. Was that creature? Were the rumors true? A
body snatcher that makes the most gifted of people disapear? If it
was true, then he was...

He shook his head. The thing was after Ranma. Was there
something even more special about Ranma than he previously thought?

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

Ranma slipped on the dagger over his fist, praying that he
didn't kill himself using the weapon. Damn his mother! If only she
gave him more freedom to do what he wanted.

Ranma glanced back behind him. The thing was gaining, and
there was nothing between it and Ranma besides open snow and street.

"WHY THE HELL AREN'T THERE ANY PEOPLE OUT?" He shouted
out loud. All he asked was that there was one person to witness this
and get help, but no! He was alone, running for his life. Alone, with
a monster. The creature leaped, and Ranma in his panic tripped and
fell while looking over his shoulder. The monster passed over him,
claws outstretched, that woulda buried themselved into his shoulder
blades if he hadn't have fallen. Dammit, now he was on the ground with
a monster hovering right in front of him, probably waiting to bite his
head off.

"Motherf-" he cursed, crouching and swinging clumsily at the
Zeiram clone. It moved back a step, missing and leaving Ranma off
balance. It made a guttural sound in its throat as it watched Ranma
stumble. "Its laughing at me," he thought, feeling sick.

The clone grabbed Ranma's leg and tried to pull it out from
under him, biting at his foot.

"You want a piece of me? Then eat this!" Ranma snarled and
helped by shoving his boot in the clone's mouth. It start choking, and
Ranma shoved the punch dagger in its back. The blade glanced off
something on its skin, but it touched down on a soft spot. The clone
reared its head back, forcing Ranma to let go of the dagger and
stumble back. But not before the clone slashed its claws one last
time before scampering off. Ranma clutched his wrist, the cut was
fairly deep, so it was a miracle that he was still alive, Ranma
hurredly glanced about the area. He definitely didn't kill the damn
thing. Turning, the terrified boy with a bleeding wrist sprinted as
fast as he could to the place where the Moon guards were stationed.

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

The Zeiram clone glared at the retreating form of Ranma. This was the
first time that someone had hurt him. Ever. And he wanted payback.
"That boy will never live to see another day," it thought, grinning.
He'd follow the boy discreetly for as long as necessary.

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

"Hey! I need help!" Ranma shouted. The guards were from the
Moon. They were supposedly of the elite warrior class, only the best
of the best could even go to the moon and attempt to join the Moon
guard. These lazy slobs were probably bums off the street made to look
like the real ones for "security," to reassure the people. He gritted
his teeth as he tightened his grip on his wrist. Blood was flowing
profusely and he couldn't stop it. "Hey!"

"Yeah yeah, shut yer trap kid," growled Guard 1, lazily leaning
over a sword. "We heard ya."

"There's a monster out there! It attacked at Mercury High!" He
shouted at them. "The body snatcher that's been attacking." He lied
about that last part. It may or may not be the one, he thought, but
he needed help now. The guards squinted at him. They didn't believe
a word he said.

"Really now?" Guard 2 chuckled. He was a fat guy, barely
fitting into his armor. Mostly likely he never even went through
training. "And when was this?"

"It was just a few minutes ago." Ranma started to breath
hard. He was feeling a little tired, with all the running around and
the cut on his wrist.

The first guard barked a laugh. "Kid, if your trying to be
desperate, you could at least act like it," he said. He nearly speared
his foot with his sword when he leaned on it.

"What?! You think I'm lying?" The young noble was looking a little
pissed at that.

"Don't mess with us kid, we know your trying to get us away
from our post," he responded, not looking the least bit threatened by
a kid who looked like he cut his wrist with a kitchen knife.

"Look, I'm telling you that I've been attacked and the creature
is real!" Ranma shouted. The hot tempered noble clenched his fist,
which wasn't a good thing because the blood came out a little quicker.
He was giving them the finger.

"Scram kid, before you bleed to death. We don't want a corpse
on our hands." The fat guard thrusted his chest out to look important.
All it served to do was show Ranma how much Serenity and her government
really cared about the general populace of other planets. It's not as if
reasonable thoughts were always present when a monster has just attacked
anyways. "We're here to keep the peace, not go on a monster hunt."

"Screw you guys, you're here to look tough and act like shit.
You don't care a bent penny about what's going on," Ranma punched the fat
one in the face with his bloody palm and spat at them before running off.

"Why that little-!" The second fat guard stood up and picked up
his spear. A smear of blood lined his cheek. "That brat is gonna get
it!" The first guard just yawned.

"What, you gonna chase after him? That'll be the day!" he
said. The second guard just muttered some idle threats and sat down.
He could hunt that kid down anyday, he reasoned, but the kid just
wasn't worth the time.

A squad of soldiers marched through the street. They looked
tough, mean, and more than ready to take on any rabble that sprung up
from the street. They were the real police on Mercury. With their
main building closed to the general public, they were more like a
secret guard. They never came out unless there was a reason. And that
reason had to be a good one. They approached the watch post with the
two lazy bums off the street.

"Yeah, what is it?" guard one mumbled. He was halfway to
dreamland when he saw the hazy form of the soldiers.

The captain of the squad wrinkled his nose in disgust at the
rabble meant to placate the public. He had no respect for these men,
they were merely decoys. Scapegoats if the populace ever got riled up.
"We've been sent a royal notice. We're here to inform you that the
Queen of the Silver Millenium has decreed that rumors about monster
attacks are getting out of control. Therefore, any rumor starters are
to be arrested on charges of disturbing the peace. You are ordered to
watch for any such individual."

The second fat guard rolled his eyes. "The creeps are
everywhere," he stated, burping and scratching in back. "Just a few
minutes ago there was a brat running through here, shouting in our
faces about a monster attack."

One of the soldiers smirked. "The action is coming soon," he
whispered to his buddy. The captain glanced back at them and they were
silent.

"What did this boy look like?" he asked the two guards.

"Well, he was average height, blue eyes, blair hair, and kept it
in a pigtail. We didn't catch his name. Although," the first guard
thought to himself for a moment. "He did say that the attack happened
at Mercury High. Might wanna check that out."

The Captain nodded. Turning to his men, he issued the commands.

"Lets go men; Our new destination is Mercury High!" He ordered
them. They responded with a shout and marched down the street. The
school wasn't too far away.

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

Ranma cursed the entire security system on the planet. Damn
them! They didn't listen to anyone but themselves. Those who needed
help were stuck with doing things themselves. Ranma was starting to
see even better why the rebels were fighting. The level of safety was
going down, with men like the two he met and tried to get help from.
Ranma really wasn't thinking about them at the moment, he was too busy
looking over his shoulder for that little bastard that cut his wrist.

"Did I lose him?" Ranma wondered as he wrapped his wrist in a
bandage. He'd checked out a general convenience store to get the
bandage before heading to the hosptial.

"With luck, I'll be there before I pass out," he thought. The
hospital was pretty far away.

"Hey, kid! Stop!"