Path of Life: Time Interlude

Written By Matdeception

Disclaimer: I don't own none of these bums, ya hear? Well.. except
Niami, Tetsuya, Daisuke, Hokagu, Kash... eh, thats about it.

***

Two figures sat in a darkened room, their only light being displayed by
a small TV/VCR combination sitting on the table where they sat, opposite
each other.

"KIJIN RAISHU DAN!" the boy shouted, a slender opaque darkness shooting
from his hands.

"Pause." Kash intoned coldly, idly rubbing his hand through his slicked
back blond hair.

The woman raises her slender hand, clutching the remote as she hit the
pause button.

The screen showing the boy launching his attack shimmered briefly,
before freezing all together.

Kash rubbed his forehead as he thought about it's meaning, he eyed the
only other person in the room with no small amount of irritation. The
woman was tall for a traditional Japanese woman, when standing she came
to a height of five foot eight. Blue hair framed her head, traveling
down to just below her shoulders when not done up in a bun. Niami
Horisha, a rather appealing woman with her slender athletic figure and
fierce green eyes, and while she wasn't as buxom or ditzy as the other
women he kept around the office to slate his aging lust, she was a prize
of a woman in her own right.

"Still.." Kash though, eyeing her slender legs as they traveled up to
her seat, her dusky flesh disappearing underneath the black mini-skirt
she wore, ".. she's a beautiful creature." She was beyond such petty
things of course, having become jaded by Physical appearance, much to
his dismay. Her constant rebuffs to his advances, compiled with her
mysterious attitude only enhanced her appeal in his aging brown eyes. If
it weren't for the fact she could squash him like a bug, he would have
done something long ago to get his wrinkled hands on her tight little
body. Pity.

"We don't know." said Niami coolly her eyes not leaving the frozen
screen, her words bringing him out of his lecherous fantasies.

"You don't know... what?" asked Kash nervously, adjusting his brown and
black tie.

"His current location, how he accomplished this, or if he is working for
one of your competitors in Project Resonance." she supplied coolly,
frowning at the man. "My contact within the government has been
extremely tight lipped about this situation."

Kash snorted, leaning back in his chair as he glared at the woman,
"Point? Tight lipped or not, you know something." He eyed his wedding
ring, before taking the band off and placing it in his pocket.

Niami nodded slowly, but said nothing more as she leaned back in her own
chair, crossing her arms just under her breasts.

"Three hundred." Kash offered with a sly smile. Both knew he was talking
in the millions. While he never really liked paying the enormous amount
of cash Niami's team of mercs required, he had to admit she and her
group were among the best when it came to getting things done. Despite
his current preoccupation with the woman's allure, he still had to
investigate this disturbing situation.

"Five hundred." she countered coolly, "I'll throw in the information my
tight lipped contact managed to give me."

"Kashuito's team doesn't cost this much." said Kash with a grumble,
"Fine. Five Hundred then."

Niami smirked, before opening her brief case and bringing out a thick
manila folder, she slid it across the table to the man, "The boy's name
is Saotome Ranma. Father Saotome Genma. Mother Saotome Nodoka. He is ten
years old, and he's spent most of his life training to be a martial
artist. Primary school Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Any
attachment to your rivals and Project Resonance at the moment is
undetermined, but we believe it has something to do with his mother's
family."

"That's it?" said Kash in nearly a shout, directing the woman with a
cool glare. "For five hundred, you better have more information then
this, for your sake." he finished with a smirk, just thinking of all the
ways he could collect his due payment left him highly interested.

Niami pursed her lips, eyes narrowing hatefully at the implied threat,
she was well aware of the main's inability to keep his hands to himself.
"Saotome Genma is dead, burned to death outside the city the night.."
she motioned towards the paused screen, "... this took place. However,
forensics is unable to classify certain mineral deposits found within
his remains. The deposits themselves seemed to have fused with the man's
bones, and are now emitting a similar energy wave to the SS module
currently held within Mirashima's hands."

Kash nodded slowly, his anger abating somewhat in light of the new
information, "Current location?"

"My men tracked him to the western shoreline, Chubu Region, Kanazawa
port." she said, shrugging indifferently, "We believe he either bought
passage, or stowed away on one of the out going freighters." It was a
plausible explanation, Niami reminded herself. Many freighters would
often hire on a strong kid or two, their payment usually being food,
water, and a place to sleep while they worked.

"I.. see" said Kash with a frown. "At least now I know why you insisted
on five hundred." She nodded. "Very well, have your people contact my
people for the transfer of payment.." he hmmed, and as an after thought
added, "We want him alive."

Niami nodded, closing her briefcase as she stood up, "Very well then,
I'll be on my way." she turned to the door.

"Sure you won't stay? We can have dinner, a little dancing.. maybe a
party after?" Kash said with a lecherous grin, eye's plastered on the
woman's thin waist and shapely behind, before traveling up her back to
catch her eyes glaring hatefully and dangerously back, "Or.. maybe not."

Niami scowled openly, turning away from the man. As she closed the door
she snarled, "I'd rather sleep with Hokagu than you." and she slammed
the door.

"Heh..." chuckled Kash nervously, fingering his tie. "A simple no would
have sufficed." he finished lamely. Being compared to that fat ass
Hokagu was almost a mortal insult.

***


Hokagu, Vice Chairman of Mirashima Industries, shivered suddenly, his
keys falling from his fat nerveless hands. He grumbled something about
the wind, before bending his enormous fat ass to retrieve the
aforementioned article.

"Hurry baby." said the hooker at his side, shifting in place from the
cool wind blowing down on them. "It's cold out here!"

Hokagu grinned as he straightened back up, his grubby hand grabbing the
woman around the waist and pulling her to him, "I'll warm you up,
dumpling." he chuckled, his hand snaking under the short leather skirt
she wore to squeeze her inner thigh playfully.


The hooker managed a sickly smile, which Hokagu ignored in favor of
getting his apartment door open. He likewise missed the hookers
disgusting remark, "I'm going to be sick."

***

"So Kash hired us, eh?" the thick deep voice of their mechanic asked,
eyeing Niami seriously.

Niami spared the man a glance, before nodding. "Indeed, Daisuke." her
voice was leveled and control, revealing nothing other than cold
confidence in the woman's demeanor and appearance.

Daisuke was a big man by Japanese standards, roughly six feet tall with
a finely toned physique garnered through long hard hours at work with
machines. While he wasn't body builder material, he did exude a
commanding charm when it came to developing, tweaking, or in other ways
improving their various armaments, vehicles, and of course explosive
arsenal. Still, Niami believed, his short black hair contrasted well
with his angular, if abit scarred, features. She didn't know the color
of his eyes; the man always wore a bare of black shades that obstructed
her view.

"What about Mirashima's offer?" the annoying voice of their
technological wizard asked.

"We have accepted their offer as well." Niami answered, nonplused by the
man's behavior, "Tetsuya, are there any problems with this arrangement?"
she questioned coldly.

Tetsuya was almost the polar opposite of Daisuke as far as Niami was
concerned. Where Daisuke was tall and confident, Tetsuya was short and
generally a pathetic weenie. He was sickly looking, no possessing
Daisuke's inherent strength or charm, and worst of all he tended to act
like a spoiled child when things weren't going his way. Where Daisuke
was interesting in the BBB (Bigger Better Boom) and the BBG (Bigger
Better Gun), Tetsuya was more interested in the how and why of life. No
doubt he would have made a fantastic scientist or scholar in his own
right, if not for his tendency for drug abuse. Niami felt she couldn't
fault the man for his addictions; she herself had been addicted to PCP
before being recruited by their Mutual boss, Bernstein. His worse trait,
as far as Niami was concerned, was his utter perversion. He seemed to
hate her guts too, not that she could blame him.

Tetsuya shrugged indifferently, "Playing both sides of the fence Niami?"
he snidely remarked, "That's not like you toots." his gaze resting on
her breasts.

Niami growled slightly, and resisted the urge to throttle the man
"Orders from the top." she supplied coldly.

"I wonder.." Tetsuya began, a lecherous smirk coming over his features.

"My face, Tetsuya.." she growled, covering her breasts by crossing her
arms, "Is up here." she finished angrily.

"I know woman." said Testuya with no small amount of disgust. "Just
looking. Geesh."

An uncomfortable silence descended the room, Niami shimmering in anger,
and Tetsuya smirking his arrogant little smile.

"So.. boss." Daisuke cut in, eyeing the two angrily, "Much as I like the
money, Tetsuya has a point. Playin both feilds could end up with us
payin the price, if ya know what I mean." he finished with a curious
glare. "The boss may be usin us as the catspaw in this thing."

Niami smirked, dropping the conversation with Tetsuya instantly. "Don't
fret Dai, I have the situation under my complete control. By the time
either group discovered our dual dealings, it will be far too late in
the game to do anything about it." she finished with a wistful smile,
truly pleased with herself.

Tetsuya snorted, "Well? Tell us your plan then..."

"Well.." she drawled "... we are moving to China, and then..."

As Niami continued to explain Daisuke's eyes widened in shock, while
Tetsuya's narrowed in anger.

***

Bernstein chuckled despite himself, idly parting his long blond bangs
from his eyes as he watched the Tokyo nightlife from his 15th story
office window. "I see."

Tetsuya snorted, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his
chest, "That bitch is planning something, boss. I know she is."

"Niami is of little concern, Tetsuya." said Bernstein as he waved off
his underling's suspicions, "It is understandable for you to be
concerned, and no one had any inkling this situation would come up.
Everyone is scrambling to be the one on top when everything has
settled."

Tetsuya eye'ed the man coldly, but said nothing else.

"Leave me." Bernstein ordered after many moments of silence.

The sound of Tetsuya closing the door brought out another chuckle,
"Niami, he has his uses." he sighed then, rubbing his temples tiredly,
"Just find the boy. You know what to do from there."

"Yes sir." came Niami's voice from the speakerphone before hanging up.

***

Niami flipped her cell phone closed, tossing the piece of technology to
the side as she zoomed down the street. "Fucking pig." she snorted.

Daisuke glanced at her momentarily, "Doesn't suit you." he said simply,
turning his gaze back to the passing road.

"What?" asked Niami, reaching up and pushing back some hair behind her
ear.

"Cursing Niami. Your a big girl, deadly serious, perhaps the best hired
merc I've ever met." said Daisuke with a frown, "Lowering yourself
because of trash like Tetsuya isn't like you."

Niami snorted, casting a withering glare at the man, "You don't know
anything about me Dai, stop acting like you do." she laughed bitterly,
"You sound like my mother."

"Whatever."

After a long silence, Niama sighed tiredly, "What do you know about
Project Resonance?" she questioned seriously.

"Eh? Resonance? Nothing." Daisuke replied seriously, wondering what the
hell she was talking about.

Niami snorted, glaring at the man amused, "You're a horrible liar, you
know."

"So I've been told." said Daisuke with a chuckle, stretching his arms up
in the cramped car before settling down.

"The boy we are going after is some how connected to that project, how
much however we can not determine." she sighed, frowning, "Kash and
Hokagu are being extremely tight lipped about it, which isn't surprising
in the least bit."

"You've got to know more than that." Daisuke responded accusingly.

Niami nodded, turning off the highway, "You've heard about the
'terrorist' bombing of Tokyo General?"

Daisuke nodded dumbly. Who hadn't heard about that? It's been in the
news for weeks already, supposedly an armed Green Peace splinter group
blew the parking lot up as a statement that cars were destroying the
ozone layer. The excuse it self sounded rather weak, but no one cared to
question such a disturbance. That good ole Japanese 'Ignore it and it
will go away' stand point working well as a cover up.

"Well.." she drawled, turning into a parking garage, "... That boy and
his father caused that damage, and before you start asking, no they
didn't use bombs or anything of the short." she stopped for a moment, as
if to consider something, "They did it with their bare hands, and some
sort of energy blasts."

"Eh.. this kid is a martial artist right?" asked Daisuke curiously,
glancing at the woman as she parked her car.

Niami rolled her eyes. She knew exactly where this line of questioning
was going, damn Daisuke and his DBZ fixation, "Yes, and no he isn't some
alien coming to earth with a master plan about conquering this pathetic
mud ball and turning us all into slaves. At the moment we believe it's
some form of genetic manipulation."

"Oh.." he seemed extremely disappointed at that prospect.

"However.." she drawled, irritated, "... the energy the boy used
resonated with the SS module. You know what that means, of course?"

Daisuke nodded, punching his hand into his palm, "Not a clue." he nodded
again, seeming very sure of his statement.

Niami groaned, slamming her head against the steering wheel.

***

To be continued...


Authors Notes: This ends the first arc for Path of Life. This arc was
mainly setting the stage for the next arc, which promises to be filled
with tense action sequences, plot development, and possibly a little
romantic tension, though it will be far from anything waffy. Heh.

With the closure of this arc, characters from Gold Digger will make a
disappearance for the most part, though they will return in either the
3rd, or the 4th arc, possibly even the 5th. It's still a long way away
in either case.

For this arc you will see quite a lot of original influence, and next
installment will have another cross over towards the end of the arc, but
again that's a long way away.

The beginning of the next arc will begin in about seven years. I thought
about going through Ranma's life, maybe get him involved in some other
things and whatnot, but coming up with things to write from that aspect
was slow going. So slow, it almost took me a year to say to hell with
it, and write this. Heh.

Any questions, comments, or C&C can be sent to narkanarka@hotmail.com

Thank you.

Matdeception