Alternate Future

By: James Lee

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. Ranma 1/2 belongs to Viz and Evangelion belongs to Gainax. I am making no profit off of this.

Part 12 The Tendos strike back, Part I.
Nabiki winced as Ritsuko wrapped her hand a little too tight with an Ace bandage. Earlier in the day she had been playing volleyball at school and had sprained her wrist.

"Is it too tight?" asked Ritsuko looking up. Nabiki nodded her head.

"Just a little." Ritsuko loosened the bandage just a bit.

"This shouldn't interfere with your piloting, but you do need to be more careful Nabiki."

"In the meantime, I'm having you put on secondary alert. If something does come up then, we'll have Ranma handle it." Added Misato. Fortunately the last Angel's mind attack didn't have too much effect on Ranma. Asuka on the other hand...

Nabiki once again nodded her head. *Like that's going to help.*Nabiki mused. She found it a bit ironic that despite all her fears of piloting an EVA in combat, she had been injured more times outside the EVAs. Still other people had been hurt and she had the feeling that she was running on luck.

"There, all done." said Ritsuko putting the last pin onto the bandage. "Remember, try not to use that hand too much."

"Well let's get going. We've got a party to get to!" Said Misato grabbing her coat off a nearby chair.

"Right." said Nabiki without enthusiasm. Sure, she wouldn't mind going to a party, but it would be HER party. Yes, Ranma would be there, but he would be there with HER.

Misato looked at Nabiki. The young pilot's change of attitude did not go unnoticed. She was also pretty sure Ranma had something to do with it, or more precisely Ranma and Asuka. Although Nabiki would not go into details, Misato was sure that there was some significance to the fact that Ranma went to Asuka, when he was acting like a cat. She also had a good idea what it was too.

She had noticed that after the battle with the 15th Angel Asuka had been spending more of her time with Ranma. They would walk to school together, do homework, practice their martial arts. Misato had no real problem with this, as that it seemed to keep Asuka's mind off her other problem. Since the last Angel attack, Asuka's sync. rate had gone rock bottom almost, it was now doubtful that she could even get an EVA to move. This had made Misato very nervous, knowing how much piloting meant to her.

Ranma was also nervous about this, thus he had suggested this party. Misato was all for it, anything to keep Asuka's mind off her sagging piloting skills. "Well come on, we're running late."

Grabbing their things, Nabiki and Ritsuko followed Misato to her car.

*****

"Surprise!" said the group as Asuka entered the apartment. Looking up she could see Ranma, Hikari, Rei, and the three stooges smiling at her. The party wasn't really a surprise to Asuka, she had expected Misato or Ranma to set something up, still it was sweet.

"Guys!" Replied Asuka acting embarrassed as the others guided her to the table. On the table were several boxes, and a cake with the words "Happy Birthday Asuka" on it. *They're just trying to make me feel better.* thought Asuka, as she moved over to the table. She was pretty sure that she would be replaced at NERV. After all what good was a pilot who couldn't pilot?

"Make a wish Asuka." said Hikari.

Shrugging her shoulders, Asuka looked over at Ranma. She then bent down and blew out the fifteen candles.

"What did you wish for?" asked Rei.

"Oh, that's my secret." reply Asuka as she noticed that Rei was wearing a rather nice dress instead of her usual school uniform.

"I have to get the rest of the food." said Shinji as he went to the kitchen. Grabbing the last plates of food, he quickly left to rejoin the party. This was a pity, for if he had stayed he would have noticed the four people that suddenly appeared.

"So where are we and where is the villain Saotome?" Asked a boy dressed in a kendo uniform and carrying a bokken.

"Shhhh, be quiet Kuno!" said the only girl in the group. "We are where Ranma should be. Now let's look around."

"I see him!" said the oldest member of the group, a tall man with a mustache. He was currently peeking through the slightly open door. "He's in the next room with several others."

"Hey Akane, look at what I found." said the last of the group, pointing at a square panel in the wall. Akane steeped over to look.

"It's the fuse box. OK, here's what we'll do. We'll hit the lights and then we'll charge in and grab Ranma."

"Ah the element of surprise."

"Right, now you three stand by the door and wait for me to turn off the power. No Ryoga, the other door!" Akane waited until the other three were by the door. She then opened the panel and tripped the main breaker.

"HEY, What happened to the lights!?"

(CRASH!)

"Foul sorcerer! Vengeance shall be MINE!"

"Who the hell was that!?"

(BOOM!)(CRACK!)(POW!)

"You're coming with us, Ranma!"

(BUMP!)(CRASH!)(PUNCH!)

"EEEEKK!!! PERVERT!" (SLAP!)

(BONG!)(CRASH!)

"REI!?"

(CRUNCH!)(BREAK!)(VIOLENCE!)

"SHINJI!!"

"She's over here!"

(BRAK!)(BRAK!)

"ARRRGH! Look out she's got a gun!"

(PUNCH!)(SMASH!)(CRASH!)

"DIE, FIEND!!"

(BANG!)(CRACK!)(MORE VIOLENCE!!)

"I've got her! I've got her! Let's get out of here!"

*****
Nerima, present day:
In flash of light the group landed on the dojo floor. Ryoga got up and placed the large moving sack aside.

"Is everyone OK?"

"That little bitch shot me!" yelled Akane holding her bleeding arm.

"AKANE! OH MY LITTLE GIRL'S GOING TO DIE! BWAAAAAAHHH!"

"Dad! it's only a scratch. Where's Kuno?"

"I don't know, I didn't see him when we left."

"Maybe we should go back for him." suggested Akane.

"I'm tempted to just leave him there." said Ryoga sourly. He had gotten highly annoyed with Kuno's constant attacks to 'free' Akane. "Besides I don't think it would be wise with the mirror broken. At least we got what we came for."

Akane looked down at the mirror and indeed saw a bullet hole right in the center of it. A large piece seemed to have fallen out of the frame also. Akane realized that this may well have been their final chance. After all there was no telling how much more abuse the mirror could take. "Ryoga are you sure that's Ranma? That girl that shot me sounded just like her."

"I'm sure Akane." said Ryoga dragging the sack to the front. "She was using the Saotome Ryu of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Oh. All right Ranma, down to business..." said Akane as she opened the bag. She then blinked and looked at Ryoga. Ryoga gulped and looked at the tied up girl nervously.

"Well umm...she's got red hair and blue eyes."

"Yes, but this isn't Ranma!" said Akane

"No shit! Who the hell are you dummkopfs!?" screamed the very angry redhead. (1)

(1) Like you can't guess. Hey, she and Ranma are now a couple so she has to be attacked by crazy martial artists. IT'S THE LAW!

*****
Tokyo 3, 2015, a little while earlier:
Misato, Ritsuko, and Nabiki had just gotten off the elevator when they heard two muffled bangs coming from Misato's apartment.

"What was that?" asked Ritsuko.

"Gunshots!" Said Misato as she pulled out her weapon. "Nabiki, stay with Ritsuko!"

Nabiki, who had pulled out her own handgun, nodded and started looking up and down the hallway. At the same time Ritsuko pulled out her phone to call NERV security. Misato quickly ran up to the door of her apartment. Listening for a moment, Misato could hear a lot of noise coming from the other side. Misato then pulled out her key card. Holding her gun in one hand, she put the card in. Nothing happened.

"What the hell!?" Misato tried again, still nothing happened. "Ritsuko, get over here!"

Ritsuko ran over to Misato, with Nabiki not too far behind. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. My key card isn't working."

"So kick the door in!"

"Ritsuko, this is a fortified building. That door is a plate of steel over 3cm thick!"

Suddenly there was a click and the door slid open. Misato hastily rushed in to find her apartment a complete wreck. Ranma was standing over some unconscious boy in a gi? Toji was crawling from under her smashed table. Hikari was huddled in corner. Shinji was holding a knocked out Rei, who still had her smoking pistol in her hand.

"Ritsuko get in here, Rei might be hurt!" Ritsuko rushed in, followed by Nabiki. As they walked past Ranma, Nabiki stopped. *Kuno!? What's he doing here!?*

*Looks like someone she knows.* thought Misato. She would find out later. Misato then turned back to Ranma. "What the hell happened!?"

"I-I don't know. The lights went out and then we were attacked."

"Attacked, how many!?"

"I don't know, more than just this guy. I'd say three to four. One of them was a girl." Toji nodded in agreement.

"Hey guys I got the power back WHAO!" Kensuke stopped as Misato whirled on him with her handgun. Seeing that it was him, she relaxed.

"Was there anyone else in there?"

"Umm no."

"Misato look." Misato turn to see Nabiki point at some deep red spots on the floor.

"Blood? Don't touch it. NERV security will be by to get a sample. Maybe we'll find out who one of the others is."

*Not likely.* thought Nabiki. Something shiny then caught her eye. Picking the object up, Nabiki noticed that it was a piece of mirror. Looking around room, Nabiki couldn't see where the piece had came from. The only mirror in the room was oddly still intact. *Could it be...* Nabiki put the piece in her pocket. She would look into it later.

"M-Misato?" Misato turned to see Hikari coming out of her corner. "Where's Asuka?"

*****
Nerima, present day:
"Umm who are you?" asked Akane.

"Lieutenant Soryu, Asuka Langley. Date of birth: December 4th, 2001. NERV identification number: 439800-9897."

The Tendo's sweatdropped at the redhead's reply. *She's acting like she's some kind of soldier.* Thought Akane. She then thought back to the girl that shot her. *No, that would be ridiculous.* Akane then thought about the date of birth the girl gave. *That was the future!?*

"Ah listen this all really a mistake..."

"Oh I could of guessed that!" said Asuka cutting Akane off. "So I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're after Ranma."

"You must understand child. All this is at stake!" said Soun, gesturing to the dojo around them. Asuka looked around at the dojo wide eyed for a moment. Her eyes then narrowed and she gritted her teeth.

"You broke into my home. Attacked my friends. Trashed MY birthday party! You then kidnapped me! All this over a run down shack!?"

"RUN DOWN SHACK!?"

"Are you stupid!? Look at this hellhole! Look at all those holes in the wall and that shoddy repair job on the roof. That slum Rei used to live in looked better than this dump!"

Soun rushed up to the girl. "I'll have you know, this is the Tendo dojo! A fine school of anything goes martial arts!"

Asuka sneered. "Hard to tell by the looks of it and the staff don't look too bright either."

Akane quickly stepped between the two. She didn't like the way the girl was insulting her school, but could understand why she would be a little upset.

"Listen we're not really after you. Once we get Ranma we can straighten everything out."

"Yeah well you can forget that! By now all of NERV is on full alert. NERV Security well gun you down before you even get close to him..."

Asuka was about to suggest that they give themselves up before NERV intelligence hunted them down and did horrible things to them, when Soun steeped up again. "Perhaps they don't know the true evil of Saotome!?"

*True evil?* "Are you referring to his shape shifting?"

Soun narrowed his eyes. "No something far worse."

*Worse than turning into a girl?* thought Asuka. "W-What?"

"He's...burakumin!"

"BURAKUMIN!!?" yelped Asuka. She then blinked. "Umm Ano? What's burakumin?"

Outside the dojo a large facefault could be heard.

*****
Tokyo-3, 2015:
"His name is Tatewaki Kuno. He's from our world." said Nabiki looking at said idiot sitting in his cell on one of the monitors. She, Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya were in the security station inside NERV Headquarters.

"What can you tell us about him?" asked Misato. "Why did he and his friends attack Ranma?"

"Well, for Kuno, it's because he hates Ranma with a passion. He is however in love with Ranma's female half."

"So I take it he doesn't know that Ranma and the girl are one and the same." said Ritsuko.

"Actually he's seen the transformation enough times, it's more like he doesn't want to believe it. Sort of like the way Hikari believes that it was just a dream that one time. Kuno however, takes it to extremes."

"What do you mean?" asked Maya.

"Kuno believes that Ranma is a black sorcerer and that he has Kuno's 'Pig tailed Goddess' under some type of spell."

"You're joking right?"

Nabiki shook her head. "I afraid not. I don't know how much good information we're going to get out of him. He's pretty stupid and delusional."

"What do mean delusional?" asked Ritsuko.

"You'll see." was all Nabiki said as she watched Fuyusuki enter the interrogation room next to the cell.

"How DARE you hold a noble, such as myself hostage!" yelled Kuno as Fuyuzuki sat down at a disk in the room. "I demand you release me at once!"

"You are in no position to demand anything young man."

"You peasant! Do you not know who I am!?"

"As a matter of fact no, we don't."

"I am the rising star of the fencing world. The defeater of evil sorcerers. My name brings fear to my enemies hearts. I am the Swift Sword! Tatewaki Kuno, age nineteen."

In the security room Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya all sweatdropped. Nabiki just look at the monitor with thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hmm, he changed it."

"He what?" asked Ritsuko.

"He changed his title. The last time I saw him; he was calling himself the Blue Thunder."

"Is this guy for real?" asked Misato.

"Unfortunately yes. You should see the rest of his family. His sister is even worse." The others just stared at Nabiki.

Fuyuzuki looked at Kuno for a moment, before continuing. "Well besides being the 'Swift Sword', you are also a terrorist, a saboteur, and an accessory to kidnapping."

"You have the gall to accuse me of such crimes!?"

"Then why don't you explain why you and your friends attacked our pilots, kidnapping one of them?"

"As if I, a noble samurai, should have to explain myself to a ninja clan!"

"You've got to be joking!" said Misato rubbing her forehead. Not accepting the curse she could understand, but this guy didn't seem to want to accept reality.

Fuyuzuki blinked. "A ninja clan?"

"Of course,..." said Kuno, nose held high. "why else would you have a burakumin such as Saotome among you?"

Nabiki gulped as Ritsuko turned to her.

"Surely your family didn't kick him out for something like that?"

"I told you it was stupid." said Nabiki. "That's why I left."

"W-What's burakumin?" asked Maya with a confused look on her face. "Is it something important?"

"Only to some assholes fifteen years ago!" snapped Misato. She then calmed down, seeing Maya flinch. The girl was probably a little too young to remember. "Sorry Maya, it's just that...that my mother had a lot of problems because of that crap."

"Major?" asked Maya still confused.

"Burakumin..." began Ritsuko. "or Eta as some might call them, are the descendants of people who did what was considered the lowest class jobs, stuff like leather worker or grave digger. Back before second impact, companies and schools wouldn't take burakumin because they were considered unclean."

"Excuse Sempai but that sounds umm kind of dumb."

"Of course it is." replied Ritsuko. "That's why no one believes in it anymore."

Fuyuzuki frowned a bit before continuing. "Oh? If anything you seem more ninja than a samurai."

Kuno slammed himself against the bars that separated him and the older man. "You dare!?"

"You snuck into Major Katsuragi's apartment and attacked a children's birthday party under the cover of darkness." said Fuyuzuki smirking. "I thought samurai where supposed to be more noble than that."

"Although I loathed to partake in such attack, the need was justifiable. There is nothing I will not do for the fair Akane. Also we did not sneak into that peasant's lodging. It was where the magical mirror deposited us."

"I've heard enough." said Misato turning from the screen. "It's obvious we're going to have to use some drugs on him."

Ritsuko nodded her head. "What do you suppose he meant by the magical mirror?"

"I don't know..."

Remembering the piece of mirror she had found on the ground, Nabiki took a step back from the conversation. For a moment Nabiki considered not telling them about the fragment. Asuka was now effectively out of the way and Nabiki could see herself comforting a heart broken Ranma. Her logical mind however, quickly replaced this with an image of another Nabiki, one that couldn't sleep at night. Besides there was no reason to believe that her family wouldn't bring the girl back. "I think I know."

Misato and Ritsuko both stopped to look at Nabiki. "What do you mean?"

Nabiki pulled out the mirror shard. "I found this on the floor of your apartment. I thought it was a piece of trash, but now I think it might be part of something we called the Nanban mirror."

Misato blinked. "What is the Nanban mirror?"

"It was a magical mirror that someone could use to travel space and time. I thought it was broken, but it appears that my family fixed it."

"So how does it work?" asked Ritsuko, clearly not convinced.

Nabiki forced herself to cry into the piece of mirror. "Take me to Maya."

Maya yelped as Nabiki suddenly appeared beside her. Ritsuko stood there with her mouth agape. Misato grabbed mirror shard and looked at it. A look of decision then came to her face. "Maya."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I need you to get some equipment for me. I'll need: body armor, nightvision goggles, six flashbang grenades, three smoke grenades, three CS teargas grenades, a gasmask, a submachinegun with seven extra magazines, and about three hundred rounds of ammunition."

"Ah Misato, what are you up to?" asked Ritsuko slightly concerned. She how compulsive her friend could be.

"I'm going after her."

"You're WHAT!?"

*****
Nerima, present-day:
"So you see, that's why we're after him and why we want it kept quiet." said Akane as she finished her explanation.

"I see." said Asuka with a look of understanding on her face. Her face then turned red. "That's the stupidest load of crap I've ever heard in my ENTIRE LIFE!"

"Dinner's ready." came a call from the main house. Soun and Ryoga shook their heads and started to head for the house. Before leaving Ryoga turned to Akane.

"Come on Akane, she isn't listening."

"I'll be there in a minute, Ryoga." said Akane. After Ryoga had gone she then turned to Asuka. "I guess we couldn't expect a gaijin half-breed like yourself to understand."

"At least I know where I got all my good parts from." growled Asuka. "And if you think NERV's going to give Ranma up over that shit, you've got another thing coming. He's one of the best pilots they have!"

"That doesn't change the fact that he is unclean."

"Oh but he's clean enough to put his blood in your system!" (SLAP!) The force of Akane's slap cause Asuka to hit the wall. Licking her bleeding lip however, she turned back to face Akane with a smirk on her face. "O_o did I touch a nerve?"

"We'll finish this later." growled Akane as she turned to join the other for dinner and to hopefully calm down.

"If you get the chance." replied Asuka in a low voice

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Ranma and NERV are going to come for me, and when they do you'll be sorry."

Akane took a deep breath. "You know what? Even though he is a Burakumin, I think you're right." She then pointed at the mirror sitting on a small table at the other end of the Dojo. "But without that mirror, he isn't going to get very far!"

Asuka watched Akane as she left to join the others. She then looked at the mirror and deadpanned. *Oh yes! You're dealing with real bunch of brainiacs here. Okay Asuka, SEER school! (2) There's always a way out.* Asuka started looking around the dojo. She then noticed some nails sticking out of wall from a bad repair job. Acting like an inch worm, Asuka made her way to the nails and began working on the ropes.

She stopped however, as a shadow suddenly came over her. "Huh?"

(2) Search Escape Evade Rescue school.
*****
Tokyo-3, 2015:
Misato stood in the center of the room. She was now wearing a charcoal gray uniform and was checking her MP-5A3. Ritsuko walked up to her, as she went through the rest of her equipment.

"Major Katsuragi, I still must protest. We have trained commandos for this. Why not leave it to the people who know what they're doing?"

"You forget Ritsuko, I served four years in the JSSDF before I came here. Besides, I think the fragment can only transport one. It will be best if it is someone Asuka recognizes."

"Wait a minute, if the fragment can only carry one, how do you plan to get back with Asuka?" asked Ritsuko.

"I'll capture the larger mirror." stated Misato

"But what if you can't capture the larger one!?"

Misato took a deep breath. "In my desk, there's an envelope with some instructions in it(3). If I can't capture the large mirror, I'll destroy it and send Asuka back alone."

Ritsuko could only stare at her friend. That meant that Misato would be trapped on another world. Then Nabiki stepped up and handed some papers to Misato.

"What's this?" asked Misato as she looked at the note. "Nekohanten?"

"It's a note for a Chinese friend named Shampoo. The Address is where she lives. Her and her grandmother are friends of both me and Ranma, they might help."

"Umm thanks I'll keep that in mind."

"At least get the note to her, please?"

"I'll see what I can do." Misato then noticed Ranma looking at her from across the room. "Don't worry Ranma, I'll get her back."

Ranma just nodded. Something about way he looked at her bothered Misato, but she had other things to worry about. Taking out the mirror fragment, Misato forced a tear to come out.

"Take me to where they took Asuka." Suddenly Misato jerked as something grabbed on to her. *Oh shit, no!* But she could already feel that it was too late.

"RANMA!!" Nabiki and Ritsuko screamed out at the same time as both he and Misato disappeared.

(2) Unfortunately, Misato had been drunk when she had been making her "instructions". She had left all her panties to Shinji, all her Beer to Asuka, and everything else (condo, car, what little cash) to her dear good friend Pen Pen!

To be continued.

Next
-What will happen when Misato and Ranma decide to open a can of whoopass on the Tendos? And who is Asuka's visitor? Find out next time in part two of The Tendo's strike back!