Disclaimer: See prologue. " " Speech < > Thought "> <" Translated speech Suikohalf Gold Chapter 1 By Raiu Kusanagi * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ranma cursed under his breath as he pushed another branch out of his face and kept walking. A second later, the immortal martial artist swatted a mosquito that landed on his exposed forearm. After another ten minutes of walking, Ranma saw that he was getting close to a clearing up ahead and sensed Stripe's ki signature in the clearing. "Finally." Ranma muttered in English, then pushed forward, entering the clearing as he switched to Kryn. ">Yo, Stripe. What was so urgent that you couldn't tell me in your message?<" The tiger-featured human wearing only a loincloth turned and smiled at the man before him. ">Ranma! You came!<" Ranma's former martial arts student exclaimed. ">You don't know how glad I am to see you right now!<" ">It's good to see you, too, Stripe.<" Ranma replied, running a hand through his short hair. ">So, what's up?<" In the four years since he left Nerima, Ranma had barely changed. Physically, at least. He now kept his hair no longer than two inches at the most with it spiking up and back for the most part, while his muscles were a bit tighter and more defined. Ranma's height of six-foot-two left him a few inches shorter than his former student. His standard mode of dress was identical to what he wore the day he left Nerima - tight, black, short-sleeved t-shirts & black slacks - but with the addition of black sneakers in place of his old slipper-shoes. The young man deliberately left the Soul Eater uncovered, completely uncaring of what other people would think of it. ">Well – what is it?<" Stripe had cut himself off when Ranma's head snapped to the right, his eyes narrowing. ">Two ki signatures. South-southeast. Three hundred meters and closing. One human, one... something else. Can't really tell. Never felt anything like it before.<" ">Any chance they'll miss El Dorado?<" Stripe asked anxiously. ">No. They're heading right for it. Why?<" ">We have to stop them!<" Stripe yelled, already running in the direction Ranma had mentioned. ">I'll explain why once we do!<" Ranma smirked and followed Stripe, easily catching up with the Kryn prince. In under a minute, the two men had reached the location of the ki signatures and were hiding in the bushes about twenty yards away. The owners of the ki signatures were two young women. The ki signature Ranma couldn't recognize was a seven-foot-tall were-cheetah, while the human girl was a blonde that stood about five-foot-seven. ">Is that cat-woman a were-cheetah?<" Stripe whispered to his companion, ignoring what the women were saying. ">Yeah.<" Ranma replied in a similar tone. ">But I thought they were extinct.<" ">Apparently not.<" "Hold up, Gina..." The were-cheetah began, beginning to turn toward Ranma and Stripe. "Now what?" The blonde asked. "I thought I heard something." ">That's our cue,<" Ranma whispered, smirking. In unison, the two men leaped from the bushes they were hiding behind and landed only a few feet behind Gina, nearly giving the young scientist-slash- treasure-hunter a heart attack. "Turn back!" Stripe growled. "I'd advise you to follow his suggestion, ladies." Ranma added, sliding his hands into his pockets. "I'd rather not have to force you to leave." "Like you could stop us!" The were-cheetah snorted. "Don't push your luck," Ranma retorted. "Wait, Cheetah." Gina cut in, then looked at Ranma and Stripe. "Who are you? And why don't you want us to continue on?" "I'm Ranma and this is Stripe. He knows more about what's going on here than I do." "The area you were advancing upon was once my home." Stripe began. "That place is now a home to a dark evil, and I must prevent you from suffering the fate that fell upon the rest of my people." "Are... are you a were-cat, like me?" A blushing Cheetah asked Stripe. "I'm afraid not." "His people are called the Kryn," Ranma informed the two women. "Jinkies!" Gina quipped, grinning like the Cheshire Cat at Cheetah. "A race of cat-like humanoids living right here in South America! And this one in particular is making Cheetah blush!" Ranma's right eyebrow twitched slightly as he glanced between Cheetah and Stripe, then smirked to himself. "GINA!" Cheetah growled at the other girl, blushing even harder. "Ladies," Ranma interrupted, "I think there are some things more important than whether or not the cats have the hots for each other at the moment. Like you two getting the hell out of here and to safety while Stripe and I deal with whatever the hell's going on in El Dorado." "Thanks for the concern, Ranma," Cheetah replied, "but we *must* seek out the temple of gold... We're not turning back!" "Then stick close to us." Ranma sighed. "No telling what might happen in there." "Indeed." Stripe agreed. "But there is one thing I'd like to know, if you don't mind me asking. Why have you come to find my former home? Who are you?" "I'm the world famous super-scientist Gina Diggers!" Gina answered. "This is my sister, Cheetah. Archaeology is my specialty, and I've come to put another discovery under my belt!" "You're about two years too slow, then," Ranma stated, turning away from the other three toward where he knew El Dorado was located. "Huh? Whaddaya mean by that?" "Ranma is the first human in the last several hundred years to come to El Dorado." Stripe answered for his friend. "He arrived here two years ago, looking for ancient martial arts techniques." "Found the place completely by accident, actually." Ranma continued, still staring intently toward El Dorado. "Instead of martial arts techniques, I found friends, students, and a cure for my ailurophobia." "Ailuro-whatsit?" Cheetah asked. "He means he used to be afraid of cats, Cheetah," Gina clarified for her sister. Ranma tuned out the conversation as he began focusing more attention in the direction of El Dorado. After a few minutes of scanning, Ranma frowned and turned back to the group just in time to hear Gina ask, "Can you lead us to the secret door of the temple?" "Follow us." Stripe said, heading toward El Dorado. "The entrance is this way." "Can you unlock the secret buns – I mean - door?" Cheetah asked, blushing. "If he can't, I can always tear it down," Ranma supplied. "I hope that won't be necessary." Stripe warned his friend, then smiled as he pushed aside some bushes. "Here it is. I'll see if I can open it." "Gina!" Cheetah whispered to her sister. "Get a load of the muscles in his lower back, girl! Umph!" "Yeah," the were-cheetah's sister agreed in a whisper, "but Ranma's shirt certainly leaves nothing to the imagination! Mmm, mmm." Next to Stripe, Ranma's left eyebrow twitched slightly, his heightened hearing easily catching the girls' conversation. "Damn!" Stripe swore. "It won't open!" "Let me," Ranma calmly stated, gesturing for Stripe to move aside. Once the Kryn prince had moved back, Ranma stepped up to the door and began feeling for the seams. Once he'd found them, the immortal martial artist stabbed his hands into the side seams up to his thumbs and gripped the door. Grunting, the young man heaved backward, trying to tear the door free. "Crap!" Ranma growled, relaxing slightly. "When you Kryn build something, you build it to last! But I've yet to meet a stuck door I can't break down." On that note, Ranma tightened his grip, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bulging enough to nearly tear the top of his t-shirt. With a low growl, Ranma began slowly pulling the door from the wall, causing the two women to stare in awe and surprise. A couple moments later, Ranma leaned the stone door against the wall next to the now open doorway. "Heh. Told ya so." Stripe merely shook his head in exasperation and followed his human companion into the tunnel. "Did he just...?" Gina trailed off. "Tear a foot-thick stone door out of a matching wall?" Cheetah finished. "Yeah..." "Uh huh..." "Yummy," Gina sighed, then took off running after the two men. "Hey, wait up!" * * * * "Was this cavern used very often by your people, Stripe?" "Not really, Gina." Stripe replied as he led the way through the tunnel. "My people lived a secluded life far from the interference of outsiders." "Like we said before, I was the first human here in hundreds of years," Ranma added. The group had been walking down the tunnel for several minutes, relying on flashlights (Gina), their own senses (Cheetah & Ranma), or experience (Stripe) to keep from tripping. Gina had been pestering Ranma and Stripe with questions the entire time. "Then how come you know how to speak English so well?" The super-scientist continued, almost ignoring Ranma's statement. "You hardly have an accent." "My people have studied your world for a very long time, Gina. We know of many languages and cultures from the outside world." Just then, the quartet stopped at a turn in the tunnel about thirty yards from the exit to El Dorado. "We'll scout ahead," Ranma said, walking toward the exit. "If everything's fine, I'll call back for you," Stripe assured the Diggers sisters as he followed Ranma. "Be careful, Ranma," Gina called after them. "You too, Stripe." "You know they're gonna be talkin' about us," Ranma commented, keeping one ear tuned to Cheetah & Gina's conversation as he and Stripe approached the exit. "That's a bad thing?" Stripe asked, confused. "For most people... nah. I just don't like being treated like a side of beef or a trophy. Had to put up with shit like that for nearly a year. More than enough to last me a mortal lifetime." "I guess you have a point," Stripe conceded. The two slowed to a creep as they neared the exit, then scanned the area, making sure they weren't seen. When they didn't see anything, Stripe turned back to the girls. "All clear! We can continue now!" "Coming sweethea – I mean – Stripe!" Cheetah called back. Ranma chuckled at Stripe as the girls started walking toward them. "She's got it bad for you, man." "Don't tell her yet, but the feeling's mutual," Stripe muttered under his breath, knowing Ranma could hear him. "Your secret's safe with me until you tell her." "Gina, Cheetah..." Stripe began as the two women caught up with them. "This is my home. It's as beautiful as it is dangerous. We must be cautious." "Funky!" "Zoinks!" Gina exclaimed. "This isn't the Lost Temple of Gold, it isn't even the Lost Skyscraper of Gold... THIS IS THhhmmph!" Gina's sentence was cut off by Ranma clapping his hand over her mouth. "Damn it!" Ranma growled. "Be quiet! We've got fifty null-sigs approaching this area. Taking their time, too. Must be standard patrols." "'Null-sigs'?" Gina asked when Ranma pulled his hand back. "Animate objects with no ki signatures. Like cars, planes, golems, you get the idea." "Oh." "Stripe?" Cheetah asked, placing a hand on the Kryn's shoulder. "Are you okay?" "This city... once home to my proud people... now home to accursed parodies of my fellow Kryn..." "Shit." Ranma cursed. "Ten of them just sped up toward us. They must have sensed us somehow." Abruptly, ten Kryn made of stone leaped at the group from seemingly nowhere. "Jinkies! These guys are made of stone!" "They're the Kryn." Ranma explained, blocking several strikes from three different golems. "Something's turned them into mindless golem slaves." "Then how can we defend ourselves without hurting them?!" Gina cried out, unholstering her gun. "They are cursed, Gina!" Stripe answered, punching through the chest of one golem as he blocked a kick from another. "No matter how you destroy one, it will, in time, regenerate itself!" "Why didn't you just say so?!" Ranma cheered, then unleashed a roundhouse kick that tore through his three attackers and turned just in time to see Cheetah get thrown into a wall. "Damn!" The were-cheetah growled as she picked herself up. "These guys are good!" "They should be." Ranma stated, demolishing three more with a quick punch combo as ten more Kryn golems arrived on the scene. "I trained a good portion of the Kryn warriors in martial arts." "Set phasers to 'flame broil', crew!" Gina exclaimed as she fired her gun at the golems. The recoil of the gun knocked Gina on her ass as a large beam of energy shot out of the barrel. "Oops! That was my tachyon-beam! I meant to use my photon charge! How many did I hit?" "You totally missed all of them!" Cheetah answered, narrowly dodging a claw swipe as she headed for her sister. "The friggin' shock-wave from the blast wasted half of them, though..." "Beware of their claws, my friends!" Stripe warned them as he jumped over two charging golems, allowing them to collide with each other, crushing their heads. "If they touch your blood, you'll turn into one of them!" "Thanks for the tip, Stripe..." Cheetah stated just before a stone claw grabbed the back of her vest's collar. "Uh oh." The golem spun and hurled the female were-cheetah at Stripe. "Look out, Stri - oof!" Cheetah grunted as she slammed into Stripes back, knocking both cat-people to the ground. "He's charging! Look out!" "Don't let him get you, Cheetah!" Just as the golem leapt into the air to pounce on them, a sphere of black energy hit the creature, blowing it in half. The Diggers sisters and Stripe looked at Ranma to see him pointing one palm at where the golem had been as it blew up, a smirk on his face and a pile of rubble lying around him. "Ain't martial arts great?" "Just what was that?" Gina asked as she stood up. "You can get up now, Cheetah. And I saw you coppin' a feel on Stripe! Shame! Shame!" "I was not!!" "To answer your question, Gina, that was a ki blast. If you're good enough at martial arts, then ki blasts are easy. The hard part is getting good enough." "Thanks for the save, Ranma," Cheetah said, helping Stripe to his feet. "We should be moving as soon as possible." Stripe warned. "It won't take long before they reform themselves!" "You three go on ahead." Ranma commented, looking up at a wall. "I'll catch up in a sec." Without waiting for a response, Ranma jumped at the wall and began running up the nearly vertical surface. "C'mon, let's go," Stripe said, urging the girls onward. "Will he be okay?" Gina asked. "I've never known him to not be okay." Stripe replied, smirking. "To my knowledge, if there's something he can't handle, we're all in trouble." * * * * Ranma sprang from the top of the wall he had been running up and back- flipped onto the wall opposite it, landing in front of a startled young black woman. The young immortal turned to her and smirked evilly, crossing his arms over his chest. "And just who might you be, hmmm?" "Who the hell are you?!" the woman snapped. "I asked first," Ranma retorted. "Feh. I'm Penny Pinser. I'm here for the treasure." "And I'm Ranma. As for the treasure, you're not getting any. It already belongs to someone. So you're coming with me." Without giving Penny a chance to respond, Ranma grabbed her by the waist and slung her over his shoulder so her breasts were pressed against his back. Ranma hopped off the wall and started scanning for everyone's ki signatures as he plummeted, ignoring Penny's screaming. Half a second later, Ranma landed on the ground. Penny had clenched her eyes shut, bracing herself for the end. When nothing happened, she warily cracked her eyes open before they widened to the size of dinner plates, seeing that Ranma was standing there as if he hadn't just jumped from that wall. In fact, there wasn't even a dust cloud kicked up by his landing. "Unless you want some of those golems to find us, I suggest you don't scream anymore," Ranma warned his passenger before he took off like a shot, running toward Gina's location. * * * * "Zoinks!" Gina exclaimed as the reverted Kryn collapsed on top of her. "She-she's reverted back to normal!" The blonde scientist rolled the cat-woman off her and picked up the Gem of Returning. "And here's the culprit! The Gem of Returning! It has some kind of magic power!" "You okay, Gina?" Ranma's voice asked from behind her. "Ranma!" Gina squealed in glee as she spun toward the voice, only to freeze when she saw a black woman slung over Ranma's shoulder. "Who's that?" "Said her name was Penny Pinser. You know her?" "Yeah, I do." Gina replied, an evil smile forming as she pocketed the Gem. "Hold onto her for a couple more seconds, okay?" Penny was nearly sweating bullets when she heard Gina's voice and realized her position. "No! No! No!" Penny cried out when she felt a slender hand grip the waist of her skirt and panties. "Lemme go, lemme go, lemme g-" *WEDGE* "-ACK!!" "Okay, you can set her down now," Gina told a confused Ranma. The young man decided it wasn't worth the trouble to try and figure out, so he simply shrugged and lowered Penny to the ground, where she immediately began pulling at the wedgie Gina had given her. "Oooh, Gold Digger...!" Penny growled, tugging her skirt back into place. "I'll get you for that, you blonde little..." "Anyway," Ranma began, "what were you screaming about just a second ago?" "Oh, I was under attack by one of those golems, but the Gem of Returning returned her to normal." "While we were occupied, Cheetah and Stripe were captured." "Damn! Do you know where they are?" "Lemme check..." Ranma turned toward where he sensed the cat-people's ki signatures had been when they were captured and started scanning. A moment later, he had his answer. "The artifact room. I know a hidden tunnel that leads straight there." * * * * "The prince and his thrall are here as you wished, Lord Gyphon!" "Who are you callin' a thrall?!" Cheetah snarled from her kneeling position in the middle of the room. "SILENCE!" The green-skinned, robed man on the small throne commanded. Arrayed in a semi-circle behind the man were artifacts and huge gems of varying color and cut. Two Kryn golems were kneeling halfway from Cheetah & Stripe to Gyphon. Another six, two with pole arms of some kind, stood in a line behind Cheetah and Stripe. "I thought there were four of them. Where are the humans?" "They have eluded detection so far," one of the weapon-wielders answered, "but it won't take long to find them." Over head, watching the proceedings through a fairly large hole in the ceiling, Ranma, Gina, and Penny were planning how to rescue their friends. Well, Penny was just with the other two because they didn't trust her enough to leave her alone. Ranma reached forward, gripped the drape in front of him with one hand and swiped at it with the index finger of his other hand. Even though his finger missed by several inches, the drape was still cut free as if a laser had cut through it. "How did -" Gina began. "I'll explain later, Gina." Ranma cut her off as he passed the cut end of the drape to the blonde. "Use this drape to cause some sort of distraction for Gyphon. If he's distracted long enough, I might be able to get rid of him for good with one shot." "Okay," Gina replied, standing up, then jumping off the ledge to swing down toward Gyphon, her foot aimed at the back of his head. "Die," Ranma hissed as soon as Gina's foot slammed into Gyphon's head. Penny was surprised to see the tattoo on Ranma's forehead glow slightly in response to Ranma's command, followed by Gyphon screaming in agony when an aura of black energy erupted from the ground to engulf him. Ranma and Penny dropped down into the room as Cheetah and Stripe tore free of the ropes binding them. "Who dares attack me?!" Gyphon snarled as he threw off the spell and looked around just in time for Cheetah's head to impact against his chin. "HAH!" Cheetah snorted. "Whatta wimp!" "Don't count him out yet, Cheetah!" Ranma snapped, tearing through Kryn golems like they weren't there. "He managed to resist a death spell!" Ranma snarled in frustration when he sensed thirty more golems running up the stairs toward the artifact room. "Stripe!" Ranma yelled to his former student, blasting the remaining golems as he did so. "Take care of the ones coming up the stairs!" As Stripe was moving toward the stairway, Gina slammed into Penny while the black girl was checking out a twelve pound ruby, doing nothing more than distracting Ranma long enough for Gyphon to act. "How dare you lay hands upon me, wench!" Gyphon snarled, grabbing Cheetah by the throat. "Prepare for purgatory!!" Before anyone could react, Cheetah's body was turned to stone. A moment later, the new golem stopped struggling and stepped away from Gyphon. "And now it is time to deal with the rest of my guests." Gypon stated, pointing at Ranma and the two treasure hunters. "Kill them, won't you?" "Master, consider these moments their last moments alive!" The were-cheetah golem growled, flexing her claws. Ranma lashed out with a claw strike, destroying two Kryn golems, before turning toward Cheetah as she advanced on him. The immortal young man smirked as he slid into a defensive stance. "Hah!" Cheetah snorted. "You actually think you can defeat me? Because I'm a lycanthrope, I'm impervious to nearly all forms of physical damage! Now that I'm stone, I'm indestructible!" "Idiot." Ranma retorted. "Indestructible and unbeatable are two very different things. You're just too naοve to realize it." "You dare mock me?!" Cheetah snarled as she threw a super-sonic punch at Ranma's head. Her opponent merely widened his smirk as he twitched his head to the side, causing the were-cheetah golem to miss with only millimeters to spare. "Amateur," Ranma snorted as he slapped her arm away from him. Ranma hopped up, planted a hand on Cheetah's head, and flipped over her, spinning so he was facing her back when he landed. The martial artist slid his arms under Cheetah's armpits, curled his forearms up over her shoulders, then laced his fingers together behind her neck, pushing her head forward and down. The ten inches of difference between the two should have allowed Cheetah to lift Ranma off his feet, but she found that trying to move him was like trying to lift a mountain for some reason. "You see?" Ranma stated in the tone of voice a teacher uses during a lecture. "Simply apply a full nelson and you're all but helpless. Add in this wonderful little immovability technique I learned from some monks in Tibet, and you're screwed." As Ranma was speaking, Gina had reached into her pack and pulled out the Gem of Returning. "Thanks for the distraction, Ranma!" Gina cried as she lifted the Gem into the air. "What this place needs is a change in attitude!" "Gina! You fool!" Cheetah snarled. "That gem!" Gyphon gasped. "It can't be!!" At that moment, a flare of light erupted from the Gem, blinding everyone as the light spread throughout all of El Dorado. "Whoa! This trinket didn't do that before..." Gina complained as she rubbed at her eyes. "Whaddidya expect with all the magical energy swirling around in this room?" Ranma asked as he released Cheetah and blinked a few times, allowing the were-cheetah to collapse to the ground. "Guess the artifacts amplified the Gem's power." "rrrrRRRAUGH!!" Cheetah roared as she rose to an aggressive crouch, looking around for something. "Where's that spell-casting son-of-a-bitch?! He owes me big time!" "So you think you can defeat me? Fools!" Gyphon sneered. "With the powers I wield, it would be a simple task to transform you all back into my slaves!" "Not this time, asshole," Ranma growled as his body was wreathed in silently burning black flames, stunning everyone in the room. Faster than Gyphon could react, Ranma shot forward, burying his fist in the Atlantian's stomach, doubling him over. The immortal human stepped back and slammed his knee into Gyphon's forehead, knocking the tyrant back. "Now you're going to pay for what you did to the people of El Dorado!" Ranma snarled, grabbing the front of the wounded man's cloak and pulling Gyphon to his feet as the flames winked out of existence. With that, Ranma reared back and slammed his forehead into Gyphon's face, then again, and again. With the fourth strike, Ranma released Gyphon, letting the Atlantian fall down, nearly insensate. "There's no way you could stop me, much less everyone here." "So give it up, chump!" Gina added, torn between ogling Ranma and glaring at Gyphon. "Perhaps I have underestimated you human..." Gyphon slurred through swollen lips. "The next time we meet, I shall not make that mistake again! Until we meet again, my friends!" Almost immediately, Gyphon and the artifacts in the room began rapidly fading out of sight. Ranma fell into a crouch and tried to slam his fist into Gyphon's chest only to hit stone as the Atlantian finished his teleport. "Teleportation." Ranma hissed. "I hate it when they do that." "An' he took all the artifacts with him!" Penny complained. "Never mind that junk!" Cheetah yelled, running toward the stairs. "Stripe's hurt!" Ranma and Gina turned toward the stairs to see Stripe being helped into the room by several restored Kryn warriors, the rest following behind. The Kryn prince was battered and bloodied, but still able to move under his own power with some assistance. "You okay, Stripe?" "Heh." Stripe chuckled, then winced in pain. "They dog-piled me a couple seconds before they reverted to normal. Got in some good hits, too." Stripe was interrupted by several of the warriors apologizing for attacking him. "Don't worry about it, all of you. Honestly, Ranma, that was nothing compared to some of the beatings you gave me when you were still training me." Stripe smirked at the memories before placing his hand on Cheetah's shoulder. "I'll be fine, Cheetah. Don't worry about me." "But that's not important right now. Gyphon got away." "True." Stripe agreed. "Scientist? Has Gyphon the means to control the power of the artifacts he has stolen?" "Indeed he does." The scientist replied. "While we were enslaved, he had many of our best engineers constructing a most horrid weapon!" "Then he means to use our artifacts to power this weapon. He means to either give it to his masters, the Lords of Atlantis... or use it to enslave them!" "Whatever Gyphon's intentions," the scholarly Kryn stated, "they mean doom for us and the outside world! You must go to Atlantis to stop him, but you have no way to get there in time!" "Don't fret, folks!" Gina chimed in. "Cheetah and I can get Stripe to Atlantis in no time. It'll be fun to pay Gyphon a little visit!" The blonde super-scientist then added as an afterthought, "You can come too, Penny." "Sounds like big fun to me, Gold Digger!" "Don't call me that!" Gina hissed, then raised her voice. "Anyway, it's not everyday you get to discover *two* lost civilizations on the same expedition!" As Gina, Cheetah, Stripe, and Penny were leaving the room, Ranma shook his head and sighed in disgust. "Water... why's it always gotta be water?" Ranma sighed again before following the others. * * * * The next day Sitting cross-legged several yards from the edge of Penny's hover carrier, Ranma sighed once again, keeping one ear on the conversation between the two sisters. "We're taking my car to Atlantis!" Gina exclaimed. "That's what I thought you said!" Cheetah growled. "How in the world are you going to travel 3000 leagues underwater in that rickety old clunker? The damn engine gets flooded whenever you hit a rain puddle too hard! Get real!" "That was the old 'Gina-Mobile'!" Gina retorted. "Feast your beady eyes on the new and improved 'Gina-Mobile'!" Tuning out the rest of the conversation, Ranma hopped to his feet. After taking off his shoes and shirt, Ranma lowered himself into a martial arts stance he'd developed. Bending his knees slightly, Ranma turned his right foot outward, then slid it back and left a few inches each way. As his right fist turned upward and was pulled back until it was only a few inches from his waist, Ranma's left arm was raised until it was pointing straight forward from the shoulder, then bent ninety degrees to the right at the elbow, the hand straightening into a knife hand. Slipping into an almost trance-like state, Ranma decided to start out slow – for him, at least. Spinning clockwise on his left foot, Ranma snapped his right leg into a vicious reverse roundhouse kick. When his left shoulder had spun nearly 360 degrees, that arm thrust forward, forcing the immortal's left foot to slide forward less than a split second after Ranma planted his right foot almost directly behind his left foot, balancing on the balls of his feet. That those maneuvers had taken exactly 1.003 seconds altogether was duly noted by the extremely small portion of Gina's mind that wasn't occupied with the way Ranma's muscles flexed and shifted. Keeping his upper arm still, Ranma snapped his right forearm back, making a straight line with that arm, then swung his right hand forward and up in a rising claw slash, dragging his right foot forward around his left foot as his left arm was pulled back and held close to his side. As Ranma finished the claw uppercut and started to pull his arm back toward his body, he leaned backward and pushed up with his right foot in a completely vertical knee strike that lifted his left foot off the ground nearly at a ninety degree angle with the martial artist's body. The aforementioned portion of Gina's brain had clocked the entire time of his kata up to that point at 2.395 seconds. When Ranma's head was pointing toward the carrier deck at a forty-five degree angle, his left leg flashed up in a flip kick that shifted his body into a ninety degree angle with the deck. Snapping his hands out, Ranma caught himself, then pushed off in a handspring that launched him twenty feet into the air. In mid-air, Ranma twisted so his feet were pointing at the deck again and lashed out with several reverse spin kicks and a volley of lightning fast punches. Six seconds after Ranma had started his kata, Gina was all but drooling at the show before her. Cheetah waved a hand in front of Gina's face a couple times, blinking when she got no response, then turned to look at Ranma just in time to see him land from his handspring jump. As soon as the immortal fighter's feet touched the metal plating of the deck, Ranma shot forward, his hands flashing out in what Cheetah might have considered backhands, but his palms were pointing the wrong way and his hands were curled into claws. Ranma came to a stop ten feet from where he'd touched down and fell into a low crouch, spinning into a 360 degree leg sweep that kicked up a bit of dust. As soon as he completed the spin, Cheetah saw that the young man was in a pose with his head bowed, arms held up and away from his body, his hands curled into claws and facing each other, one leg crouched under his body, the other extended out to the side and back a bit, his torso nearly parallel to the deck as it rested against the thigh of the crouched leg. Ranma held that pose for a few seconds before standing up, stretching his arms as he did so. That tiny part of Gina's brain informed the rest of it that Ranma's entire kata had taken only 6.628 seconds to complete. Gina sighed happily. "Gina, you're drooling," Cheetah chided her sister. "Nice little warm-up," Ranma muttered just loud enough for the two young women to hear as he slid back into his original stance. Before either Diggers sister could voice their opinion on Ranma's statement, the immortal warrior burst into action, moving faster than either sister could keep track of. This time, Ranma was pushing his body as hard and as fast as he could without the aid of ki enhancement. What the girls could see of Ranma's kata consisted of jumps, flips, rolls, and slides that took him from one side of the deck to the other and back several times. "GINA!!" "Huh?" Gina mumbled, tearing her eyes from Ranma just long enough to see Penny stalking toward her, holding a remote of some sort. The dark-skinned treasure hunter growled when she saw Gina merely glance at her before returning her gaze to something else. Following her rival's line of sight, Penny stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Ranma leaping around, his body nothing more than a blur. "Okay." Penny stated, walking up to stand beside Cheetah. "Please tell me I'm just imagining that guy moving fast enough to actually make his arms and legs blurs." "Nope," Cheetah replied. "Just how the hell is he doing that?!" Penny demanded on seeing Ranma leap fifty feet into the air and land on the other side of the deck from where he started at. "No idea." "Martial arts," Stripe's voice said from behind the trio of women. "Huh?" Cheetah and Penny echoed each other as they turned to see Stripe, Mesha, and Tark standing next to the Gina-Mobile. "Stripe!" Cheetah exclaimed happily as she glomped the Kryn prince. "Hiya, honey-buns! Ya miss me? Howzabout a hug?" "Okay, if you say so," Stripe answered, not responding to the hug. "'If I say so'??" The were-cheetah inquired as she pulled back a bit. "What's wrong with you? Are you turning frigid on me or something? I thought we had a relationship." "No, it's not that. I just thought you'd be in your 'human' form, Cheetah. I want you to relax today and let *me* handle the ruff stuff..." "... And on top of that, you're curious about how I look in my human form." Cheetah said, shrinking into her human form. "Tadah! The total package! Like whatcha see?" "What were you saying about martial arts, Stripe?" Penny interrupted, ignoring Cheetah's pout. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Ranma is one of the top martial artists in the world." Stripe explained. "Definitely the best of his generation and possibly one of the most skilled and powerful martial artists the world has ever seen. He only needs to see or be hit with a technique once or twice and he can figure out how it's done and turn it against his opponent." "How th' heck did he get so damned good?" Ace asked as he approached the group. "He doesn't talk about his past much." Stripe said, shrugging helplessly. "Even with me. When I asked him that same question, he just said, 'I've been training in the martial arts since I could walk' and left it at that." "I don't talk about my past because it's not something I like talking about." The group flinched in surprise and turned back to see Ranma walking toward them, pulling his shirt on, not a hair out of place or a speck of sweat visible on what could be seen of his body. Gina almost physically shook herself from her daze and grinned hungrily at Ranma before turning her attention to the rest of the group. "So what's up?" Gina and Ranma asked in perfect unison. The two blinked at each other in surprise, then Ranma shrugged as Gina smirked to herself. "Everyone here is ready to go to Atlantis with us." Stripe said, gesturing toward Mesha, Tark, and Ace. "Oh, I almost forgot. Ranma, these are Mesha & Tark, Elven –" "Mages." Ranma cut in. "I know." "How –" Tark started to say before Ranma cut him off. "Mages are the only people I know whose power swirls around them like a living cloud instead of emanating directly from their bodies." "And this is Ace." Stripe continued as if the other two hadn't spoken. "Our pilot." "Nice to meet you three. When do we leave?" "As soon as Gold Digger moves that crate of hers out of the way so we can get my mini-sub into launch position." Penny said, then tossed the remote to Gina. "Here's the remote for the port-side crane. Get that heap outta here with the crane, 'cause I know it can't move on its own... on account of it's a cheap piece of junk!" "No problemo, *Penny* *Pincher*." Gina replied through gritted teeth, just before tossing the remote over her shoulder. "Whoops! It slipped." "Oooooh!!" Penny growled. "You'll pay for that, you little skagg!" "Ho!" Gina countered. "Slut!" "Heifer!" "They always like this?" Ranma asked Cheetah. "For as long as they've known each other." Cheetah answered, then raised her voice. "Y'know, for a pair of certified geniuses with IQs of over two- hundred, you two sure act STUPID!" "Bickering will get us nowhere right now," Ranma added, narrowing his eyes at the two treasure hunters. "Okay. Since we're all here, let's get this show on the waves! Ranma and I will lead the way in the Gina-Mobile!" "Nope." Ranma countered. "I'm going in the mini-sub. There are some things I'd like to talk with Stripe about." "Huh? But –" "I'll go," Mesha interrupted. "Mesha?" "Don't worry, Tark. I'll be fine." "Just get this heap out of the way so I can launch my sub." Penny griped as Gina (reluctantly) and Mesha climbed into the Gina-Mobile. "I and the others hafta go change into our swim suits." "Ha!" Gina barked out, gripping the steering wheel as the windshield and roof lowered into place. "She's just jealous 'cause *I've* got a stereo deck and bucket seats and she doesn't!" With that, the car raced off the edge of the carrier and dove into the water, splashing water up onto the deck, narrowly missing Ranma, who whispered a quick thank you to whatever had just watched out for him. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Stripe asked as the group went to change their clothes. "Nothin', actually." Ranma replied, smirking. "I just didn't feel like putting up with her staring at me like a side of beef, that's all." "I still don't understand what your problem with that is." Strip said, shaking his head in confusion. "I mean, it can be a bit uncomfortable at times, but..." "I dare you to say that again after you've learned how to read people's emotions." Ranma smirked mirthlessly. "Then it's disturbing on several levels." "Ah," Striped replied eloquently. A few minutes later, the six were in the mini-sub and ready to launch when Gina's voice came over the comm-line. "Gina to Ace. Come in, stud-muffins!" "Will somebody please tell her not to call me that?" Ace all but pleaded. "Gina, this is Penny!" The young black woman growled. "If you hit on my boyfriend *one more time*..." "Since when does one lousy date make us committed, Penny?" Ace protested. "I paid for the food on that date, Ace. I should get sumthin." "Ace?" Ranma asked, closing his eyes. "Yo." "Did you happen to piss anyone off on your way here?" "Hmmm..." Ace thought for a moment before continuing. "As a matter of fact, I did! Just some mercenary nerds trying to sneak past a U.S.A.F. Boeing E-3 Sentry. An A-10, an SU-25, and a set of hi-tech MiG-35 'King Fishers' with cloaking devices. I illuminated them all with my microwave laser on my osprey and made them look as big as barns on radar. I probably screwed up their whole operation! None of them can catch me in my osprey, though... I wouldn't worry about those chumps." "I would." Ranma countered, opening his eyes to stare out the side window of the sub. "Especially since they're flying right toward us." "What?! Aw, damn!" Outside, one of the King Fishers opened fire with an auto cannon, tracing a line along the deck of the hover carrier. "Get us out of here, Ace!" Penny yelped. "We're outty 5000, gee! Releasing crane hook..." As the hook released, the auto cannon fire traveled up the crane arm and across the hull of the mini-sub. "We're hit! Damage report, Ace?!" "Minor hull damage and our sensor bank is hit!" "Keep her on the surface, Ace." Ranma ordered, heading for the hatch. "I'm goin' up." "What?!" The pilot yelled. "Are you insane?!" "According to some people," Ranma replied, smirking as he opened the hatch and pulled himself out of the sub just as it hit the water. Flaring his aura, Ranma was barely able to heat the incoming water before it splashed him. "Heh, close one," Ranma chuckled as he stood up and looked at the fighters as they were turning around for another pass. Waiting for the right moment, Ranma watched until the A-10 was nearly above him before leaping straight up and catching the right wing. The immortal martial artist pulled himself up onto the wing and looked at the cockpit just as the pilot turned his head to see what the light impact had been. Ranma had the pleasure of grinning shamelessly and waving at the pilot, causing the other man's eyes to bug out, just before he lashed out with a spin kick that crushed the engine on that side of the fighter plane. Ranma sank his right hand into the fuselage and flipped over to the other side, where he delivered another kick, again disabling the engine. With both engines destroyed, the A-10 took a nosedive toward the ocean. Quickly glancing at the other planes, the raven-haired young man launched himself off the A-10 with enough force to send the crippled jet into a spiral and landed in a crouch just behind the cockpit of one of the MiGs. Grinning cruelly at the pilot, Ranma slashed at the right wing, missing it by at least several inches. However, the wing still fell off as though five lasers, an inch between each, had cut through it. Hopping from the falling King Fisher, Ranma dropped onto the SU-25 and tore the cockpit windshield off, then pulled the pilot's seat out with the pilot still in it. Tossing the pilot into the water below, Ranma looked around and saw the two MiGs aiming straight at him, their auto cannons hurling streams of hot lead at him. The fighter merely smirked as he leapt a good fifty feet into the air, allowing the King Fishers to destroy the SU-25 themselves. Ranma slashed his left hand toward one MiG in a horizontal knife hand, sending an all but invisible vacuum blade toward it, then fired a ki blast at the left wing of the King Fisher, forcing it to do a barrel roll to evade the ki blast. Unfortunately for the pilot, that's exactly what Ranma wanted them to do. The ki blast missed by several feet, but the vacuum blade was perfectly aimed to cut off the right wing and almost half of the rear fuselage when the plane's wings went vertical. The look on the pilot's face would have had Ranma chuckling if he hadn't already turned to the last plane. Ranma silently cursed when he saw the third MiG-35 turn tail and run. As the one man wrecking crew fell, he glanced over at the hover carrier and saw the last bits of it sinking. Looking down, Ranma cursed his luck when realized he was too far away to try and angle his fall to land on top of the mini-sub. Ranma immediately twisted so that he was falling straight down, then pressed his legs together and held his arms against his sides, both to increase speed and minimize the impact from him hitting the water. "I hate my life sometimes," Ranma sighed resignedly just before hitting the water nearly fifty yards from the sub. When Ranma surfaced again, the immortal immediately started swimming toward the mini-sub. In less than a minute, Ranma had climbed up the side of the sub and summoned a black aura, quickly heating the water to a certain temperature before flaring his ki, evaporating the water and drying himself instantly. "Well, aside from the brief swim, that was damn fun," Ranma commented, grinning maniacally at the blank stares of confusion on everyone but Stripe's faces. "Okay, he's back." Cheetah told Ace. "Let's get going now!" "Huh? What's up?" Ranma asked, quickly sitting down and strapping himself in as Ace floored the accelerator, sending the mini-sub screaming downward. "That ki blast of yours that missed the last plane you took out damaged Gina's car." Stripe explained. "She lost control of it and it's heading straight down at full speed." "Um... oops?" * * * * TBC... * * * * Author's notes: Well, Chapter One's done. Fourteen pages in MSWord in under a week. That's gotta be a record for me. As for Ranma's dislike of water... you'll see next chapter whether he's still got his curse or he just doesn't like being wet.