Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the rights to the works of Rumiko Takahashi, I am simply writing this for my sheer enjoyment.

A/N: Hey there guys, here's chapter seven coming down the turnpike! I hope you all like it!


'It's Kiima, she's back…'

The words echoed through Shampoo's mind as countless varying emotions overwhelmed her every thought; freezing her in place and leaving herself to wander. 'Kiima? The feathered witch who mind controlled me into attacking my friends? What could she want? Did she just come back to torment me some more? Aiyah! Just thinking of what I did when I was under her spell back then, it makes me sick to my stomach. What's worse was, deep down, some of the things she asked me to do were somewhat tempting… I was actually given an excuse to finally get rid of "pervert-girl" once and for all and have Ranma to myself! But that wouldn't of been right. If Airen and his friends hadn't snapped some sense into me, I don't think I could have lived with myself…'

Breaking out of her reverie, Shampoo looked up to gage the rest of the ensemble's reaction to the revelation. The opinions were muddled, but for certain none were positive. Their faces were a mix of perplexity, confusion, fear, (most likely due to the bird-warrior's association with the phoenix emperor, Saffron.) and in the case of one Akane Tendo, a tad bit of mild annoyance.

"Kiima? That bird-brained freak who tried to drown me? What the heck does she want? I thought those guys were done with their crazy schemes? Oh- oh man, I swear, if they even try anything…" Akane ranted, letting her last words peter off there as she raised her fist upwards. To anyone even looking in her general direction they could see a red hot energy starting to form in the palm of her hand; growing by the second. Before anyone could act though, her angry bravado was shattered when she herself actually noticed the power emanating from her.

"Wha?- Wahh!" Akane intelligently yelped; patting down her hand; trying to tame the flame as if it were one of her oh so many dinner attempts gone wrong. She certainly did not want to accidentally blow a new hole in the Café's wall.

Ryoga felt like he should at least try and react properly to the scene happening before him, maybe ask how exactly the blue haired girl was charging up an energy attack, but he was still too drained from his travels to put up a proper effort. Instead he moved on to answering other queries. "I'm fine, I'm just- just a little tired. I've been running around since last night." Deciding to leave the extra details of his adventure out, he continued on as the rest of the group took interest.

"Like I said, I was running around, basically just trying to find my way back to the district really, when all of a sudden I bumped into a group of people in weird cloaks," Before he could add on, he was interrupted by an echoing voice.

"Wai-wai-wait, hold on,"A certain black chúi interrupted, already having a knowing suspicion. "I don't like the sound a that. Ryoga, did ya get the feelin' that they weren't really from around here when ya first saw 'em?" Even if Happy hadn't met Kiima before, he'd definitely figure people dressed like that were not from around there. 'And if they had the orb…'

Ryoga, turning his head to the voice, merely stared for a moment as his mind tried to contemplate exactly what he was seeing.

"What's up, P-chan?" the hammer asked.

"Ahh!" The bandanna wearing boy yelped, jumping back a bit. "Mousse- he- he wasn't actually kidding! You- you got turned into a friggin hammer!" Ryoga said, scratching the back of his head, trying to take it all in.

"Wait- what?" the crimson tool stated, her tone sounding annoyed. "When did Mou- oh, ah never mind. Listen, whatever, laugh it up if ya want, but we got a serious problem here ta deal with.", She paused for a moment and realized something. "Oh, yeah, I'm here too by the way," she said, clarifying that it wasn't solely Ranma's male form that got transformed.

"I- I uh, well… oh- okay I guess?..." Ryoga half stated, half asked, as he raised his two arms up in confusion. He was finding it hard to grasp the situation while still in his bewildered state.

Akane, always one to try and cheer up a friend, placed her hand on his shoulder and replied; "Don't worry Ryoga; we'll explain everything in a bit."

"As much fun as that sounds, could you get on with it?" Genma urged, crossing his arms as his eyes turned to Shampoo, said girl giving him a sheepish half-grin in return. "I want to know what that egg-lady is up to; I didn't exactly have a good amount of fun the last time we dealt with her."

Feeling slightly more grounded, as well as at ease, the lost boy nodded and continued his tale. "Well, anyway, I just sort of bumped into these people. There were three of them. It took me a second, but I got a look on one of them, and realized… it was Kiima!"


Flashback

"W-wait, is that- what are you doing here?" Ryoga asked, confusion filling his voice for but a mere moment until his powerful warrior instincts kicked in and he formed a nigh impenetrable defensive stance.

Kiima grimaced at the inopportune arrival of the one person she certainly didn't want to have to deal with today. 'Curses, it should be just my luck to find myself at odds against the fierce Ryoga Hibiki of all people! I've got to get out of here quickly! But I must play this out with tact.' Shaking her head, she asserted herself. "Never you mind! I've little time to deal with worthless trash such as yourself! Move out of my way!" She demanded; attempting to take several steps past bandana wearing boy.

"Now hold on!" the wandering Hibiki said, outstretching his tanned, muscle-bound arms. "You're obviously up to something! Otherwise you'd be back at Phoenix Mountain! And I won't let you succeed at any more of your crazy schemes! I simply will not stand as the likes of your evil wander around the streets while the innocent go about their business, Kiima!" Ryoga heroically bellowed; his face growing determined, his hard, chiseled features piercing through the darkness of the night. "Tell me what you're up to! Why are you in Nerima?"

The group of three flinched back at his earth shattering tone, but stayed strong; they had a mission to complete. A sinister grin forming on her face, Saffron's guardian pulled something from beneath her robe. "If you must know I came to procure a certain… item, if you will." With an exuberant amount of flair, she thrust her left arm outward to reveal a glowing purple bauble… the orb of transmutation! "With this, my plans will be complete and nothing will hold us back! Muhahahaha!"

"Ka! Ka! Yessss… the mistress's needs the orb for her plans!" one of her henchmen yelled out, tossing aside his cloak to reveal the form of one Masara. His hunchbacked appearance and beaked nose made him look more like some deformed crow than a man.

"Ka-ka ka! There's nothing you can do to stops us!" the shorter, black winged Koruma said. He as well tossed aside his coverings, his claw-like hands and wild hair aided in making him look bestial.

Clenching his fist tightly, the ever honorable Hibiki-boy responded back, "I knew it! You're up to something evil! I should've put an end to you when I had the chance. But it doesn't matter now! I intend to stop your deeds with every fiber of my being this time! It is my duty as a man!"

Eyes sharpening, Kiima acrobatically jumped back. "By the end of this I'll make sure you're half the man you are now! You'll be diced to bits! Now, attack him my pretties!" she yelled, pointing her index finger at Ryoga, targeting him.

"Ka! Ka!" Both Masara and Koruma screeched as they used two thermoses that were clipped to their sides to return them to their original half-bird forms.

Taking to the sky, the whites of their soulless eyes illuminated the night as out of nowhere, dozens of black as coal crows were summoned on to the scene. "Charge!" they both yelled as they swooped down on to their target.

Thinking quickly, Ryoga pulled out his battle umbrella to counter the foes. With precision accuracy that only a honed warrior could muster, he pushed aside the unending hoards of combatants, paying close attention to the two disgusting bird-monstrosities that lead the attack. With the extra weight of his weapon, as well as his Herculean like strength, he batted away at his two sentient foes, knocking them into a nearby wall.

Looking down at the ground below him, he saw an array of unconscious, but entirely unharmed, birds! "Using your mind magic's to enslave these pure and innocent creatures to do your bidding? Despicable! I will put an end to this!"

With that, the bandana wearing boy lived up to his title as he pulled out a countless number of his black and yellow sharp edged cloths and threw them at the still dazed delinquents. "Time to pluck the hens!" he yelled.

Even though they were currently both feeling the impact of being crushed by a hard wall, Masara and Koruma still had the pure instincts to know when to dodge, and as such, they only received a bevy of non-lethal cuts to their arms and legs, rather than be shredded to ribbons. "Kiyaaaaaah!" They both screeched as their wounds stung through and through, causing them to fall to their knees.

Growling in frustration, Kiima, already in her original form, took to the skies and pulled out her battle saber. "You fools! You utter weaklings! I have to do everything myself!" She angrily chastised as she swooped down at the lost boy, hoping to take him out with a direct assault.

Ryoga, being the clever man he was, merely smirked as he once again took out a bandana, only this time, he wrapped it around her sword! "You think that will work on me?" he sardonically asked as he tightened his grip on the cloth, causing the blade to shatter.

Eyes filling with shock, and a little awe, Kiima gasped. "I-impossible!" she said, staggering back a bit.

"Oh, it's quite possible!" Ryoga countered back. Using the same bandanna, he wrapped it around the Jusendo warrior herself. "Here, let me try something that I've been working on to deal with my weaker opponents!"

With that, using his fantastic speed, he spun the cloth around like a lasso several times, it moving like a tornado that Kiima found herself caught in. Using his masterful precision, he quickly released his grip on her, causing the woman to fly away straight into the same wall Koruma and Masara were felled by.

"Have you had enough?" the eternally lost boy asked, crossing his arms with a cool and confident grin on his face. Seeing as how they were seemingly down for the count, he decided to continue talking. "Now that we can be civil, how about you explain to me just what that little trinket of yours does?" he asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

Kiima seethed as her obviously superior enemy tried to interrogate her. 'I will not let this stand!... But, at the same time, I must get away safely or else everything will be ruined!' Glancing to her side, she noticed that her two pathetic cronies had finally licked their wounds and started to get up. 'I think now calls for a tactical retreat!'

"I'll never tell it to the likes of you!" the older woman exclaimed, taking to the air once more. "Come, my pretties! The night awaits you!" At this, Koruma and Masara, finally coherent, bounded upwards and took flight, "Ka'ing" all the way.

"Wait! Come back here!" the heroic Hibiki yelled.

"Never fear you insolent fool!" the aid to Saffron declared as she and her two companions headed off into the night. "This won't be the last you hear from me! I will have my revenge! Muhahaha!"

"Blast! If only I could fly…" Ryoga said, lowering his head and clenching his fists. "Still, something strange is going on here, that's for certain! What was with that glowing object?..." he asked aloud to no one in particular. Snapping out of it, he turned upwards and gained a determined look in his eyes. "I've got to hurry and find the others. There is something clearly wrong going on around here and I've got to figure out what!"

With that, the wandering Hibiki-boy sped off into the night.


The present

"…And that's what happened." The bandana wearing boy said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes making his statement seem finite.

The room turned quiet at the moment. You could hear every little creek in the floorboard, every tiny shuffle of feet; the silence was simply deafening. That was until a particular black chúi decided to up and speak. "And here I was thinking that Kuno was the crazy one."

"Lost boy tell too too bad story!" Shampoo chastised, having just put away her dish moments ago. She decided picked up the two hammers, feeling better having them within her grasp.

"I've got to admit… I've told some doozey's before…" Genma said, giving the boy an odd look.

"What?" Ryoga defended hotly. "What's the problem? That's what happened! At least, that's what I remember happening…" Ryoga trailed off; scratching his head.

"Okay, wait, if you kicked their butts so easily, then why do you look all beat up?" the female Ranma asked.

Blinking a few times, Ryoga responded, "Oh, these?-" he asked, indicating the small assortments of cuts on him as well as his torn clothing, before waving them off. "I ran through a bunch of rose bushes."

The entire room fell flat on their faces.

…With the exception of Akane, who practically had stars in her eyes. "Ooh Ryoga! That's so amazing what you did! You're like a big hero! You fought all of them and made them run!" the blue haired youngest Tendo said, clasping her hands together as she started doting over him.

"Hehe! It- it was nothing!" he replied back, scratching his head so hard that the male Ranma could have sworn that he saw blood draw.

As the following antics of insults, inquiries and general rabble rousing occurred, Cologne did as she had been doing since the lost boy arrived; stayed silent. There were many things that she as of now needed to brood over and contemplate. 'While the vast majority of what Mr. Hibiki said most certainly was a farce, I highly doubt he'd make up the part about Kiima's arrival. He's an idiot, but I don't think that he'd go to that much trouble for attention…And he even said that she openly has the orb; stated its color even! It's simply too much to just be a coincidence. Still, I don't like this. Something is off, but I don't know enough about things to understand what...'

Seeing as how the yelling and preverbal hair pulling was getting a bit more out of hand then she had expected, the Amazonian matriarch quickly ended it with two hard taps of her cane. "Quiet! We have more important matters at hand to deal with!" Noticing that she got their attention, she walked over to Ryoga and faced him directly. "Now, Mr. Hibiki. Was what you were saying about Kiima carrying an orb true?" she asked, staring him down.

Seeing how serious she was, the lost boy nodded. "Yes, every word of it was!" Noticing he was getting some odd stares from most of the group, he waved his hand off at them. "Yeah, she showed me this glowing purple orb-thing. Like I said, I tried to ask her what it was, but she wouldn't tell me. Why are you asking? Is it important?"

Turning away from him, she replied. "More than you know…" Not even needing to see the questioning look he gave her, she answered back, "That orb is what we need to get Ranma back to his human form. You, Ryoga, have apparently inadvertently narrowed down the suspect of who we are looking for."

"W-wait, so that chick has the thing that'll turn Saotome back to normal?" he asked, eyes widening.

"Indeed. This is interesting… I was honestly not expecting someone like Saffron's right hand to be interested in such an object, let alone be in the very same area to find it. This leads to so many questions…" Cologne let her words die out as she shook her head.

"Still, what do we do now?" Akane asked, snapping out of her star struck state and becoming a bit more serious.

Cologne nodded her head, approving of the young Tendo's question. "Well, the first thing we should to try and figure out is just where the group headed off to. It's clear that because of their increased speed from flying that they are long gone from Nerima by now, and certainly out of range of any ki tracking abilities that either I or Shampoo might have." Turning once again to the direction of the Hibiki-boy, Cologne indicated towards him. "Did you happen to see which way they were going when they flew off?"

Placing his hand on his chin for a moment, the lost boy took his time, trying to think up the correct answer. While his sense of direction was horrible, he couldn't allow it to impede him here. There was far too much at stake. While yes, he didn't particularly like Ranma, being stuck as a hammer… thing was a fate even worse than being trapped as a pig. Besides, trying to enact proper revenge upon him, in his current state, would just seem… petty.

Snapping his fingers, Ryoga spoke up, having a revelation. "North!" he said, slamming his fist into his open palm.

Smiling slightly, happy to have at least a bit of a lead, Cologne still wanted to confirm things and prod a bit more. "Now, are you sure about that?"

Nodding his head proudly, he answered back to her. "Yep! They definitely went north. I mean, they flew up in the sky, right? And everyone knows that north is up, so that means they went north!" he stated, smiling as he placed his hands on his hips.

Once again, the entire room face faulted, including Akane.

From her place on the floor, the female chúi could only do her best to imitate grimacing as she asked the following to the general assembly. "So, I guess that put's us back at square one again?"

"Uh-uh, I think we're actually screwed worse…" Her male counterpart mumbled out as Shampoo did her best to get up and recover as quickly as possible from Ryoga's ludicrous exclamation. "They could be anywhere now, not just Nerima. Heck, they probably aren't even in Japan by now!"

"Now hold on boy!" Genma said, trying to not think about the miles of trekking he might have to put up with. "They couldn't have gotten that far, yet anyway…"

"Yes… Mr. Saotome, you may in fact be quite correct on that regard," Cologne contemplated, starting to monotonously walk around in circle. "While it is true that, at least going off of the information we have, that Kiima and her group still dwell in Mount Phoenix, we can't rule out her being somewhere else."

"But Great-Grandmother… that mean things really are bad!" Shampoo said, staring across at the other woman, a lost look in her eyes, her up till now hard bravado shattering momentarily. "We no even know where to begin!"

Putting her hand on her chin, Cologne began to think aloud. "This really is starting to bea serious conundrum. Now, perhaps..."

Just at she was about to continue, the front door to the Cat Café burst open once again. This time it revealed the tired and exasperated form of Ukyo Kuonji, along with Mousse, who looked as if he had just been dragged along the ground, his right arm being held in a death grip by the Okonomiyaki chef. "*huff* *huff* …Ranchan?" Ukyo asked, looking around the room for her supposedly transmogrified fiancé. "Where are you? I came as fast as I could!"

"U-Ucchan? Hey, what's up?" The black chúi asked, doing his best to imitate a smile. "How's it goin'? What are you doin' here?"

Dropping Mousse like a dead weight, Ukyo marched on over to where she thought she heard the sound, giving the purple haired Amazon a nasty glare as she passed on by. "Mousse told me you got another curse or something, so I had to come and help! But Ranchan… I can't see where you are!"

As the two other martial artist's arrival on to the scene sunk in with the rest of the group, a further commotion was raised. Now with the complete triad of all of Ranma's legitimate fiancées, things were starting to get even more hectic. As these things went about, the wise elder continued to contemplate. 'Now is not the time for something like this to come about. Things are overtly complicated as is! These past few days have been a trial in repetition! One or more of us goes out and looks but only comes back with worse news!'

Cologne's thoughts were broken when she heard the Kuonji girl yelp out a "Wahh!" She wasn't entirely paying attention, having already seen this scene roughly happen several times at this point through different people, but it was obvious that she just saw the Ranmas in their new state. 'Now I'm going to have to explain everything to her as well, This is all I need! Ah well. At least I can kill two birds with once stone by going over it with the Hibiki boy too. Still, things are not looking good. While I'm not entirely well versed in the ethics or morals of the phoenix people, I certainly know that they are capable enough to use it to its full means. This situation may no longer only revolve solely around Ranma, there could be much more at stake.'

Wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, and noticing that the spatula wielding martial artist was now stuck in a bit of a rut of sputtering, Cologne quickly tapped her staff once more. "Miss Kuonji, could you please calm down and take a seat? We obviously have much to discuss."

Looking between both the elderly Amazon and the two chúi being held by Shampoo, Ukyo's hands and fingers gesticulated wildly, trying to make sense of things. "B-but… hammers!" she uttered.

"Yes, well… to be entirely honest, you are a bit late to the party. And without trying to sound rude, I'd like to get things moving here as we just found out some pressing information that may very well put us in dire straits," Cologne explained; her voice unable to hide the annoyance in it.

Growing a bit calmer, and not liking the older woman's tone, she replied back, "Now you hold on! The only reason I'm late is because no one told me about what was going on! I actually had to have Mousse up and tell me!" the okonomiyaki chef said, before quickly turning to the part-time duckboy (Who was now lying on the ground, taking a rest, having his body hauled across concrete and asphalt for several miles had tired him out) and started speaking to him. "Oh, and thanks for that sugar. If you hadn't I'd probably still be in the dark about all this!"

Still twitching slightly, Mousse slowly raised right arm and gave her a thumbs up. "No… problem…" And then fell back into his near-comatose state.

"Yeah, sorry about that Ucchan," The red chúi said, sounding slightly sad. "We were kinda caught up in things. We were hopin' that this would be over real quickly! ...But it sorta hasn't been going too well…"

Her anger quickly leaving her, Ukyo bent over to get to the two Ranmas on eye level. "Ooh, don't you worry about it Ranchan! It isn't your fault. You couldn't do anything! I just wish the others would have said something," she finished, once again growing annoyed.

Pouting slightly, Shampoo pulled the two Ranmas away from the bandolier brandishing cook. "Spatula-girl too too full of herself! World no all revolve around her! Airen no need more people making things more difficult for him!" 'Damn it Mousse! You just have to keep making my life worse, don't you? Now I'm going to have to put up with this sneaky chef as well!'

Akane, who up till now had been having a rather awkward conversation with Ryoga, butted in. "Ha! You're one to talk! Remind me again, just who was the person who started that pointless fight earlier?"

"This no about Akane! Shampoo talk about Spatula-girl!" the purple haired Amazon declared, giving the rage-ki wielder an indignant look.

As all these egos clashed and collided, Genma's sense of self-preservation had kicked in and he found himself a nice cold cup of water to morph him into his panda form. ""Genma's not here right now, I'm just a fuzzy-wuzzy panda bear."" His sign upheld, as he mindlessly played with a striped ball he had found.

As fisticuffs were just about to be drawn between the three, Cologne, for the third time that day, slammed her staff downward, silencing the group, as well as leaving an unintentional indentation on in her floor. "This is not getting us anywhere! Now, like I said before, sit down! All of you!"

The group instantly stopped again, feeling the intimidating aura that the ancient Amazonian was exuding. Feeling that it was better to not offend the elderly woman, especially in her own home, the lot of them quickly took their seats. (With the exception of Genma and Mousse, who felt that the floor worked just as fine for their own individual reasons.)

Nodding her head, Cologne casually moved so that she was standing in front of all them. "Good. Now, Ryoga, Ms. Kuonji? Please pay close attention as this is all very important and I expect the rest of you to jump in when you can to fill in the blanks."


After roughly an hour of confusing details, odd happenings, and questionable information, (Ryoga's left eye started to twitch a bit by the time they got to the lumberjack) the entire group had been put up to speed on everything that had been going on.

Rubbing her temples slightly, Ukyo started first. "Okay… I think- I think I get it now, sorta… Still, what are we going to do now? I mean I never really met this Kiima person, but Ranchan did tell me about his adventures with those bird people, and they sounded nasty! And if they're on the run like you said, how can we find them?" the okonomiyaki chef asked, a consternated look upon her face.

"We were just tryin' ta figger that out when ya came in, Ucchan," the black chúi stated, taking a slightly hopeful tone. "Unless someone's holdin' back, we still ain't got anything."

The rest of the teenagers shrugged, unable to come up with anything that could help.

"Well… I suppose we have several options to work with, really," Cologne mused, starting up another round of monotonous pacing. "I suppose we could try and follow their tracks, keep on moving and try and catch up with them… But I highly doubt that would be effective. They have a clear advantage over us in that regard, besides the fact that they actually know where they're going. They also have their ability to fly."

"Why don't you guys just head up to Mount Phoenix and camp out there?" Ryoga stated, feeling slightly awkward, unsure of just what to add to the conversation. "I mean, that's where they live, right? At some point they gotta check in."

"What's that P-chan?" The red chúi asked, her teasing always able to ignite a fury in the lost boy's gut. "Ya actually tryin' ta help us out?"

Growling in a clearly annoyed way, Ryoga actually managed to stay cool and only let off a disgruntled "Hmph" before answering more fully. "Of course Ranma, I always help those out that are weaker than me!" he finished with a fang-toothed grin.

"Hey! Take that back ya idiot! Just because I ain't a human right now doesn't mean I can't kick your butt!" Once again the female hammer loudly announced; her tone so shocking that Shampoo had to reaffirm her grip before she could drop her.

Rolling her eyes, Cologne decided to end this in a way she knew would actually get across to these people: force. With her cheetah like speed, Cologne bopped Ryoga and the red hammer on their heads. While she knew doing so to the latter was an exercise in futility, she did so anyway in a show of fairness. "Quiet! Again!" she declared before calming down. "Now, as you had just mentioned, Mr. Hibiki, I have been thinking and going over that option. And to be honest, it is probably one of the more viable ones… But there are still risks that we have to consider when taking it."

"What'cha talkin' about Ol- Cologne?" The male Ranma declared, trying to make things sound more positive. "That place ain't that dangerous. Last time we went the only people we really had to worry about were Saffron, Kiima, and the rest of her cronies! Everything else was a piece of cake!"

"Maybe so, but we can't underestimate them, especially not now… Besides, rushing in all willy-nilly like will likely get one or more of you killed."

Crossing his arms, Ryoga replied, "So why don't you take a few days to prepare? Set up a proper plan and all that? I mean, what's the rush? It's not like the mountain's going anywhere," he finished with a snort.

"Hey! How'd you like to spend a few days trapped like this?" The female Ranma asked indignantly. "Cause let me tell ya, from what I've had ta deal with, it ain't fun!"

Rolling his eyes, the Hibiki boy replied, "Oh please, it's not like you haven't had to deal with stuff like this before. Quit whining!"

"Hey, don't insult Ranchan like that"

"Oh would you all quit it?"

""Just a panda bear…""

For the umpteenth time that day things had degraded into pointless bickering, but Cologne decided not to bother with it for the moment. She had more important things to stew on. 'He's making a good point, but there is still the whole issue of time on our hands. We still have the rest of the month to turn Ranma back but if the journey to Mount Phoenix turns out to yield nothing, they could be in serious danger!... I could try and contact the village and see if they'd be willing to check it out, as it does pertain to one of our artifacts, but that would take just as long as simply traveling there… It's a calculated risk, but going there may be the best bet. But I won't put all my eggs in one basket; we'll have to make this plan multilayered.'

"Everyone! Listen up!" the ancient Amazon declared, fully prepared to have to "bop" some sense into the entire lot of them. To her pleasant surprise, she found that they all seemingly quieted down on their own. Cologne mused that they themselves must have simply gotten tired as well of the same old charade. "Good… well, moving on. As it stands now, our options are limited. To be completely frank, we do not have the man, or the willpower to scour all of Japan for just three particular individuals."

As she said this, she saw several mouths waver (not surprisingly, all from the pigtailed martial artist's fiancées). Raising her hand quickly to silence them before they could counter, she continued on. "That is not to say we won't continue looking, to some extent at least; just that we should focus our strengths elsewhere." Starting to pace once more, she nodded her head. "I in fact think it would be best to send a group to Mount Phoenix. If not just for the orb, but to clarify why they would even want it. If we're not careful, we may be looking at a small scale war."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold on, war?" The black chúi asked; his voice mildly shocked. "What the heck are ya talkin' about? Don't ya think that's going a little overboard?"

Shampoo too was worried by this statement. Despite being one of the best young fighters in the tribe, and winner of many tournaments, the purple haired Amazon had never actually fought in a war before… She was only seventeen! Considering that many of the other trained warriors could grow to similar ages as Cologne, she was still very much a child by their standards. 'Airen sure knows how to get himself mixed up into things. One minute we're just looking for a missing item, the next we're talking about openly attacking another village! That hasn't happened for at least a hundred years, not since we realized that most of the other warrior tribes were starting to die out...'

"The phoenix people have been a growing concern for some time now. Their tampering with Jusenkyo could easily be viewed by some as a direct assault on Amazon territory since it lies just on our border. If simply going by what's been given, then they are openly admitting to stealing artifacts from our people and that will not sit well with either the leaders, or the citizens." The elder stopped her pacing to fix her gaze on the group. Out of all of them, Shampoo was the only one who genuinely seemed to understand the repercussions of that statement.

After hearing these remarks, Mousse found himself to be quite a bit more energized, having jumped to his feet when this new information hit. "Now hold on old ghoul. Are you really saying that there's going to be open conflict because of these?" He pointed at the two chúi in Shampoos hands. "I'd expect something a little better from your likes; it's not often of you to go off so half-cocked, especially when lives are at stake," he finished, crossing his arms.

Eyes sharpening at the remark, Cologne briefly contemplated as to whether or not the boy simply set himself up for this kind of abuse. Regardless, she smacked him on the head anyway. As he was nursing his new bruise, the wizened warrior replied, "Foolish boy! You think I'm not aware of this? It is obviously a matter that we must tread lightly on. That's why getting the rest of Nichieju involved may in fact be a bad idea… So, like Mr. Hibiki suggested, I would think the smartest thing to do would be to send several of you up there and scout things out. If it's all just a misunderstanding, then doing this could save us a ton of political head-butting and proverbial paperwork."

"But what if, when we get there, Kiima isn't around?" Akane asked, eyes attentively staring at the wrinkled woman. "Are we just supposed to sit on our thumbs?"

"No, that's why I was just about to suggest that several of you stay back here," Cologne suggested. "And, if willing, openly search for the trio and try and see if they are still in the country. Regardless, sending such a large group of warrior people to another tribe's capitol may bring about the wrong message, even if you are acquaintances with the leaders," she finished, preparing herself for the bomb that she just dropped.

""I volunteer to stay behind,"" Genma's sign stated, his other furry palm munching on some apples that just so happened to be lying around. 'I've already been to that place once; I don't want to deal with it again!... Besides, the boy'll do fine! He's in perfectly capable hands.'

"Gee, thanks Pop's, ya sure know how to sacrifice one for the team, don'tcha?" the red chúi sarcastically asked, annoyed by her father's antics, but not entirely surprised by them.

"Shampoo no let Airen down!" the young female Chinese Amazon said, turning the two hammers in her hands to face her. "She say she get orb back no matter what and she mean it! We go and fight as hard as we can!", She nodded at them with enthusiastic determination.

"Well, I'm definitely coming!" Akane yelled; a fire in her eyes. "I'm not going to let this lady walk all over me this time! Mark my words, by the end of everything; she'll be the one with egg on her face!"

"I… think it would be a bad idea for me to come along," Cologne stated, her voice growing quieter. "Having an Amazonian elder such as myself there might cause some unintentional backlash for the tribe. I being there could literally be a political powder keg. There's also the Café to think about as I don't want to lose our home here due to a silly thing like a late payment. That could make things unnecessarily more difficult for us."

Most of the rest of the group slowly gave off nods, accepting her statement as is. Though before any of her detractors decided to call her out for her "cowardliness", Ukyo decidedly thought it was time for her to join in as well. "That's fine… But I'm gonna go too! Ranchan needs me and I've been left out on things way too long! I want to be able to make it so I can help him!" she finished, gripping her hands into tight fists.

Cologne's eyes sharpened at this, once again cursing the okonomiyaki girl's recent arrival. 'If there's one good thing to come out of this, it's that it gave Shampoo an opportunity to spend some time alone with Ranma. While granted, I fully expected Ms. Tendo to join in; having all three of the boy's potential wives along for the trip will muddle any chance Shampoo might get at making a foothold in a relationship. Besides… with Saffron still in his infant like state, any sort of physical conflict that may come about should be trivial at best. Still, I think I may be able to kill two birds with one stone with this, so to speak.'

Thinking quickly, the elderly woman spoke up. "Now hold on Ms. Kuonji. I'm not entirely sure if your coming would be the best of ideas." Not giving her even a moment to rebuke, the elder continued. "Out of everyone here, you're the only one here who hasn't traversed the area in some fashion; that would give you a distinct shortcoming when it comes down to it."

"Are you saying that I'll just slow everyone down?" the Kuonji girl snapped back.

"…Slow down? No- no, nothing like that… But if a fight breaks out, you'll certainly be at a disadvantage by not knowing the terrain that well!" Cologne exclaimed, pulling about half of the statement out of her ass. "I apologize if you think I'm trying to remove you from the search. I'm not… There are simply other things that will need to be attended to."

"Ooh? Like what?" Ukyo asked, crossing her arms, growing more annoyed by the second.

"I've said this before, but we will need people to search around the area, comb over the nearby districts and such, to see if Kiima just so happens to be hiding about," the Amazonian matriarch stated.

"So you're just throwing me off to do secondary work, are you?" the bandolier brandishing girl angrily asked, taking a single step forward to the other woman.

Raising her hands up defensively, Cologne countered. "No- no! That's not it at all dear! You have to think of things logically. If, just for instance, the others arrive at Mount Phoenix, and Kiima isn't there, then where would we be? We need someone to keep up the hunt here, so we have all our bases covered." Pointing her finger upward, the ancient woman continued to give further incentive to her reasoning. "And it's not as if you'll be alone in this, no not at all! I plan to have Mousse fully assist you with whatever he can!"

"What- but- hold on!" Mousse interjected. "You're instantly including me in all this, old ghoul? I haven't even agreed to anything yet! The only reason I would even consider continuing with this farce would be if I could be with my beautiful Shampoo on our return trip to China! Just why would I do something like that solely for Saotome of all people? I gain nothing out of this!" Mousse angrily ranted, having spent the last several minutes silently watching the interaction between the two other women go about.

"Thanks buddy, I always can count on you for sure! Right?" The male Ranma drolly stated. He wished he had hands right about now as he really felt the need to flip the guy the bird, or at least ruffle his feathers a bit in some other way.

Ignoring Ranma's accusation, Cologne answered back to Mousse, "You have to help him because I'm ordering you to. You do work for me, remember? So, for the time being, you'll be on the lookout for any people who appear to be from the phoenix tribe. Is that clear? Or else you'll be out on the streets!"

Mousse was not having a good day. He'd been coerced, thrown about, dragged and yelled at for reasons he simply did not understand why he deserved and it seemed as if things were in no way going to get better for him. The only reason he even worked at the Cat Café was so he could try and win the heart of his beloved Shampoo, but things had been getting progressively worse for him as of late and it definitely didn't seem like the old woman wanted him there. But the thing was, he had nowhere else to go except back to China, which, until Shampoo went as well, was not an option at all. His lack of any real friends in the area as well forced him into a corner as he most likely would be living off the land, so to speak, if he couldn't stay at the café. So, clenching his teeth, and holding back his growing anger, he muttered the following reply, "Fine…"

Cologne nodded her head. "Good, glad to see you agree. Now Ukyo-"

"I'm still going with Ranchan!" the teenage chef yelled, her emotions running wild. "I don't care what reasons you give! He needs me!"

"…Ucchan, I know ya care and all, but it's alright," the female chúi soothed. "Ya don't have to worry, we got it all covered here! It's not really a big deal; we'll be there and back before ya know it! Besides, what about your okonomiyaki shop? You seriously gonna let Konatsu take care of it while your gone?" she asked, a light amount of humor added on to the end of her last statement.

Ukyo flinched back, not only at being somewhat disregarded on her idea of joining in on the hunt, but at the last thought as well. 'He- she? It sounds like a she… eh, makes a good point. Last time I let Konatsu run the place, I lost almost 7,000 yen in profit! And I was only away for an hour! Even though he's gone right now, he's supposed to be back any day now and who knows how long this trip will take?... Still, I wish she didn't have to be so nonchalant about things. I was just trying to show I cared…'

Snapping out of her reverie, Ukyo replied, "I- I guess if it's alright with you, Ranchan… I mean, I'm perfectly fine with going! But if you think I'll do better here… I'll just, hold the fort then, if that's what you want. But I'm not gonna quit! Just get me a picture of this Kiima woman, and if she is in Japan, I'll have her tracked down in under a day!" she finished, clenching her fist at the promise.

Cologne smiled, happy to see that part of her work was done for her, by Ranma no less! "Good, now that that's settled we can-"

"I'll go," Ryoga stated, having been quiet this entire time.

"Oh? Mr. Hibiki? You wish to travel with Shampoo and the others as well?" Cologne was not expecting this. 'Ryoga often seemed to be a rogue factor, but he certainly could be a strong assistant if anything dangerous were to come about. I've trained the boy; I know how tough he is.'

"Lost-boy wants to help Airen too?" Shampoo asked, tilting her head to the side. The purple haired girl had stayed quiet throughout the recent goings on in the conversation, having far too many things on her mind. She was extremely glad when she heard "Spatula-girl" wouldn't be joining them, having one less obstacle to get in her way, but she wasn't so sure about the fang-toothed man before her. 'Hopefully he'll keep Akane busy, so Ranma and I can get some nice alone time!'

"Help? Of course, I don't want Akane to have to take on the Phoenix people with just-" Ryoga pointed at the Ranmas and Shampoo "-those guys! Really though, you need one more to come with you. Counting both Ranmas you've only got four; five will make a nice round number," Ryoga finished, a confident smirk on his lips.

Akane smiled, looking at the Hibiki boy before her. "Oh that's so nice of you Ryoga! Gosh, you're such a good friend!"

Instantly a dark aura of depression appeared around Ryoga, but rather than shoot off a shishi hokodan, he just opted to stew on himself as he slouched forward, a defeated look in his eyes.

"Geez, what's his problem?" the black hammer whispered. "I thought he had Akari?"

"The man just can't make up his mind, I guess," his female counterpart stated.

"Well then, it's settled!" Cologne finitely stated, happy to see everything come together. "These five will head up to Mount Phoenix and hopefully get some answers as to just what's been going on."

"Now- now hold on!" Ukyo angrily spoke up, gesturing her hands wildly between the two groups, her mouth slightly agape. "Just wait a second! Everyone here is completely okay with Ryoga going, but I'm just left out of the picture?"

Left eye twitching slightly, the elderly Amazon answered back, "Like I've said before, we are not 'leaving you out'; we are just positioning you in a spot that is not entirely to your preference! You'll be just as productive as the rest of us. In fact, why don't I go over what I plan on having you and Mousse do, right now." With that, Cologne ushered the two vehemently annoyed teenagers away from the room to give details on her plan, leaving the others alone for the moment.

"So, Ryoga, you're comin' too huh?" the black chúi semi-stated, pointing his energized eyes to the bandanna wearing boy in front of him. "Well, I- I guess I should, thank you, ya know, for helpin'?"

Having snapped himself out of his depressed state, Ryoga replied, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just know that the second you turn back I'm going to kick your ass, alright?"

"Hey! Don't get cocky!" the female Ranma exclaimed. "Even as a hammer I could still bash your skull in!"

"Damn it Ranma! I'll take on both of you right now!" the eternally lost boy yelled back.

"We'll see about that! Shampoo, throw me at im'!" the male hammer countered back, probably not thinking the whole statement through.

For the first time in a while, the purple haired Amazon had heard something that simply was just too ridiculous for her to just nod at. "Shampoo no think that too good of an idea Airen… We need to work together if we want things to go right!" She looked at him in all seriousness.

"Eh, guess yer right… truce until everthin' back to normal, okay pig-boy?" Ranma's female form asked, looking towards him.

"Fine by me, it's what I was planning anyway," Ryoga agreed, crossing his arms.

Akane merely rolled her eyes at the confrontation before her, knowing that nothing truly could have come out of it. Still, she had a lot of other questions on her mind that she wanted to put out there. "Changing subjects… When exactly should we leave anyway? We still need time to plan, pack, and prepare. I still haven't told the school I'll be away! They're probably wondering where I am, right now… You too Ranma," she finished, pointing at the hammers.

"Eh, we can probably get Kasumi ta say that you're goin' on a special trip or something," the obsidian tool suggested. "And hey! I don't know what you're pointing at, tomboy! You want me to show up in class like this?" he asked, gesturing his eyes at his non-human form. "…But ya make a good point. I don't wanna spend too long like this so we really need ta leave soon. But rushing can screw things up pretty bad as well, so we gotta be prepared for the worst if it happens!" he finished, a serious tone in his voice.

"…A couple of days would probably be best," Ryoga stated neutrally.

"Three would probably be good," Akane said, raising her hand up, and looking at it. "I'd like to spend a few days trying to figure out that attack I did so I can use it in action, if we need to…"

"About that...," Ryoga hesitantly said. "If you want, you know uh, maybe later I could-, just saying- I guess possibly, help you train with it maybe?... I mean, if it's like you said, it's pretty similar to the shi shi hokodan, I could probably get you to master it in no time! Hehe!" Ryoga finished, fidgeting a bit and blushing.

"Oh! That'd be wonderful Ryoga! I really want to get this thing down," the blue haired girl exclaimed in an upbeat fashion.

"Three days shouldn't be too bad, I guess… What do you think, Shampoo?" The girl-Ranma asked, trying not to instigate, even though Ryoga was clearly flirting with Akane.

Squinting her eyes slightly, and "hmming" for a moment, the young Chinese Amazon nodded her head. "Shampoo think that work out okay. She still want to practice using Ranma- chúi. I'm still worried that I mess up in fight!"

"Eh, you'll do fine Shampoo," Ranma's male form stated. "But ya might be right, we still don't know how this whole 'transforming' thing'll factor in during combat. Probably need to get some practice in for it."

"Well, it would seem that everyone had their things in order, then?" Cologne asked walking in, having just spent the last few minutes giving details on "Planned routes" and "areas of interest" to both Mousse and Ukyo. Frankly, she knew it was more or less just busy work, but she didn't skimp on things. She provided the information properly, like any Amazonian warrior would.

"Yes Great-Grandmother!" Shampoo stated. "We think it best if we hold on leaving for few more days."

"Yes, I heard. It shouldn't be too much of an issue. You'll need to be at full energy for the trip anyway," the elder replied. 'Thee days… isn't that bad I suppose. Though I'm starting to question as to whether I should keep the whole "loss of ki" subject discrete anymore... No, no, if I tell them now then they'll just want to rush ahead and that simply won't solve anything.'

"So what exactly do we do as of right now?" Akane asked.

"Well, I just gave some important information to both Mousse and Ukyo. While I think the former may be a bit too drained to participate, I think the latter might go searching on her own in a bit, if nothing more than to blow off some stream. But, for the rest of you, it's just menial planning that needs to be taken care of," the elder answered back.

"I gotta go tell Nodoka that her son will be going away for a while…" Genma wrote, his unwilling tone shining through even in text format.

"I should tell Dad and the rest as well…," Akane answered back. "I'll make sure Kasumi packs some extra meals for us when we get going too."

"Well, if we're going to just be waiting, I guess I'll go set up camp somewhere nearby…" the bandana wearing boy said, putting a small amount of pity thrown in his statement.

"Oh don't be silly Ryoga! Since we're going to be traveling together soon, you can stay at the dojo with us! Besides, what about teaching me that move?" the blue haired girl asked back.

Internally, Ryoga was grinning.

Both Ranmas wanted to say something but they realized that having the "lost boy" stay at the dojo would prevent him from living up to his name. Because despite the differences, both Saotome's recognized that Ryoga could certainly be a strong ally when needed and having him on the trip would make things easier if a fight did break out.

Cologne inwardly shuddered at the mention of Nodoka but was glad that the part-time panda was willing to take care of the issue himself. 'At least he was good for something... Still, that reminds of a matter I've forgotten to mention to someone.' "Okay then, we are set it seems." Looking over at the ever reliable nearby clock that set high on the wall, she judged that it was just around 4:00 P.M. "It's starting to get pretty late in the afternoon. If we are just going to go directly to the source, then there's no real point in running about any more right now. Akane? I'm sure your big sister has already started plans for dinner. I don't mean to be rude… but we have things ourselves that we need to work on."

Blinking a few times, Akane herself checked the time and widened her eyes a bit. "Oh- oh no! You're right! I haven't contacted anyone since early this morning… I wonder if they're worried?... I should probably go check and see how they are."

""I'm always up for free food."" Genma signed, though he did plan to be a bit cautious. That damnable Nabiki might be around and he sure didn't want to have to put up with her right now!

At that moment, Ukyo came walking into the room carrying in her hands several maps and various other scraps of paper, her hair looking a bit frazzled. "Okay! You already checked some of the obvious places but now that we know who we're looking for, I think I'm going to search out some of the close by towers and stuff. I mean their bird-people, right? It's perfect for them!" she finished, an exasperated but full smile on her face.

Shampoo gave the girl an odd look, but shrugged. 'If it gets her out of my hair for the meanwhile…' "Spauta-girl just no hurt herself. She no want to only have to rely on Mousse if things go wrong," the purpled haired girl stated. Though thankfully for the annoyed Chinese boy, he was too out of range to hear the remark as he himself was casually mulling over some of the papers he was given in the other room.

"Of course I will be! I'm not some useless idiot. I can fend for myself," the spatula wielding warrior countered back.

"'Course ya can Ucchan!" the black hammer exclaimed enthusiastically. "But are ya sure ya want to go out on your own like this right now? Not that I don't appreciate though!"

"You guys have been searching for two whole days now! I just want to be able to at least try and do something myself! Besides, what's the worst that could happen?..." Ukyo casually asked.

The group's conversations continued on for a few more minutes with everyone confirming a few things, saying their general goodbyes and just having slightly more light small talk before it was time for the lot of them to (In some cases, reluctantly) take their leave for the night. Akane, Ryoga and Genma headed off back to the Tendo abode to relay the day's prior events to its residents, as well as to get something to eat, while Ukyo went off to do some "Kiima hunting" on her own, though both Ranmas felt slightly worried at her leaving in her angry and disorientated state.

It was after they left though, that things finally started to settled down.

Shampoo sighed, having tired herself out from the day's events, though she was a quite happy that she got to spend some extra alone time with Ranma. Taking a nearby seat, the purple haired Amazon placed the two chúi down in front of her and stretched a bit, easing her sore muscles. "It been a hard day, huh, Ranmas?

"Yeah, ya can say that again!" the red chúi second. "Still, at least we know what we're doing now… I just hope it works out alright! I really don't want to spend the rest of my life as a hammer... Or a girl!" she stated, her voice rising up at the tail end of her sentence.

"We will Ranmas! Don't you worry!... I just wondering why it was Kiima who took the orb. Shampoo still no like what she did when she was under her spell…" the young Chinese Amazon stated, shuddering a bit.

"Hey! Don'tcha worry about her!" the male Ranma answered back to her, before quickly speaking up again. "We'll kick their butts, and then everything'll be back to normal, okay? There's no point in stewin' on things like that. We still got plenty a of the day left, whatta you wanna do with it?"

Placing her head in her left hand, Shampoo pondered the question. 'This is such a great chance. I can finally have some free time with Airen! Though to be honest, I'm really tired. I wouldn't mind just sitting back and relaxing for a bit… But I can't pass this up! I may not get another chance!' "Hmm, if you want to, Shampoo would like it if she could go out and try and train with Ranma- chúi, see if she could get you to transform again!"

"Hey, yeah!" the female Ranma said optimistically. "Maybe if we're lucky I'll be able ta turn back into human! Wouldn't that be a kicker?"

As much as she was enjoying seeing her Great-Granddaughter interact more fully with Ranma, Cologne reluctantly needed to interject. "Ah, Shampoo. There is something I was wondering if I could ask you about…"

Tearing her head away from the Ranmas, the lavender haired girl answered back, "What is it, Great-Grandmother?"

"Well, what I was wondering was… When exactly were you going to tell me you partially destroyed Mrs. Saotome's house?" Cologne asked, giving her the eye.

Shampoo merely gulped.


A/N:Wow geez, I can go on about nothing forever, can't I? Sorry about the lack of things happening in this chapter folks, once again this was more a set-up than anything else. Still, I tried to add a bit of "humor" in (whether it was any good is debatable.) to make up for it. What's funny is I'm afraid that certain parts might actually feel rushed in places. Eh, I don't know, oh well.

The next installment though should be pretty nice, as I can really get some good character development in, and finally start to move Shampoo and Ranma's relationship a bit further a bit more, so that should be fun.

I honestly don't think I have much to talk about right now, unless I want to get into spoilers. Though I will say I really gotta lay back on using Cologne, I think I find it far to easy to write her as the "voice of reason" character, and I think it's pretty cheap of me to do as a writer, at least over and over again. So expect for her to make a few less appearances from now on.

Also, I tried to make the reasoning for going to Mount Phoenix as sensible as possible, but I'm sure there are probably a thousand logical issues that could be pointed out that are just staring me in the face, so if something doesn't add up, sorry, my bad.

Other than that though, if you have any comments or criticisms, feel free to tell me, I always enjoy trying to find new ways to improve.