More than meets the eye (6/8/2007)

Author's note

A minor amendment to Chapter 8. I've decided that Bumblebee's car form to be that of a Toyota Cellica. Looks much better than the Nissan Sylvia.

Storm is coming……

Chapter 11: Amazon Intrigue

In the following afternoon, a cargo ship from China unloaded three containers in Tokyo Bay, which were marked as imports from Sichuan. Somehow, the shipyard workers and security personnel did not go near them or inspect the insides upon arrival. The containers were loaded on three huge cabovers and then moved out of the docks. Once out, they proceeded to carry their newly arrived loads to Nerima Ward.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hello Kasumi, fancy meeting you here!" a cheery voice called out to Kasumi as she examined a pretty dress from a department store in Nerima. The elder Tendo sister turned to see Kuonji Ukyo, another woman engaged to Ranma via Saotome Genma's stupidity and greed. However, she differed from most of the other fiancées in the sense that she didn't want to kill her rivals, merely win Ranma's heart for herself. She still caused her fair share of chaos with the other fiancées but other than that, Kasumi liked Ukyo's friendly personality. The Okonomiyaki chef was still dressed in her school's boy uniform and appeared to be making her own shopping rounds. She smiled warmly at Ukyo.

"Hello Ukyo. Shouldn't you be at school now?" Kasumi asked.

"Nah, the principal got a surprise visit from the Board of Education today. They barely got through half the morning before they decided to fire most of the faculty for gross misconduct of disciplinary action, including our dear Principal Kuno. Except for Miss Hinako and a few teachers, we've got a severe shortage of teachers now so they sent all of us home early. It was a good day, perhaps now Kuno won't act like he owns the school. Of course he might be expelled first which would work just as well," Ukyo grinned. But Kasumi became worried.

"What about Ranma-kun and yourself? No offence but between you, Akane, Shampoo and Kuno, the amount of damage you've caused should be considerable enough to warrant disciplinary action aren't they? Not to mention Nabiki's scheming which I'm very sure isn't going to look well," Kasumi frowned.

Ukyo shrugged. "Don't know about Nabiki but Miss Hinako was deemed to have sufficiently administered disciplinary action to Ranma, Akane and myself so neither we or she were penalised."

Kasumi let out a breath she had been holding. "That's a relief," she said then continued to admire the dress. Ukyo saw what she was looking at and stared in wonderment at the evening gown. It truly looked like a Cinderella ballroom gown, although it also bore resemblance to that worn by Belle in the Walt Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. The dress was an elegant sapphire blue and came with a pair of matching white gloves. The top of the dress was of a shoulder less design as well but the amount of cleavage exposed was not so generous.

Ukyo sighed. "I wonder if Ran-chan would like me if I wore it?" She looked at the price tag and gave a gasp. It was two hundred thousand yen. "Well that throws out the possibility. At least the rest of them except Kodachi won't be able to afford it."

She looked at Kasumi who was still staring at the dress and grinned. "Still thinking of charming your prince Charming?" Ukyo asked slyly.

"Actually I was wondering what would look nice for Akane to wear at her prom," Kasumi replied solemnly.

Ukyo's smile fell. "Tell me Kasumi, why do you support Akane so much? You live at home with them, can't you see how violent and unlady like Akane is? There's also the fact that she HASN'T said that she loves him yet. It's just not fair that she gets all the chances with Ranma while we don't," Ukyo complained.

Kasumi sighed. "Some things don't need to be said aloud to be obvious. Honestly speaking, I don't care about the engagements at all which are all not of Ranma's doing. I have no problem with all of you courting Ranma. I just don't like the way all of your try to force Ranma to be your fiancé without even asking him if he is interested in getting married now at all."

Ukyo shifted uncomfortable. "Well, Ran-chan is a little thick in the head, he'll never admit anything unless you push him, which is what we've all been trying to do."

"And it is having an adverse effect o him. He practically has a phobia of getting friendly with girls now, even you whom he considered a good friend once upon a time," Kasumi said quietly.

The chef retorted, "Well, it ain't all of my fault. Your sister should get most of the blame."

A police car suddenly drove to the curb near the two women and the officer inside winded down his window.

"Is there any trouble Kasumi?" Prowl asked while eyeing Ukyo suspiciously.

Ukyo was flustered as she rarely encountered policemen and this one looked dead serious.

Kasumi quickly said, "Nothing the matter at all Officer Prowl, just having a friendly chat. Have you met my friend Kuonji Ukyo?" she asked while indicating Ukyo.

"Uhm, hello Mr. Policeman," Ukyo stuttered. Kasumi couldn't blame her, Prowl was wearing his most sour look that morning, even more than when he first met Kasumi.

"This is one of the officers that has been escorting me since Happosai's attempted kidnap. He really is a nice man, one day I hope you two will get along," Kasumi said.

Prowl snorted. "Are you done with your shopping yet? I have other places to patrol, including a certain feline to catch."

Ukyo raised her eyebrows. "Alright impostor, what have you done to the real Kasumi? She would never resort to blackmailing or bribing police officers to carry her shopping."

"It's called the goodness of the heart Ukyo, which everyone possess. Now if you will excuse me, I've to prepare for a little gathering tonight," her eyes twinkled at the thought of finally introducing Ranma and Akane to the Autobots. She had also bought enough food ingredients to make at least ten gigantic Inaris for the Autobots who had yet to taste them. For Bumblebee and Prowl, she would make a massive batch of miso soup for them to savour. It wasn't quite the feast she had planned but it would make a nice little picnic at the steel factory.

It was then Ukyo noticed at least five huge shopping bags on a trolley near Kasumi. "OK Kasumi, there's a party going on here and I want to know why I'm not being invited. If it involves my Ran-chan and Akane going together, I'm sorry but no way in hell am I going to allow it."

Prowl was sorely tempted to transform here and then and give Ukyo a good spanking. "No you will not little miss. If you do, I will make sure you're locked up for the rest of your natural life. Believe me, even in Japan, prison is far from being a happy place. Especially to a girl as young as yourself," Prowl's hologram form exited the car, careful to avoid bystanders from accidentally bumping into it.

Ukyo was defiant and was about to retort when Kasumi cut her off. "Ukyo, I'm merely having a gathering with my friends soon. Please don't take it the wrong way," she neglected to tell her about Ranma and Akane's invitation that night. Actually the two didn't know yet and Kasumi planned to inform them when she returned home. She then proceeded to load the police car's trunk with the groceries.

Despite her misgivings, Ukyo helped her. "I still say my claim on Ranma as my fiancé is as valid as the Tendo engagement. Don't forget that Kasumi," she said warily to Kasumi.

Kasumi looked at Ukyo. "I won't."

Ukyo shook her head at the changed Kasumi, who seemed to have grown a spine overnight and now possessed a will that seemed to be made out of iron, staring down all the martial artists in Nerima despite not being one. 'Not even Ranma commanded such respect before,' she thought to herself. She sighed and was about to walk off to resume shopping for her own restaurant when she noticed Shampoo hiding in a dark alley. She was eyeing the police car Kasumi had driven off in and to Ukyo's alarm, her expression was nothing less than murderous. The Chinese Amazon then disappeared into the alley.

'What is going on here?' she wondered. She quickly decided to tail her and see what Shampoo was up to.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The chef pursued the Chinese Amazon through the streets of Nerima and eventually came to an abandoned warehouse on the edge of Nerima ward. She saw Shampoo enter a small door on the side. Ukyo thanked her lucky stars that Konatsu had been training her in some of his stealthy ninja techniques, including the ability to scale bare walls almost noiselessly like a lizard. Not to mention hide her chi to make herself invisible to chi-users which Cologne most certainly was. She utilised both of these techniques now, stealthily sneaking past the nearby buildings to the warehouse's walls and then scaled the walls to the roof. Once on the roof, she employed the one of the oldest techniques that spies use: enter the ventilation shaft to get into the warehouse.

Despite not being familiar with the layout, she carefully crawled about until she found a ventilation grill that enabled her to look inside the warehouse. Inside, she found her worst nightmare come true.

The warehouse was crawling with Chinese Amazons. Amazons that were armed with every conceivable weapon she knew, including guns. Most of them were more butch and taller than Shampoo but it did not lessen their beauty. Most of them in fact shared the same exotic Chinese beauty that Shampoo possessed. All had finely sculpted muscles and were dressed in what looked like traditional Chinese scale and splint armour. Lying on a huge table in the middle of the warehouse, were rows of hand weapons, long shining spears with silver leaf shaped blades, huge axes with long shafts, long Dragon Swords with intricate patterns adorning the huge blades, and dozens of wicked whips which were lined with blades.

She was shocked when she saw that most of them were equipped with what looked like grenades and carried huge bullets as large and thick as mineral water bottles. The guns they carried seem to match the bullets, and looked like the ones that Arnold Schwarzeneggar used in the Terminator 2 movie only much bigger.

'Why do they need such big guns if all they want is Ranma? They need martial artists to catch Ranma, not guns. Oh gods, are they going to kill all of us as well?' Ukyo was beginning to panic at the awesome display of power being displayed. Then she saw Cologne and Shampoo. The resident Elder Amazon seem to be in a heated argument with what appeared to be another two Elder Amazons. Both did appear to be as ancient as Cologne though, in fact they looked middle age and both stood at Shampoo's height. Their hairs were also streaked with grey though, and they both leaned on the same kind of staff that Cologne used. She tried to listen to their conversation.

"….. Unacceptable…… Tendo family…… not …… harmed….."

"….. traitors.. ….. harbouring demons …….. no mercy ….."

"…… Happosai…… fought ……… Kasumi …… pure ……."

"……. irrelevant……. robot demons ……. at all cost ……Ranma…….. breeding stud…….. all rest die………."

Ukyo heard enough. She had to fight to keep her head as she stealthily crept out of the warehouse. Once she was out on the road, she lost all her cool and started running towards the Tendo Dojo. "Ran-chan! Kasumi!" she cried.

As she ran across a busy road, she tripped and was nearly run over by a police car. She stared in shock as the front bumper stopped only a hair's breath from her face. She shakily stood on her feet and to her enormous relief, saw the same police officer that had given Kasumi a lift earlier. She frantically ran to the driver's window.

"Officer please, you've got to help Kasumi! She's in grave danger! Please!" Ukyo became more and more hysterical.

"Calm down. Why don't you follow me to the Tendo Dojo so that you yourself can tell them? And update me on the way?" the hologram calmly said.

Ukyo cried in relief as she entered the passenger seat. Once inside the police car drove off and Ukyo started describing what she had seen in the warehouse.

"Cologne didn't seem to want to hurt the Tendos but the other two…... I think they overrode her commands and now they want the Tendos dead! I don't know what they were talking about robot demons, gods I don't know what the hell is going on! They've got enough guns there to start a war and it's all going to be aimed at Ran-chan! Oh gods, they even want to hurt Kasumi! Please officer, hurry, Ranma, Akane, Kasumi, we've got to warn…. warn…. warn…..," Ukyo's blood ran cold when she saw the officer grinning. Then he started chuckling. Then he started laughing maniacally.

"Officer… what ….. who are you…… please, if we don't tell them, they will be killed," Ukyo whispered, utterly terrified.

The officer turned to face Ukyo and to her horror, his whole body shimmered like a stone being thrown into a pool distorting someone's reflection.

"Perfect," he smilingly said.

The seat Ukyo sat on suddenly burst with leather seat belts and literally mummified her body. When she opened her mouth to scream, parts of the belt gagged her mouth as well. The last image she had before the belt covered her eyes was that of the officer still laughing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"OK Akane, steady now. Focus, focus, focus. Put everything out of your mind. Nobody is in a hurry. Don't rush it. You have all the time in the world," Kasumi gently encouraged Akane while standing on her right.

Akane breathed slower, trying to slow her heartbeat and decrease her nervousness at the task she had to do.

"Come on Akane, we're not going anywhere. You have all the time in the world to do it right. Just follow your own time. You know what they say, better late than never. Slow and steady wins the race," Ranma said at Akane's left.

The youngest Tendo daughter relaxed further. She wanted to cry at the love and attention being given by the two dearest people in her life now but knew she had to concentrate. Focus. Nothing else mattered. No pressure, no chaos, no fiancées barging in. Just she, Kasumi and Ranma.

Her hand slowly lifted the knife from the chopping board and she started to slice the tofu in front of her. Carefully, applying even and moderate force to cut it into small square pieces. Rather than hack at it as she usually did, she instead put the sharp edge of the knife at the tofu and pushed it to cut the tofu. Kasumi and Ranma held their breaths as Akane finished cutting the tofu into numerous square pieces. They moved to give her wide space as Akane took the chopping board with the sliced tofu and walked to the stove where there was a pot of soup being boiled. She lifted the lid and then, gently using the knife, pushed the cut tofu into the pot. She took some seasoning and sprinkled a little into the pot before shutting the lid.

Afterwards, the three just sat in the kitchen waiting for the miso soup to be cooked. Half an hour later, steam arose from the pot. Akane once again moved to the stove and lowered the fire so that the soup would simmer rather than boil. She then lifted the lid. A delicious smell filled the kitchen as she poured some of the soup into two small bowls. Wordlessly, she brought the two bowls to Kasumi and Ranma and handed them one each.

Ranma was practically sweating bullets as he held the bowl of Miso soup. It looked fine but then again, so did most of Akane's cooking. He looked at Kasumi who smiled serenely and nodded. As one, they sipped the miso.

Akane looked anxiously and her face fell as she saw the both of them freeze at the first sip. 'Here it goes, I'm going to be covered in spit now,' she thought sadly.

But it was not so. The next moment, they stopped their freeze act and drank the rest of the soup. Kasumi had only one thing to say.

"Oishi neee."

Akane burst into tears as all of the tension for the past hour was released. She sank to floor and cried as Ranma whooped and grabbed Kasumi to do a wild dance in the kitchen. "WOOHOO, KASUMI ONEE-CHAN, WE DID IT!" he cried as he swung Kasumi around. Kasumi laughed hysterically. "Ranma, stopped this at once, we are in the kitchen! Akane is here!" she laughed joyously. If Akane was jealous at the affectionate display Ranma showed Kasumi, she did not show it. She was just too happy to have made something edible that wasn't curry for once.

The two stopped their merry dance for a while to drag Akane into it. It was an odd sight seeing two women and a man dancing merrily in the kitchen but this was Nerima. Things like this happened all the time.

Eventually the trio stopped laughing and sat down, exhausted after hours of cooking.

"It's such a pity that Oyaji and Mr. Tendo ran off tonight just as Akane made something nice to eat. Even Nabiki turned tail and ran the moment she heard that Akane was cooking," Ranma said tiredly, aching from laughing so hard.

Kasumi smiled. "I know it's not very nice of me to say so but it's just as well. We've got lots of food for tonight's gathering," she said.

"Gathering? What gathering?" Akane asked.

"Why, a gathering of my new friends of course," Kasumi said as she stood up and started packing the ten huge Inaris into three baskets.

"Wait a minute, you mean we're actually going to meet your saviour? The guy who saved you from Happosai?" Ranma asked in surprise.

Kasumi smiled serenely. "I'm very proud of the way both of you have behaved for the past few days. It took me awhile but I finally convinced them that you are good and trustable. And after this evening, I have no more doubts about both of you being grown up."

Ranma and Akane blushed. "Gee, uh, thanks Onee-chan. I'm really honoured that your willing to share your secret with us," Akane said.

"Then what are you standing there for? I can't carry that pot of Miso soup and Inari myself!" she mockingly cried.

The couple yelped and quickly busied themselves with carrying the foodstuffs in baskets. When all were ready Kasumi led them out of the kitchen to the front door…..

……… only to find Cologne standing at the porch, blocking their way.

Ranma scowled. "What do you want old ghoul? Can't you see we're busy?" he said angrily as his aura began to flare.

"Yeah, you are trespassing in our house. How dare you come into our home without permission?" Akane shouted.

Cologne seemed to ignore the both of them and stared intently at Kasumi. The elder Tendo daughter felt enormous pressure in the Amazon's gaze but stood her ground.

"Please Cologne, whatever it is could it wait till morning?" Kasumi said quietly.

"Kasumi, please listen to me and answer me carefully. Or your entire family will be in danger," Cologne said.

Ranma and Akane's aura flared even further at the threat. But Kasumi said, "If I can Elder."

"Were you going to meet your saviour tonight? Is the policeman you know going to be there?" Cologne asked.

Kasumi froze as she suddenly felt her chi senses explode. "Elder ….." she stuttered.

"She knows Cologne. That's all we need to know," an unknown voice sounded from behind Cologne.

"No, we must…" Cologne protested before the house suddenly exploded with Chinese Amazons.

Ranma and Akane screamed battle cries even as they both pulled Kasumi from the hallway into the kitchen. Kasumi watched in horror as she saw numerous Amazons, all of which looked as skilful as Shampoo came into the house via the windows and the doorway. Once in the kitchen, Ranma stood his ground at the door and fought off the Amazons at the doorway one at a time. Behind her, Akane took a few wooden rolling pins and tried to hold off the Amazons coming through the backdoor. They valiantly held them for a few minutes before holes appeared in the roof above them and even the walls to the kitchen from the hallway and more Amazons poured through. To make it worse, the Amazons were armoured and Akane and Ranma's bare hands met hard steel, resulting in bleeding hands and broken wrists. They cried to Kasumi as the Amazons finally bypassed them and laid their hands roughly at Kasumi.

The three were bound securely with their hands behind them and made to march outside by the Amazons. Outside was a huge container trailer where the Amazons entered. As they were forced into the container, Kasumi managed to glimpse Cologne who looked sorrowful.

"I'm sorry this had to happen Kasumi. Persevere, it will be over soon " she said softly.

"Such concern you waste on the barbarians. Clearly you are no longer fit to be matriarch of our great tribe," said the voice Kasumi heard they were attacked. She looked at the owner and beheld a middle- aged woman wearing the same robes and staff as Cologne.

Cologne looked venomously at the other. "Your arrogance will be their undoing, Pan Teen. You will not lay hands on them from now on without me by their side," she said as she leapt to Kasumi's side. The other Amazons who were earlier manhandling them roughly seem to freeze.

"Treat them well. They are not our true enemies," she snarled and the warriors complied, carrying the bruised and bleeding Ranma and Akane into the container while Cologne herself helped Kasumi.

The other Amazon was enraged but said nothing to Cologne. She merely told her warriors, "Take everything in the house that is of value. Then burn it," she ordered.

Kasumi nearly fainted when she heard the order and cried, "NOOOO!" She attempted to jump out of the container but one of the Amazons knocked her on the head and she knew no more.

Everything that could be moved in the house, even the box containing Tendo Kimiko's ashes, was removed from the house and stored in another separate container. The electronic items, such as the television, kitchen applicances, Nabiki's tower PC and bathroom appliances were also not spared. The majority of the other Amazons warriors went into the third container. When all were ready, a group of Amazons tossed burning torches into the house before all three containers trucks left in different directions but for the same destination.

The night of Nerima was bright with the fire engulfing the Tendo household.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A yellow Toyota Cellica zoomed through the streets of Nerima. A sizeable crowd had gathered in front of the burning inferno but the car did not care. In front of dozens of witnesses,
Bumblebee transformed and leapt into the fire, trying to search for his one true friend.

"Kaaaa…….. suuuuuuuuuuu…….. miiiiii!" he croaked loudly, trying to scan for her DNA. He then stepped on something soft and lifted his feet to see what it was. On the ground, was a partially burnt and squashed Inari. The yellow Autobot took the destroyed Inari in his hand. Some sort of liquid came out of the two bright blue lights that served as his eyes and at the same time, a mournful sound like that of a wounded whale escaped his vocal processors. He took the Inari and crushed it in his arms as he stood up, the liquid still flowing from his face, which was now contorted in rage.

The Nerima citizens looked at the yellow Autobot with interest but not fear as they were already exposed to many weird things over the years. Even the arrival of six more huge robots did not turn them into a panicked crowd.

"Look mummy, it's Convoy!" a little boy cried as he saw a huge robot that was blue and red in colour walk towards the yellow robot.

Bumblebee looked at the face of his commander. But Optimus' expression could not be read. His mouth was now covered with a metal plate that blocked his emotions from being read.

"Autobots, transform and roll out."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Kasumi woke up, she was lying down on a mat on the floor of the container. She saw Elder Cologne standing over her, pressing a rag cloth against the bump on her head. She tried to move but found that her hands were still tied behind her back.

"Nice girl take it easy, drink water yes?" Shampoo appeared and helped Kasumi to sit up. The she held a bottle with a straw and let Kasumi take a sip. The cool water cleared her head and she looked around to see her surroundings.

Akane and Ranma were tied back to back, both of them were awake and looked relieved as Kasumi gave them a small smile. "Don't worry Ranma, Akane. Everything will be fine in the end," she said.

"Enough of this. Cologne, you may be our tribe's Matriarch and Elder but four of us have voted against three, including yourself, to have the Tendos interrogated and Ranma captured. You dare stand against your own Amazon laws in favour of these barbarians?" another unfamiliar voice said. Kasumi saw yet another Amazon Elder with the same clothing as Cologne but also appeared middle aged.

"Quite right Elder Foam," the one Cologne called Pan Teen appeared by the other Amazon's side. "Either you question them now or we do the questioning instead."

Cologne's eyes narrowed, as did Shampoo's. "You both are one hundred years too young to challenge me yet. Now hold your horses and sit down while I resume ASKING Kasumi questions before I was so rudely interrupted," she barked.

She turned to Kasumi. "Kasumi, I want you to listen carefully. Please answer everything truthfully. Everyone here can tell if you are lying, even one such as yourself. If you lie, I can't guarantee your safety nor Ranma and Akane's. Will you answer my questions?"

Kasumi looked at Cologne. "I will not lie to you, Cologne. But I won't reveal all my secrets, nor that of my friends."

"Yes Kasumi, your friends. Are they large transforming robots?"

"That secret is not mine to reveal," Kasumi replied.

"Cologne….." Pan Teen growled.

"Listen to me Kasumi. You know that a large cat that seemed to be a robot attacked Shampoo a few days ago. What you don't know is that the cat escaped in a police car. A police car that had this symbol engraved on the door," Cologne drew a picture on the floor with her staff and Kasumi could not disguise her shock. It was the Autobot symbol.

"It can't be…" she whispered before she caught herself.

Cologne erased the image on the ground. "Yes, the same police car that you've been seen associating with. No more games Kasumi. The beings you've met are deceitful and it is no wonder someone like you was deceived by them. Centuries ago, when I was a child, just one of these monsters nearly exterminated the Chinese Amazon tribe. And now they've come back and are using you for their fiendish plans. You have already done enough damage by hiding their existence from the authorities. Now you must tell us so that we can stop them from destroying our world."

"You are wrong Cologne," Kasumi said softly.

"HOW DARE YOU BITCH! TELL US WHERE THEY ARE…" Foam stopped her rant as the tip of Cologne's staff appeared at her throat.

"I warn you before Foam. There won't be a third time," Cologne snarled. She turned her gaze at Kasumi. "Whatever you think you know of these beings is false. They have probably lied to you for their own ends. Kasumi, I don't mean to degrade you but you are just a single Japanese girl. What can you know about beings that fall out of the sky?"

"One week ago, you said you trusted my judgement of character. Why can't you trust me now?" Kasumi asked.

Cologne sighed. "Kasumi, I wish that I could. In fact I do. But this is a matter too great for this old woman to trust instincts alone. I must have undeniable proof that your friends are not evil. At the very least, I must meet them. Now will you tell me where to find your friends?"

Kasumi looked at Cologne's eyes which were pleading with her to confess her secret. She looked at the murderous looks of the other two Amazon elders as well as the other two dozen Amazon warriors in the container. Akane, Ranma and even Shampoo's eyes were fearful and confused at the current situation.

"I cannot Elder," she said quietly.

"GRANDMAMA!" Shampoo shouted as she whipped out her bonbouris from stuffspace.

Cologne turned just in time to cross her staff with that of the other two Amazon elders. She gazed warily at the rest of the Amazons, which all had their weapons drawn and were pointed at Cologne, Kasumi, Shampoo, Ranma and Akane.

"You've had your chance old woman. You heard her yourself. She is ignorant, stubborn and stupid, a disgrace to the female race. Such a pathetic specimen does not deserve to breed and produce weaker generations. A lowly slave not even fit to wash our cesspools. Now move aside so we can extract what we need from her pathetic mouth."

"No, this is wrong. By Amazon law they must be interrogated by the full council, not just us. That is why we are here, to bring them back to China," Cologne said with gritted teeth.

"What different does it makes? Besides, circumstances required speed and urgency. And we must know where to find the abominations NOW!" Pan Teen shouted.

"You will not harm a hair of Kasumi's hair as long as I still draw breath," Cologne snarled.

"Shampoo defend Airen, Nice girl and Kitchen destroyer with life!" her granddaughter shouted in defiance.

Sweat poured down the two Elder Amazons and even the other beautiful warriors seem uncertain but Cologne's heart fell as the pressure on her staff mounted.

"So be it. Elder Cologne, with Elder Foam as my witness, you are unfit to be an Amazon Elder any longer. You are now a criminal who has betrayed our sacred Amazon laws and honour for barbaric outsiders. And for that your life is forfeit…"

CRASH!!!

All of a sudden, the entire container seemed to shift to its left as something huge impacted on the right side of the container as it drove forward. Everyone in the container was thrown off his or her feet; even Akane and Ranma were knocked into another position. Pandemonium ensued as the Amazon Elders tried to contact the driver on what was happening and Cologne had Kasumi's, Ranma's and Akane's bonds cut. It was just as well because all needed their hands to prevent themselves from getting hurt as something hit the right side of the container again, resulting in the entire container overturning. In an instant, what used to be the left wall of the container now became their ground floor as the entire container shifted ninety degrees, knocking most of the Amazons unconscious. The container seemed to skid for a moment before it came to a violent stop, resulting in most of them being thrown in front.

"DRIVER, WHAT IS GOING ON! COME IN. COME IN!" Elder Pan Teen shouted hysterically into her walkie talkie, far from being calm a moment ago. Only static greeted her.

All of a sudden, the inside of the container was brightly lit when a huge blade that seemed to made of pure white energy stabbed into the middle of the container, stopping just before Elder Pan Teen's head. The Amazon Elder looked in shock at the huge white blade hanging just above her head. Her legs collapsed from under her and she landed ungracefully on her butt.

The white blade retracted, leaving a large slit in the container above. Then most of them watched in horror as two massive sets of fingers forced its way into the slit and started tearing off the roof of the container, like a sardine tin can's cover being peeled open. Bright light shone at the Amazons from its chest, nearly blinding them but they could still make out the outline of its chest and head. A chest that had a red and blue flame pattern and a blue coloured head.

All gazed in wonder at the enormous being which eventually dimmed its lights and allowed them to see his form clearly. Ranma, Akane, and Shampoo's jaws were wide opened as it looked around the container. Even Cologne was amazed by the sight until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"For what it's worth Cologne, after tonight I would have asked them to let you into their secret. They really are the most wonderful people you could meet. I'm sorry you had to meet my friends this way. Ranma, Akane, Shampoo, Elder Cologne, I would like you to meet one of my friends. Optimus Prime," she said as the Autobot leader's blue eyes finally found Kasumi's brown ones.

To be continued……

Author's notes

I've said it before and I will say it again. This story will have a happy ending. No Ranma cast except maybe Happosai will be permanently killed off or given an unhappy ending. So I won't apologise for anything in this chapter.

Trivia

'Oishi' means tasty in Japanese.

In Japan, Optimus Prime is called Convoy. Autobots are Cybertronians and Decepticons are called Destrons.