DISCLAIMER: "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki" is a registered trademark and
copyright of AIC Inc. and Pioneer. "Ranma 1/2" is a registered trademark
and copyright of Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications and Kitty
Productions.
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T E N C H I 1 / 2: FAMILY REUNION II
By Michael "TheZorch" Haney
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Part 5: The Battle of Joketsuzoku - Act 1
Saotome Ranma, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts and Second Crown Prince of Planet Jurai, stood looking out over the waters of the Sea of Japan from the deck of what Akane called "floating piece of crap". The ship, if it could be called that had certainly seen better days, it was in poor repair, covered with rust from stem to stern, and the hull plating made eerie noises below decks. The ship was called affectionately the "Old Man of the Sea", and it certainly was old. Once it appeared to have been used as a fishing vessel for the canneries that lined the coast of Japan, but now it was under new management. Its current job, smuggling people and contraband to and from Mainland China. It wasn't a Yakuza owned vessel though.
Ranma wondered if it would have been easier to just fly in the Ryo-Ohki to China and use her stealth capabilities to get past China's complex air defense network. Washu said it could be done, but after a discussion everyone who was going to China elected to go by boat. All the none combatants were left behind, namely Soun, Genma, Nabiki, Kasumi, and Sasami. He was glad Akane's beautiful older sister and Tenchi's youngest iinazuke wasn't on board. The crew of this miserable boat was one of most unsavory bunch of cut throats he'd ever seen on his ten years of travel around the world with his pops. They kept giving the girls that did come on the trip hungry looks. None of them ever tried anything after one of them did. It had been their first day at sea and one of the crew approached Ryoko intending to have himself a private party with the beautiful young alien. He was now spending the rest of the trip in sickbay until they could return to Japan to give him proper medical treatment. After the incident, Cologne went to speak with the captain of the vessel and explained something about their passengers, he then went and spoke to the crew, and no further incidents happened. The crew knew of the Nyanchiczu, it wasn't the first time they ferried them across the Sea of Japan, and they knew to keep their distance. All the captain had to say we they were Amazons, and that was that. They had a desire for female companionship, not a death wish.
The young Saotome heard a faint footstep next to him, turning his head to his right he saw Akane there. Reflexively he reached out and put his arm around her. Akane snuggle up against him and smiled as she felt his warmth warming her against the cool breeze coming off the ocean. By now the old Akane was dead and gone and the new Akane was alive and well. The old Akane would have punted Ranma into the air with a swift kick and a curse of "Pervert!" if he had done this, but the new Akane was different for she wanted Ranma to hold her and love her. Akane was glad to have her new self, glad to see the old Akane wither and die. As time passed since the trip to see Ranma's family in Ohkayama she came to detest the old Akane, the Akane that abused Ranma, called him names. She never wanted to be that Akane ever again.
Little more than a week passed since the horrifying confrontation with the dreaded Lich. Securing transport to China turned out to be harder than expected. Increased security due to the situation between the Americans and the Middle East was making things difficult. Finally, one of Cologne's Yakuza contacts got them an unregistered vessel. They lost a few days, yes, but if they had a hard time finding transportation that would also mean Kun-Lao had the same problem. That was only assuming he didn't use other methods to reach China.
"You alright?" Akane asked her iinazuke.
"We haven't been back to Josenkyo since Saffron." he said.
Akane hugged her husband to be tighter. She remembered the terrible day, the day she died and then came back to life because of the agonized and heart broken cry from Ranma. Why it had taken so long for them to finally admit to one another how they felt she didn't know. All she really cared about now was getting this unfortunate chapter of their lives out of the way so they can go on with the rest of their lives together at last.
"I know, it'll be strange going back there." she said.
"Will you try to get a cure for your curse there?" she went on to ask.
Ranma replied truthfully, "I don't know, after what happened with Washu's cure machine I started to think that maybe there was a reason why I was given this curse."
"For what?" Akane looked at him, astonished.
"I can't really put my finger on it, but something tells me I have this curse for a reason, that it was meant to happen." he said looking as if he were pondering something as mysterious as the meaning of life..
"Is it because of Ranko?" Akane had to ask. She had to admit she was very jealous of Ranma's new sister. During that week they were all in limbo waiting for a ship to China, there had been discussions about Ranko in the family. Genma formally announced that he would adopt her into the Saotome clan, effectively making her Ranma's sister. Akane however noticed a few things about Ranko, and one of them was the fact that the girl who sprang into existence out of Ranma was also attracted to him.
"We cleared that up, all we are to one another is brother and sister." he told her. The incident that nearly broke out into a knock down drag out battle royale between Ranko and his other iinazuke came to his mind. The girl had been watching Ranma work out in the dojo and decided to join him. Ranma being a nice guy let her spar with him. The girls were watching also, and during the fight Ranko made the mistake of stealing a kiss from Ranma, completely blowing his concentration, and enabling her to win the fight by hitting him with an Amaguriken attack. Of course the girls wanted to tar, feather, and roast the red head alive for what she had done. This prompted the long conversation between the two of them that resulted in Ranko being just his sister and nothing more. For Ranma it wasn't easy turning the girl down, she was beautiful, intelligent, and was as good a martial artist a he was. But it didn't feel right forming a relationship with someone who spawned from you. Ranko wasn't very happy with having to agree to this but she did, reluctantly. If she couldn't love him as his iinazuke she would love him as his sister, it all he could offer her.
"I know, I'm sorry for bringing it up." Akane apologized.
"Its alright, I know how you feel about the whole thing." Ranma replied hugging Akane closer. "How was I supposed to know she was falling for me?"
"Why does every girl who so much as looks at you falls in love with you?" Akane asked him coyly.
"That whole Jurai energy thing I guess, yeah, that's it, Ranko doesn't have anyone so that's why she went after me." Ranma snapped his fingers.
Akane's eyes went wide at this revelation. "I almost forgot about that, that's why Nabiki's your iinazuke now too."
"Yeah, well I'd be lying if I said I didn't sorta have feeling for her before all that happened though." Ranma admitted.
Akane didn't know whether to be mad to that comment or not, but said, "Well maybe your sister will find somebody in China."
Somewhere in Mainland China a young man walking alone on a back road through the wilderness sneezed violently. He passed a sign in Chinese kanji that reads "Valley of Josenkyo 60 kilometers". Of course, he can't read a bit of Chinese. The young man stops, takes off his yellow and black stripped bandannas revealing another underneath it, and uses it as a handkerchief.
"I wonder where I am now, this is all Ranma's fault!" he cried into the wilderness frightening the birds.
Back on the ship, Shampoo and Cologne had all but totally taken over control of the ship's galley for the remainder of the voyage to China. The crew was very happy for the cooking prowess of the Nyanchiczu was as renowned as their fighting prowess. The current ship's cook was a huge, greasy looking man named Donk with an honest to goodness peg leg, and he didn't take very kindly to women taking over his galley. Unlike the rest of the crew he wasn't very smart, he was a gaijin, an American, and knew nothing about the Nyanchiczu, nor did he believe the captain's wild tales about these people. When he tried to toss Cologne out on her rear when she came to take over the kitchen he got a lesson in "Listen When Your Captain Tells You Something 101". After about an hour of getting thoroughly beaten and humiliated in front of the entire crew he decided to just act as cook's assistant until the old hag was off the ship.
For the crew of the "Old Man of the Sea" it was really hard obeying captain's orders with a girl like Shampoo hopping around the galley. They watched with fascination every bounce and jiggle of her ample breasts as she delivered some of the best food they'd eaten in years. They loved the antics of her catching plates and bowls of food Cologne and Donk would throw to her. In this short time the old woman and the ship's cook became friends and Cologne actually shared some recipes with him.
Ever since her now official engagement with Ranma, Kuonji Ukyo decided to no longer hide her female figure. Despite her past efforts to hide the fact that she was a girl, she had indeed developed into a very lovely woman with a body most young women would die for.. Dressed in her Okonomiyaki uniform she danced around the galley delivering meals to the crew as well. Sometimes they just came there for the "show". Nobody tried to cop a feel on either girl after one man decided to slap Ukyo on her cute bottom, and got a face full of her giant Baker's Peel. The Hentai Twins were a part of the group heading to China. The girls had a reputation for being rather "friendly" with men. The twins both took one look at what passed for men on this ship and became violently ill. On the opposite side of the coin was the Most Evil Martial Arts Master in the World. He had a good reason to be on this trip, he hated Kun-Lao who in some ways was almost a kindred spirit to the ancient pervert. But, Kun-Lao violated the only woman he had respect for, his Little Hinako, and so Happosai wanted nothing more than to spill that jerks blood for what he did to her. The ship was carrying a load of contraband that was legal in Japan but illegal in China. One of the items that was in big demand in China was Hentai movies, anime, manga, and magazines. The girls were very thankful for this because it meant that Happosai spent most of his time down in the ship's hold instead of bothering them.
On the upper deck of the ship the sole female member of the crew, Kirokori Megumi, watched the man known to her only as Kuno Hikaru perform dazzling kata exercises with this katana. She wasn't one to fall for men easily and earned a great deal of respect from the crew as someone you don't try to take liberties with. She was a martial artist from the Kirokori School of Martial Arts Smuggling, a secret art developed by smugglers of old that was very similar to the Amazon Hidden Weapons style. The other young man, the one with black hair and a pig tail wasn't too bad on the eyes either compared to the worthless wastes of skin that served as a crew on this ship. She would watch the samurai for hours on end and just sigh, and her mouth would water when the other young man would do his morning exercises on the deck. The captain's orders applied to her as well, she didn't understand why because she wasn't interested in the girls. It was the way the female passengers on the ship treated the young men named Ranma and Tenchi that gave her a clue as to why keeping her distance was a good idea. They were all nuts about them, and they shared those feelings. The only one Ranma didn't show the same affection for was the red headed girl with the pig tail, but Megumi discovered she was his sister. Tenchi she noticed was thin but well built and practiced with a bokken practice sword. His harem of beauties was one of most bizarre collection is strange but gorgeous women Megumi had ever seen.
As a smuggling vessel the "Old Man of the Sea" could not take a direct route to China via the normal shipping lanes. There were too many regular Chinese navy patrols, so the vessel took an alternate route which added a few more days to the trip to Josenkyo. Ten days total, if truth be told, good weather permitting. Ranma and Akane went below decks, there wasn't a cabin large enough for him to share with all of his girls so they each had to have separate rooms. Thankfully these rooms were all in the same section of the ship, and the girls each took turns staying in Ranma's cabin at night. Tenchi and his girls, Ryoko, Aeka, and Mihoshi did pretty much the same thing.
They passed Tenchi and Mihoshi as they headed up towards the deck, when Ranma mentioned that they were headed for the ship's onsen his cousin and his iinazuke decided to join them for a good bath. The onsen was the only room on the ship not covered in decades of rust, grease, and grim. Kirokori Megumi was in charge of keeping it clean, since she used it she made sure nothing that the male crew members probably did have never got to her, so the place was always sparkling clean and sanitized.
Even after more than a year Tenchi still could believe his eyes when Ranma changed into a girl. Akane dumped a wash tub over her iinazuke's head and he transformed instantly. Mihoshi, wrapped in a towel like Aeka, sat behind Tenchi scrubbing his back with loving care.
"When we get to Josenkyo I want you and your ladies to stay away from the springs, ok cuz." Ranma warned him.
Tenchi waved to him. "I sorta understand the danger."
"Good, because Washu might hurt me if you return from China transformed into a pig or rat or bird or something." Ranma replied.
"Or he could fall into the spring you fell into." said Mihoshi.
Tenchi shuddered at the thought of turning into a girl every time he got splashed with cold water. He was curious though, what would he look like as a girl. The First Prince of Jurai banished the thought immediately. "I'd rather not think about that." he grinned.
Ranma was about to say something in reply when suddenly the floor beneath them lurched to one said. The two cousins shifted their weight and moved their bodies in such a way so their feet stayed steady on the floor, then they grabbed their girls to keep them from flying across the room. Loose bottles of shampoo and bathing lotion went flying past them.
"What the hell was that?" Ranma shouted a question as alert klaxons went off around the ship.
Quickly the four of them raced to the dressing room, dried off, changed into their fresh clothes, and made for the upper deck. Most of the crew was already up to and looking out over the side of the ship. Shampoo, Ukyo, Aeka, and Ryoko were there as well near the front of the rusty old vessel. Moments later Kuno Hikaru emerged from below with katana in hand.
"Is it a sea monster?" he asked, his hand ready to draw his family sword.
"Its a monster alright." Ryoko replied pointing towards the sea.
A column of water rose from the surface of the ocean, not a spray, but a solid column of pure water as if it were being drawn up into an invisible container of some design. The column expanded and slowly began to take the shape of a human face. Ranma and Tenchi watched as the water of the Sea of Japan took on the likeness of Kun-Lao, the Chi Sorcerer. The girls and Kuno Hikaru all took fighting stances when they saw the face forming.
"Taking a boat ride I see." said the face of Kun-Lao. "So you know about the key in Joketsuzoku."
"You will not possess the key!" Cologne shouted at the apparition and shook her fist.
"On the contrary Matriarch Cologne, I will very soon possess that which is rightfully mine." Kun-Lao smirked.
"Stupid magic boy no get key from Amazon village easily." Shampoo spat.
"You speak the truth my lovely." said Kun-Lao. "You Nyanchiczu are rather impressive specimens of beauty. Its a shame that I have to destroy your entire village, you all could have provided me with such entertainment."
"You touch a hair on the heads of Shampoo's people and I'll kill you!" Ranma cried.
Shampoo puffed up with pride over Ranma's declaration and commitment to protect her people. Cologne could not help but feel very thankful. "You are quiet welcome to try boy, come to China and we'll see who kills whom." Kun-Lao returned and with that said the apparition formed out of water suddenly fell towards the ship. The crew ran for cover as nearly a ton of sea water slammed onto the deck. When Ranma awoke on "her" back on the deck she noticed a small weight on her chest.
"Meow?" Shampoo meowed questioningly. In cat speak she said, "Is airen alright?"
"C-C-C-Cat!!!!!" Ranma-chan screamed hysterically.
A hand quickly reached out and snatched the white and purple kitty off of Ranma-chan's chest. Akane cradled Shampoo in her arms and scratched her behind the ears. "That wasn't a good idea Shampoo, you know how Ranma is with cats." she said.
The cat nodded. "Meow."
"Is everyone alright?!" Tenchi shouted as he climbed to his feet. There were many groans and grunts as everyone else picked themselves up.
"I really hate that guy." Ryoko groaned. She had been slammed to the deck of the ship by Aeka when the water struck. This left the two girls in a rather suggestive looking position.
"What in the Nine Rings of Hell was that?!" the captain of the "Old Man of the Sea" demanded. Kowishara Huruku had been the captain of the ship for nearly fifteen years. He was old seaman, once serving in the Merchant Marines, and now running one of many smuggler ships in the Sea of Japan. He was over sixty four years old, yet despite his age he still had the vitality of youth due to his martial arts background, and what he called "cleaning living". Huruku, who the crew lovingly called "Old Cap" had earned the respect and admiration of his crew. His years of experience pulled them through many disasters, natural and otherwise.
"That, my dear captain was the trouble I warned you about." Cologne explained. She touched very lightly on the fact that they were after someone who wasn't to be taken lightly.
"Did any of my men get washed overboard?" he asked surveying the deck as if taking a visual account of his men.
"We didn't see anybody fall overboard." Ranma replied.
"What is our distance to China?" Cologne inquired as she pogo sticked over to the captain.
"About fifty nautical miles since our last position check." Huruku told her. "But we have about one-hundred and ten miles left before we reach port."
It unnerved Cologne that Kun-Lao had been able to locate them so easily at sea. She had hoped that by not using the living space ship they would avoid giving off telltale vibes allowing him to find them. Her concern now was for her group, Ranma and Tenchi, the girls, and the crew of the ship. Kun-Lao could easily send them to the bottom if he put his mind to it.
"Prepare one of your launches, the Nyanchiczu will compensate you for it's loss." she said to him. "It is not my desire to endanger you or your crew any further, we will continue this journey on our own."
Captain Huruku looked at her then looked at the lazily rolling sea. "Begging your pardon Matriarch, but we got a gale coming in." he gestured towards the waters. "You take a small launch out in that and you ain't gonna make it to shore."
"He's right, sugar, that water's starting to get kinda rough." Ukyo agreed.
"I've been sailing this ocean since I was fifteen years old." the captain said. "What I saw today isn't as nearly weird as some of the other shit I've seen out there from time to time." Many of the other nearby crewmen who'd been with the "Old Man of the Sea" nodded or grunted in agreement.
"I'm afraid we must risk it." Cologne countered. "Our enemy is on the move he likely has a head start on us by several days."
Ranma-chan looked at her. "Uh, you remember the last time we got caught out in a storm at sea?" Cologne just rolled her eyes. She knew what Ranma was talking about, the incident on Tatawaki Kuno's yacht that got them shipwrecked and then a rescue mission to Torgenkyo rescue the girls.
"I don't think Prince Toma will kidnap the girls this time." she replied with a smirk.
"I'm not worried about that." Ranma-chan shot back fold her arms over her ample chest. "What if we capsize or something out there?"
"The pretty young lady's right." one of the crewmen spoke up.
"Tell ya what, we're a bit of ahead of schedule, so we'll alter course and take to within twenty miles of the coast and drop you off there." Captain Huruku suggested. "But it could be dangerous, coastal patrols and all."
Cologne smiled and waved her hand. "Do not worry about the agents of Beijing, my people have learned that they can be easily bought."
The captain shrugged. "Whatever, you're the one paying the bill for this ride." He turned and headed back towards the rear of the ship.
"This detour should shave off at least a few days off our travel time." Cologne explained to the others. "We must still hike across county to our valley."
"Pops and I used to hop onto freight trains to get around in China when we found them." Ranma-chan detailed remembering their trip through China to reach Josenkyo the first time.
"When we went to China to save Akane from that Prince Kirin guy we all took a row boat." Ranko interjected. "Then hiked across country."
"I'm starting to think maybe we should have flown in Ryu-Ohki after all." Ryoko sighed in exasperation. Aeka and Mihoshi nodded in agreement.
"When we reach the shore we will be relatively close to our lands." Cologne pointed out to them. "The cross country journey will be two days, no less."
"I wonder how much of a head start does Kun-Lao have on us anyway?" Akane asked.
"Impossible to tell." Hikaru said frowning. "It could be that he is at this moment sailing the same sea that we are."
The Hentai Twins came up from below decks with their aunt Rouge. It was her idea to keep them below in their cabin away from the crew. The twin's choice of attire was extremely distracting, but the strategy was not meant to keep from tempting the crew so much as to keep the girls from misbehaving.
"We use spell, Kun-Lao is on mainland." Salt, the white haired twin announced.
"How far into the mainland is he?" Cologne asked quickly. If he reached the mainland already it meant he had a good one day head start on them or more.
"Only a few kilometers." Pepper, the black haired twin, answered.]
"That means he has a last a possible one or two day head start on us!" Cologne growled in frustration.
"Is there any way we can send a warning to the village that he's coming?" Tenchi asked Cologne.
She shook her head. "We have no telephones or access to telegraphs."
"We can send a Spirit Messenger!" the twins chorused and jumped up and down. The crewmen were all fixated on the way certain parts of their anatomy bounced and jiggled. A good number of them collapsed from nosebleed induced blood loss.
"What's that?" Akane asked.
"It is a magical sprite created to carry a verbal message to whomever you choose to send it to." Cologne explained. She turned to the twins. "Go below, you're distracting the crew, and prepare the spell quickly."
"Hai! Honored Matriarch!" the twins replied then bounded away below decks to the disappointment of nearly every man on the ship.
"Those girls are going to be the death of me someday." Rough sighed and followed slowly after them.
"Somebody had better go down into the hold and drag Happy out." Cologne suggested. "Knowing him he's opened every crate of hentai material on the ship."
Ranko walked around the gathered "task force" and headed below decks. "I'll go fetch the little pervert." She sent a wink Ranma-chan's way before vanishing down the stairs. His iinazuke all growled a bit at this but only for a moment.
Four hours later, Ranma, Ranko, and Tenchi heaved on a rope as they dragged the launch onto shore. It had been a harrowing experience navigating the rough waters over only a short twenty mile stretch. But, the most exciting part of the journey was getting Happosai out of the hold of the "Old Man of the Sea". The diminutive pervert was neck deep in hentai magazines and manga. Ranko had to resort to luring him away by stripping down totally naked so that Ranma and Tenchi could trap him in a net. Doing so was difficult as Tenchi was constantly on the verge of a major nosebleed. Ranko was every bit as lovely as Ranma's cursed form. Meanwhile, the twins cast the Spirit Messenger spell, and hoped it would reach the village in time.
The girls under Cologne's direction covered the launch in tree branches to camouflage it from the coastal patrols. Hikaru was skilled at covering up tracks. Using a large tree branch he brushed the sand erasing all evidence of something heavy having been dragged across. The waves lapping against the shore could erase the rest of the evidence in time.
"We have six hours until it starts getting dark, we'd better start now and find a place to camp when the sun starts setting." Cologne checked the sky and the position of the sun.
"I think I remember this place." Ranma looked around at the surroundings remembering various landmarks. "Isn't there a village near here where a healer name Lo-Ping lives?"
Cologne nodded. "Hai. We are very close to that village."
"Then Josenkyo isn't far away, maybe a good day's journey after we camp tonight." Ranko added.
"Correct, now we should be moving." Cologne smiled. Everyone picked up their backpacks, Ranma carried his and Akane's, and headed across country. China was a mountainous country, there was very little level ground. The communist government worked to remedy that by leveling the land for farming and settlement. Many major rivers were dammed for hydroelectric power. This resulted in several problems, for much of the land leveled by the government had been wetlands. During the rainy season many of these areas were prone to catastrophic flooding during times of severe weather. It didn't happen often, but it happened often enough to require the building of drainage canals to carry away excess water from the flatlands. This water washed away the industrial pollution laid down for decades in the high population areas and resulted in a environmental disaster for the country, but very few people in the world knew of it. The Amazons did, for that same contaminated water began to drain into their pristine water supply. This required the Nyanchiczu to seek other sources of water. They found that source in the mountains around Josenkyo. From the mountain bubbled a spring of pure water that was diverted into a reservoir that served as the main water supply for the entire region. Joketsuzoku was the main village of the Amazon people, there were five villages total. No one village could contain all of their people at one time, and after the arrival of the communists it was deemed very important to keep things that way.
A system of bamboo pipes buried shallow in the ground a series of pumping stations powered by diesel fuel supplied each village with all the water they needed. Though they did not have indoor plumbing and had to get the water from the village fountain, it was far better than having to pay the expense and attract attention by building a large treatment facility for the regular water supply. Within recent years, pressure from other nations forced China to recognize the environmental problems in their water supply. For the past twenty years the rivers and lakes around the lands of the Amazons have seen the amount of pollution drop, but never completely go away. After almost forty years of getting their water from the reservoir the Amazons never went back gathering water from the river again.
Ranma, Tenchi, and the rest of the group followed this same river through the wilderness. The lands around the valley of Josenkyo are some of the most beautiful but also some of the most Kami forsaken land in the world. The land was rugged, almost impossible to traverse even with off- road vehicles. The diesel pumps for the water supply had to be flown in with helicopters. This region had been the hiding place for many marauding bands of outlaws who plagued the lands of China during those chaotic years between the fall of the Emperor and the rise of the communists. Even before that time it was home to all sorts of groups who wanted to remain unseen. It was a perfect place for the Amazons to remain hidden from the rest of the world. Modern day satellite technology and ground imaging systems have recently opened up the region to exploration by the communists of Beijing. Unbeknownst to them, their efforts were being thwarted by the Chi Sorceresses of the Nyanchiczu who let the government see only what they wanted them to see.
As the sun was slowly dropping below the rim of a large mountain chain, the group reached the crest of a great hill. In the distance, Tenchi spotted what looked like a huge lake. He lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes and realized what he thought had been a lake was really a huge collection of smaller bodies of water. Hundreds of them in fact.
"Is that-" he began.
"Yes, that is Josenkyo." Cologne answered.
Ranma shielded his eyes from the light of the low hanging sun and judge the distance. "We're about a day and half away at best, unless we can find a better train." Indeed, the train they were traveling was some of the most rugged land there was.
"We should reach the road you and your father used to reach the springs tomorrow morning." Cologne said. "It will mean that we will have to pass through Josenkyo to reach the village however."
"That's ok, as long as we get there faster." Tenchi's tone showed that even his immense patience was starting to wear thin.
"Just because we're walking through there doesn't mean anything will happen." Ryoko added patting Tenchi on the shoulder. ":Right?"
Cologne looked at the two of them with a hard expression. "It has been known to happen that people intending to just pass through Josenkyo end up obtaining a curse by accident, some even say the pools call to people sometimes.."
"Lets not worry about that right now." Ranma jumped in hoping to change the subject. "If we keep going down this trail another hour we should reach that small clearing down there." Everyone turned to look where he was pointing and saw the clearing in the wood far down the hill.
"Hey, isn't that where we and pop camped out when we were running form Shampoo?" Ranko asked her brother. He nodded.
"Aiya, it is, Shampoo remember place." the beautiful Amazon nodded in agreement also.
"It's only a few minutes from the road, but far enough out of the way so we have some cover." Ranma added.
"There's also a stream there for a water supply and if I remember there were a few berry bushes down there." Ranko said remembering the details about the place.
"Blackberries I think they're called." Ranma replied.
The stars were starting to appear in the sky as they reached the clearing. They had just enough light left in the sky to pitch a few tents without have to break out the flashlights. The ring of stones that marked the old fire pit Ranma and his father used were still there. Akane, Ryoko, and Mihoshi gathered firewood while Ukyo and Shampoo prepared to make dinner. Aeka and Cologne set to the task of making some tea. Tenchi, Ranma, Happosai, Hikaru and Ranko did a patrol around the campsite looking for any sign of Kun-Lao. They could barely hear Rouge and the Hentai Twins as they moved around further out in the woods setting up trip wire traps and magical wards. When the moon rose in the sky everyone returned to camp just as the girls finished cooking.
"Our Spirit Messenger must have reached the village by now." said Salt.
"Yes, it is likely Elder Lotion is having defenses erected around Joketsuzoku as we speak." Cologne nodded.
"Kun-Lao is pretty formidable with that magic of his, can your people hold him off?" Ukyo asked her.
Cologne shook her head. "Sadly, I do not know. I pray they can delay him until we arrive."
"These mountains have changed so little since I came this way." Hikaru Kuno commented.
"We like it that way." Cologne smiled at him.
Ranko gobbled down her bowl of rice in record time. She, Ranma, and Ryoko seemed to be in a race to see who could finish their food first. When she was done she asked, "Perfume is likely going to be a forefront of any defense, being the village enforcer, right?"
Cologne nodded. "Likely, yes."
"Perfume very strong, that why she village enforcer." Shampoo explained.
"Yeah, but she's also just as drop dead gorgeous as you are." Ranko pointed out to her. "And we all know how that sick bastard is."
"He makes Happosai look tame." Akane laughed.
"Hey!" the old pervert frowned, speaking for the first time since being dragged kicking and screaming off the "Old Man of the Sea".
"Gee, it finally speaks." Ranko said trying not to sound too disappointed.
"Because of you three I'll never know if Yuko and the Tentacle Fiend of Kyoto get married or not!" Happosai fumed pointing at Ranma, Tenchi, and Ranko.
"Is that from Tentacle Fiend Zero number twenty-two or Tentacle Fiend Resurrection number forty?" Ryoko asked him.
"You read hentai manga?" Akane asked he former space pirate in surprise.
"Oh yeah, Tenchi's dad has a collection of just about every Tentacle Fiend manga ever published." Ryoko replied and gave Tenchi an affectionate smile.
"Sweeto!" Happosai cheered. "Me and your pop are gonna become good friends for now on Tenchi my boy!"
The old pervert suddenly found himself smashed under the foot of a Juraian Princess and a Former Space Pirate. "Oh no you don't, he's bad enough!" they both growled.
Ignoring the small battle taking place between Happosai and the two alien women Tenchi asked, "Where in the village is the key hidden, Matriarch?"
"In the tomb of Ambrosia at the center of the village." she answered him. "It is near the village fountain that is feed by our makeshift waterworks."
"Any idea on the locations of the three others?" Ranma asked and looked at the amorous Hentai Twins.
"We think we felt one in Nerima while on the ship, but we'd have to check again to be sure." Pepper told him.
"Nerima?" Ranma gasped.
"Some old stories say that before she died, Ambrosia gave one of the keys to the Kuno clan as a gift for Hikaru's sacrifice." Cologne replied remembering some of the ancient lore of her people.
Ranma threw up his hands in frustration. Hikaru looked at him with a funny expression then looked to Akane. "We haven't told you much about your family." she said to him. "There are Kunos living in Nerima."
"Why have you not told me this?" the samurai demanded.
"Because we didn't want you to see what the Kuno clan has become in recent years." Ranma answered in a low tone. "They are rich and have a great deal of influence in the community but they also have a reputation that you would not look favorably upon."
"Please, explain to me what you mean." Hikaru looked to Ranma and Akane with a pleading expression on his face.
"Kuno family crazy." Shampoo cut in. "Oldest son Tatawaki think he samurai, but he just big bully who think he Kami gift to all women. Daughter, Kodachi, is crazy girl who make poisons from black rose. Father is madman who think he be cool surfer from place called Hawaii, he run the high school like it his personal torture chamber."
Hikaru put his face in his hands and was silent for a long time as everyone looked at him. "Alas, I had thought with the death of Ikaru the Madness Curse of my clan that caused us to loose our honor the first time was over."
"Madness Curse?" everyone asked in surprise.
"Hai! A Madness Curse effected many in my clan, made them turn against the emperor and we lost our name in dishonor." Hikaru explained. "The emperor knew my branch of the family did not have the curse, thus that is why he allowed me to remain a samurai in his employ secretly."
"Who put this curse on your family?" Cologne asked. She had never heard of this before today. She had assumed that the father had gone mad due to his isolation in the islands, and the children due to their upbringing by their abusive mother.
"That knowledge has been lost long before I was born." Hikaru replied.
Akane put a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "You're, you're not going to commit seppoku because of this are you?"
The samurai looked up at her and saw the warmth and worry in her eyes. For a moment he had been contemplating it, but the thought of doing so suddenly made the image of Kasumi appear blocking the path towards those thoughts. He shook his head. "No, though it would be appropriate for me to do so under my code, I cannot." he said. "To do so would mean leaving the woman I love and waited centuries to be reunited with. There is no way I could control what my clan has become in this modern age."
"You could adopt the Tendo name if you married Kasumi." Akane offered.
Hikaru smiled. "I remember a samurai baring that name, a most honorable man."
Morning did not come too soon for Tenchi and Ranma. Everyone woke up at the crack of dawn, ate a quick breakfast over cooked by Shampoo over a open flame then headed out. The road, if it could be called that, wasn't so much a road as it was a well worn path through the forest. It wasn't wide enough to accommodate a large vehicle like a truck or a car. The road was in good enough condition that they excellent time. Soon they were cresting a hill that overlooked Josenkyo before winding down into the valley that held the cursed springs. As they reached the top of the hill Hikaru Kuno stopped and gave out a gasp like a hiss.
"Smoke." he pointed out beyond the cursed springs to clouds of black smoke rising from the hills beyond.
"Aiya! That were village is!" Shampoo cried.
"We must hurry!" Cologne exclaimed as she hurried down the road.
As everyone reached the lower part of the valley they enter the grounds of the curse springs of Josenkyo. Tenchi gave them a nervous look before following his cousin. They soon came upon the Guide's hut, its condition set off alarms in the group. The bamboo and grass structure was smashed almost completely flat. Ranma and Akane walked over to the ruins of the building. A strange sickening smell greeted them. With is foot Ranma lifted a piece of roof panel. The stench of horrible and what was underneath was even worse. Akane gasped in fright and threw her arms around Ranma as the contents of her stomach threatened to come out. Ranma pulled her away from the horrific scene and the smell urging her to breath and calm herself. Cologne and Rouge walked over the body Ranma had discovered and looked it over as if the smell didn't even matter.
"Its the guide." Cologne said without emotion. "This happened two or three days ago."
"His head was crushed." Rouge added.
"Two or three days, he can't have that far a head start on us." Ryoko protested.
"Plum must have run away, I don't see any sign of her, I hope she's ok." said Ranma and Akane nodded in agreement.
Tenchi noticed Hikaru examining something on the ground. When he walked over to the samurai he realized he was looking at strange animal tracks in the soil. They looked like no animal tracks he'd ever seen. They were very large, like that of a bear, but had the toes of an ape. If he had to guess as to the size of the thing that made them, it had to be huge.
"What kind of tracks are those?" he asked.
"Troll, mountain troll from the way the large toe bends inward like a thumb." Hikaru said. "These are only one or two days old at the most."
"Troll?" Tenchi looked at him with surprise.
"Mountain troll, vile creatures." Hikaru said as he stood up. "Very large creatures bearing a resemblance to apes except the face is more human and they have less hair. From these tracks I would estimate at least five came through here."
"They must be what killed the guide." Ranma spoke up while he was still holding Akane who was starting to get the color back in her face.
"Aiya. Mountain troll no like to come down out of peaks." Shampoo said.
Cologne bounded up and looked at the tracks her herself as did everyone else. "Your tracking skills are formidable Hikaru Kuno, at least five of the vile beasts have been here." she said.
"They would only come out of the mountains if ordered to do so by Gaal, their tribal leader." Rouge added.
Ukyo and the other girls looked at her. "These things have a tribe." Ukyo said unbelievingly.
"Why are we standing around!" Ryoko shouted to them from her vantage point high in the air. "I think Shampoo's people are in big trouble!"
"What do you see?" Aeka asked her.
"I'm no expert, but I'd say we just walked into full scale siege." the ex-space pirate replied.
As fast as they could run the rest of the group made it though the small valley of Josenkyo then made for the road that lead to the village of Joketsuzoku. They began to hear the sounds of great drums, the deep guttural cries of huge creatures, and the higher pitched battle cry of Amazon warriors. The village of Joketsuzoku was surrounded by a huge wall made from the largest trees in the region. The Amazons could easily erect such a wall for defense in less than a day and a half if the whole village helped. Ballista and catapults could be fired at enemies approaching the walls, or fired at siege engines to stop their advance. Archers would line the walls ready to pick off anyone trying to scale them, and armed warriors were there to take on any who succeeded to get that far. It was an ancient and archaic means of defense that did not work at all in age of modern weaponry, but the foe the Nyanchiczu faced this day fought as primitively as they did.
Mountain trolls, huge creatures, moved massive bamboo siege engines towards the wall. They were rickety structures made form lashed together bamboo rods and animal skins that allowed hundreds of warriors to storm over a fortress wall within minutes without climbing up ropes. Flaming balls of pitch and napham came flying over the wall setting the siege towers aflame. Dozens of the brutish monsters, each wearing armor made form heavy leather and carrying huge weapons made of stone fell as three foot long ballista bolts struck them in the chest. Not all the casualties were on the troll's side of the battle. Bodies of dozens of Nyanchiczu littered the battlefield or lay at the foot of the defensive wall.
"AIYA!" Shampoo cried in dismay.
"Whoa! I think I've seen this in a movie once!" Ukyo gasped.
Akane pointed towards the battle and looked at Ranma. "We're going into the middle of that!?"
Ranko answered by cracking her knuckles. "I call this a target rich environment."
"What could have gotten them so riled up?" Happosai questioned rubbing his chin. "Mountain trolls usually keep to themselves."
"Let me give you one guess." Cologne said to him.
"Kun-Lao." said Tenchi.
Hikaru drew his sword and gestured towards the creatures. "Gaal served Kun-Lao during my time, trolls are nearly immortal sleeping for hundreds of years without aging a day. The best and quickest way to kill them is either by crushing their skulls or piercing their hearts."
"EWWW!" Aeka, Mihoshi, Ukyo and Akane cried out at once.
"The skull of a mountain troll is nearly three inches thick." Cologne explained to them. "Their hide is almost as thick of leather armor, but our finely crafted arrowheads can pierce their flesh easily."
Ranma laughed. "Damn, and I thought Ryoga had a hard head."
"We have little time for any further banter, we must reach the village quickly!" Cologne shouted and she raced off towards Joketsuzoku. Everyone else joined her and ran with all their might the rest of the way to the defensive wall around the village. The trolls, being creatures of great brawn but of little brain, we're attacking the defensive wall of the Amazon village only from one direction. It didn't occur to them that it would have overwhelmed the defenses of Joketsuzoku if they attacked all sides at once. A few individual groups did get the hint, but they didn't survive very long when arrows suddenly rained down on top of them.
An Amazon named Lilac directed the archers on one of the walls frequented by the brutish creatures. It happened to be the section of wall that Ranma and the others were running towards. The archers raised their bows preparing to fire as they saw several figures advancing through the smoke.
"Hold your fire!" Lilac ordered. "Its the Matriarch!"
Lilac was a tall woman, one of the tallest among the Nyanchiczu. She carried a crossbow with a shoulder sling, and slung over her back she carried a dual edged long sword. Her right arm sported a small buckler shield. Like many Amazons she was a true beauty, not as voluptuous as Shampoo or her cousin Perfume, but in bust size she rated very highly. Her outfit looked like something straight out of the old American TV show "Xena: Warrior Princess" and was made entirely of tanned leather with an under layer of fine chain mail armor.
"Ropes!" she called out and three of the archers dropped their bows and began tossing ropes over the wall. Cologne was the first to reach the wall and scaled up one of the ropes with the ease that came from centuries of practice.
"Honored Matriarch!" Lilac bowed as Cologne climbed onto the catwalk that lined the walls.
"Lilac, where is your mother?" Cologne asked.
The Amazon gestured towards the heart of the village. "She is with the council right now, she received your Spirit Messenger two days ago." she said.
"These others who have accompanied me are friends of the Nyanchiczu and are to be treated as such." the Matriarch said gesturing towards the others scaling the wall. "They have come to help defend the village."
"As you wish, honored one." Lilac bowed in response.
Ranma watched as Happosai and Ukyo made it up the ropes. He waited, holding Ukyo's rope until she made it to the top. Akane looked at the thin hemp rope and then looked at Ranma. "I couldn't climb these things even in gym class." she protested.
"Hang onto me then." he told her turning his back to Akane. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and held on with all her strength as Ranma scaled the wall with ease despite the added weight. Ranma risked looking down as he climbed and saw Tenchi carrying Aeka up the wall the same way. Ryoko, carrying Mihoshi in her arms, flew to the top of the wall. Shampoo and Hikaru were the last to go up. They stood guard for any attacks with weapons drawn.
"How long has the village been under siege?" Cologne asked the tall Amazon.
Lilac cocked and loaded her crossbow. "Four days now, our scouts in the mountains spotted the trolls coming down from their peaks a week ago so we had time to prepare for them."
"We were still at sea at that time!" Tenchi exclaimed.
"What of Gaal?" Cologne asked.
"We have not seen him." Lilac told her.
Hikaru looked puzzled and everyone noticed. They had learned since the fight with the Lich to listen to the ancient samurai and take note of his expression. Of all of them he had the most experience dealing with Kun-Lao and his minions. "They would not move without their tribal leader." he said. "Trolls do not recognize leadership without the challenge of combat and Gaal is the strongest among them. Any who tried to take charge without challenging Gaal as leader would have been killed and eaten as per their laws."
"Those things are cannibals?!" Aeka gasped in revulsion.
"Only if they have no other food sources, but from time to time they will eat their own kind if they are killed for committing an offense deserving death." Cologne explained to them. "They believe that eating the flesh of the one who wronged the tribe appeases their gods."
"How barbaric." Aeka looked like she was about to turn green.
"There is only one other reason why they would come out of the mountains without their tribal leader." Hikaru continued.
"Lack of food is one thing that could have done it." Lilac jumped in and added. "Or one of our scouts in the mountains got into a skirmish with one of them and that set them off."
The sound of booming drums pierced the air and literally made the air reverberate with the sound. The archers on the wall, male and female Nyanchiczu readied their bows.
"They are attacking again!" Lilac hissed. Sure enough, the army of mountain trolls shifted their attack to that part of the defensive wall now. Lilac's archers let their arrows fly and the howls of dying trolls filled the air.
"They are only attacking one point in the wall at a time?" Tenchi asked the tall Amazon.
Lilac nodded. "Yes, these monsters are too stupid to try anything more sophisticated."
"Something isn't right." Tenchi murmured scratching his chin.
"These loathsome beasts are dumb." said Cologne. "They will keep throwing themselves against our walls until the last of them have fallen to our arrows and swords."
Ranma walked over to his cousin. "What are you thinking, cousin?"
"If Kun-Lao is directing these creatures to attack us, why do it like this?" Tenchi said questioningly. "We know he's a lot smarter than this."
"But is he directing them." said Cologne.
"Who else would be?" Tenchi asked her. "Hikaru just said these creatures served him in his time."
Suddenly Cologne's eyes became very wide as if she had been suddenly surprised. Everyone looked at her questioningly as the old woman suddenly became very pale.
"The catacombs!" she gasped.
"Catacombs?" Tenchi said questioningly.
"There be many many catacombs under village that run deep into mountains." Shampoo explained. "Amazons mapped some of them but there so many it impossible to map it all."
"Ancient lava ducts and steam vents from the days when the mountains in this region were active volcanoes." said Cologne. "There is an entrance to the catacombs down in Ambrosia crypt. Eventually a few lead to Josendo."
Tenchi and Ranma both looked at her, then at each other. They both leapt from the catwalk and ran through the village towards where they both believed the center could be found. Cologne bounded after them with the rest of the group running close behind. They soon arrived at a stone statue erected in the center of the village in dedication to the ancient warrior. The two cousins noted that the woman was very beautiful in her day, looking very much like Shampoo in some ways.
"How do we get in?" Tenchi asked.
"I don't see any doors." Ranma said as he walked around the statue.
"You have to move the statue to the side to reveal the entrance." Cologne told them as she skidded to a halt. The two young men put their shoulders to the huge stone statue and began to push. They both groaned with the strain, then slowly the stone began to move to the side revealing a small square hold carved out of its base.
"Looks deep." Ranma said as he peered inside.
"Its only a short drop of six feet, the tunnel is small, you will have to crawl most of the way until you reach the larger tunnel." Cologne explained. "After that you must keep to the right until you reach the chamber that holds the key and Ambrosia's crypt."
Ranma shrugged and lowered himself into the hole. When he was inside Tenchi started climbing down, he looked up at Ryoko and the others who gathered around. "Ryoko, you and Aeka go and see what help you can give the Amazons fighting off those creatures." he told her.
"What about you Lord Tenchi?" Aeka asked him.
"Ranma's is with me, and I have the sword." he reassured her.
"Besides I'm coming along too." Ranko insisted.
Ranma stuck his head up out of the hole. "Ukyo, Shampoo see what you can do too." he told them. "Akane, I'd like you to come with me."
"Why, maybe I can help." she protested.
"I got no idea what might be down here, we're safer in numbers." he explained and Akane nodded.
"What about me?" Mihoshi asked.
"Guard this hole and don't let anything come out unless its one of us." Ranma told her.
The blond GP officer drew her side arm. "Nothing will get past me." she said cheerfully.
"Tenchi, son-in-law, be careful down there." Cologne told them. "There are many strange things beneath the earth in this land, so be on your guard down there."
"Why not guide the way?" 'Akane asked her as she climbed down into the hole with Tenchi's help.
"My people need me up here, besides reaching the crypt is easy, stay to the right and you will reach it quickly." the old matriarch said and passed several torches to them.
"What does the key look like?" Ranma asked her.
"You will know it when you see it, it is made of almost solid jade." she told him.
"I will give what aid I can to the Joketsuzoku as well." Hikaru said as Ranko descended into the hole after Akane.
Loud warning cries from another section of the wall sounded drawing their attention. Cologne climbed up onto the statue and peered into the distance. She saw archers firing down the wall at something, then the head of a troll pop over the head and was nearly cleaved in half by Lilac.
"The trolls have divided their attack into two strikes, they are dumb creatures but they can learn." she muttered unhappily.
"SEIGE ENGINES! SEIGE ENGINES!" came a cry from another part of the wall.
"Oh bugger!" Cologne cursed and bounded down to the ground. "Hikaru come with me, this battle is getting worse by the second." The samurai nodded and followed the ancient matriarch who bounded off using her cane like pogo stick.
Under the earth, Ranma, Tenchi, Ranko, and Akane made their way through the darkness of the small tunnel on their hands and knees. Akane was glad that she decided to wear something other than a dress on this trip and had an outfit more like the one she wore to Josendo originally. The low, narrow tunnel ran for several feet, at times it grew narrower and wider until eventually it opened up into a large area. Once everyone was out Tenchi lit everyone's torches from a box of matches in his pocket. The tunnel they were in was made of black, igneous rock which proved it had once been a lava tube. They followed the tunnel keeping to the right like the old matriarch had said. Eventually the tunnel forked left and right, and they kept to the right until the tunnel suddenly ended and they found themselves before large, ornate door made of stone. Ancient carvings that Ranma recognized as Chinese kanji covered the door along with pictures depicting many battles.
"This is it." he said.
"Doesn't look like anybody has been in there." Ranko commented.
"That's a good sign, it means we got here first." Tenchi nodded.
Ranma stepped in front of the door and grasped it on either side. "Everybody stand back." he said and he gripped the sides of the door and grunted. The sound of stone grating against stone sounded loud in the eerie quiet deep under the earth. Akane held her breath, transfixed by the bulging muscles on Ranma's back as he strained with the weight of the door. Finally he stopped and peered into the dark interior of the crypt.
"Spooky." Tenchi said while thinking this reminded him of the time he freed Ryoko from her cave.
Ranma went into the crypt first. The chamber was filled with treasures that would have made the Egyptians jealous. In the center of it all was a stone burial chamber with a marble lid.
"The key must be buried with her." said Ranko.
"That would be the likely place." Akane nodded.
Ranma and Tenchi grabbed the lid of the burial chamber and pushed. As it moved they heard the sound of a hiss as air rushed into it for the first time in centuries. A thin white mist rose from the opening they had made and began to gather above them.
"Uh, Ranma!" Akane shouted pointing above them.
The mist grew and grew and began to condense into a solid form. This amorphous glob of white mist morphed into the likeness of the beautiful Amazon depicted in the statue outside. Her eyes shown bright with blue light as she regarded those who disturbed her rest.
"Who dares enter my tomb and disturb the rest of the dead?" the thing that looked like Ambrosia asked.
Ranma hesitantly stepped towards the spirit and bowed deeply in respect. "Honored one, forgive us this intrusion." he said respectfully to the spirit. "We seek the key to the chamber of ascension hidden within your crypt. Kun Lao has escaped from his prison and now inhabits another body, and he seeks the keys, but we intend to stop him."
"You are not an Amazon, you are a mere male." the spirit spat. "An agent of the foul one who took my honor."
Ranma shook his head. "I am one of you by way of your laws." he told her. "I defeated the village champion of this time, and I am her husband."
The spirit raised a hand towards Ranma and touched his forehead. She seemed to close her eyes for a moment then opened them and her expression of rage became serene and peaceful.
"Forgive me my distrust, the key lies with my body in the tomb." she said. "Take it and may the goddess of war smile upon you as you smite the vile Kun Lao into the darkness of hell forever." With that said she vanished.
There was silence in the room for a moment and Ranma seemed to suddenly stumbled and rugged his eyes. "Oh man, what the hell just happened?" he asked.
"You were just talking to what I think was the ghost of that Amazon." Akane told him.
"But you were talking in Chinese." Tenchi added.
"Nani?" Ranma looked at them. "I don't know Mandarin."
"You were speaking it." Ranko nodded towards him.
"The only Mandarin I know are the words for 'husband' and 'you I love' because Shampoo is always saying them to me." Ranma protested.
"Whatever!" Ranko said pushing past him and looked into the burial chamber. "Let just get that key and get the hell out of here." She came up holding what they were looking for. It did not look like a key at all, but was piece of jade encrusted with jewels and ancient writing that was in a language none of them understood.
"This must be the key." she said.
"Cologne said it was made of solid jade." said Akane.
Together, Ranma and Tenchi replaced the marble lid on the burial chamber and slowly they left the crypt. Outside, Ranma strained with the door to put it back into place. This was more out of respect for the dead than anything else. With that finished they turned and headed down the tunnel. As they neared the fork in the chamber they heard the sound of something in front of them. Ranma and Ranko fell into a fighting stance while Tenchi ignited the Master Key. They could see movement in the flickering light of the torches. Ranko turned to Akane and handed her the key so she could fight without a hindrance.
The things, if they could be called that, came into the light. At first glanced they looked like insects of some sort, but they walked on two legs. There were dozens of the little creatures slowly advancing on them, claws clicking in anticipation of rending warm flesh.
"What the hell are those things?" Ranko asked in disgust.
A scream from behind drew their attention and Ranma froze, his heart turned to ice. Kun Lao smirked at him as he held Akane in his arms from behind, the edge of his jeweled dagger resting against her neck. Ranma ground his teeth in frustrated rage as one of the man's hands grabbed Akane's right breast and squeezed.
"And you used to call her flat chested." he said in an amused tone.
"Let her go." Ranma said menacingly.
"Oh, I do have to thank you for getting the key for me." Kun Lao said, his hand slowly moving down Akane's body towards the forbidden area between her legs. "The ancient magical protections placed on her tomb were even too strong for me to break, and that is a surprise."
"You got the key, now let her go." Tenchi told him.
The man who had once been Gosunkugi Hikaru did things with his free hand to Akane that made her blush with frustrated humiliation. Ranma could only watch as this madman molested the woman he loved and he could do nothing about it or she might fall to that blade on her neck. Moving his hand just so Kun Lao felt the reflexive shiver run through Akane despite the fact that she took no pleasure in what this man was doing to her in front of Ranma. She tried to suppress her gasp, but it was almost too much.
"Nice, very receptive." Kun Lao said softly.
"You are one dead son of a bitch." Ranma growled, his self- control was on the edge of giving out. The sight of that blade resting against Akane's neck was the only thing keeping him held in place or he would have been on the Chi Sorcerer within seconds.
"I'd like to stay and play some more with this one, but I have a date with the Musk." Kun Lao said as he took the key out of Akane's hand and vanished. Ranma grabbed Akane into his arms the second the Chi Sorcerer was gone. She sobbed against his chest for what seemed forever as he held her and tried to calm her.
"I'm sorry I reacted, I couldn't help it." Akane cried, ashamed of having gasped when that bastard made her orgasm with his hand.
"I don't blame you, I love you." he told her reassuringly. "I'm going to kill that bastard, he is dead meat. Nobody but nobody molests anyone I love, nobody."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and look up at Tenchi's face which wore a mask of rage and concern. Ranko gave out a battle cry and all hell suddenly broke loose. The horde of little creatures snarled and attacked. Filled with rage Ranma and Akane joined the fight with Tenchi following behind with the Master Key. They were all determined to show these "things" what rage could do in the hands of skilled martial artists.
___
Hikaru Kuno beheaded a troll trying to climb over the wall, and another came up right behind it wielding a heavy mace. Metal rang against metal as Hikaru's sword connected with the weapon before it came crushing down on his head. The monster roared angrily. Its rage was quenched as a dozen crossbow bolts embedded themselves into its chest. The samurai took a moment to nod his thanks to Lilac and her archers. When he turned back a troll was baring down on him with a war hammer. The samurai deflected the blow and pierced the creature in the left eye driving the tip of his sword in enough to reach the brain. The monster fell off his blade like a rag doll.
Shampoo and Ukyo stood back to back, bonbari maces and baker's peel at the ready. Trolls spilled out over the wall near them and the two went into action. Shampoo crushed the skulls of two of the loathsome beasts with quick strikes. Ukyo gouged out the throats of two with the razor sharp edge of her baker's peel. The two monsters feel to the wood floor of the narrow walkway that ran around the top of the wall as their life's blood gushed out.
Donning her battle garb she hadn't worn since the war with Lady Tokimi, Princess Aeka punched one advancing troll square in the face. Her punch, strong for a humanoid was enhanced by her Jurai Power. The creature went flying as blood sprayed from its broken face. Hearing an explosion near her she turned to see Ryoko blasting two troll into oblivion and grappling with a third. The cyan haired woman was much smaller than the hulking troll, but it soon discovered that this small woman was nearly its equal in strength. Ryoko grabbed the creature's arm was it tried to take her head off and threw it back out over the wall. The shrill sound of Mihoshi's GP sidearm were unmistakable as the girl took a position with the archers. Most of her shots failed to connect, but at just the right time she did manage to get a few trolls and save a few lives by accident.
"I do not know if I can keep this up." Aeka huffed as she staggered a little.
"This is insane, we could use Ryo-Ohki for air support right about now." Ryoko said as she caught the princess before she fell over.
"She alright sugar?" Ryoko heard Ukyo ask from where she and Shampoo stood on the wall. Ryoko shook her head in reply.
Cologne bounded up to the wall where they stood. "She has overused her Jurai Power, she needs rest." the old matriarch said. "Bring here this way." She turned and lead the way into the village. Ryoko followed by flying with Aeka in her arms. The princess was out by the time they reached the ground. Cologne lead Ryoko to a small cabin and guided her to lay Aeka on a large bed.
"She'll be alright in here." she told the cyan haired ex-space pirate.
"This whole situation is crazy!" Ryoko growled at the old woman. "There is no way we can hold out against a force of that size, and don't give a rat's ass how tough you Amazons think you are!"
Cologne nodded. "I agree with you. The enemy is attack with more forces than my people can deal with, even with the help you and the others are providing."
"So, what we gonna do?" Ryoko asked.
"It is dangerous, but we must sent runners to Pheonix Mountain and the citadel of the Musk Dynasty to ask for help." Cologne said with a sigh. "They are in danger also for it is said that the Musk have one of the keys, and Kun Lao has no love for the people of Pheonix Mountain."
Ryoko thrust at thumb at her chest. "I'll go!"
"Not alone, neither the Musk nor Pheonix people know you." Cologne told her. "I'll send you with one of our warriors."
"That's fine, lets get going before this seige gets worse." Ryoko told her and the two left the cabin. They reached the wall and Ryoko gasped at what she saw in the distance. The thing stood several feet higher than the rest of the trolls on the field and was garbed in heavy spiked armor. The monsterous creature carried twin spiked maces that were as large as an average human and nearly ten times the size of Shampoo's bonbari maces.
"It just got worse." Cologne said, her voice dripping with dread.
"What the hell is that?" Ryoko asked.
"Gaal the Crusher." __________
To be continued...
Next time... Part 6: The Battle of Joketsuzoku - Act 2
The siege of Amazon lands continues as Kun Lao makes for the Musk Dynasty for another one of the keys. Tenchi, Ranko, Ranma, and Akane continue their battle beneath the earth, but events take a strange twist and they all get separated. Can the group get together in time to stop Gaal the Crusher from destroying the Nyanchiczu?
Moko Takabisha Bakusai Tenketsu Nyanchiczu Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken Umisenken Yamasenken Joketsuzoku Hiryu Shoten Ha
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T E N C H I 1 / 2: FAMILY REUNION II
By Michael "TheZorch" Haney
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Part 5: The Battle of Joketsuzoku - Act 1
Saotome Ranma, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts and Second Crown Prince of Planet Jurai, stood looking out over the waters of the Sea of Japan from the deck of what Akane called "floating piece of crap". The ship, if it could be called that had certainly seen better days, it was in poor repair, covered with rust from stem to stern, and the hull plating made eerie noises below decks. The ship was called affectionately the "Old Man of the Sea", and it certainly was old. Once it appeared to have been used as a fishing vessel for the canneries that lined the coast of Japan, but now it was under new management. Its current job, smuggling people and contraband to and from Mainland China. It wasn't a Yakuza owned vessel though.
Ranma wondered if it would have been easier to just fly in the Ryo-Ohki to China and use her stealth capabilities to get past China's complex air defense network. Washu said it could be done, but after a discussion everyone who was going to China elected to go by boat. All the none combatants were left behind, namely Soun, Genma, Nabiki, Kasumi, and Sasami. He was glad Akane's beautiful older sister and Tenchi's youngest iinazuke wasn't on board. The crew of this miserable boat was one of most unsavory bunch of cut throats he'd ever seen on his ten years of travel around the world with his pops. They kept giving the girls that did come on the trip hungry looks. None of them ever tried anything after one of them did. It had been their first day at sea and one of the crew approached Ryoko intending to have himself a private party with the beautiful young alien. He was now spending the rest of the trip in sickbay until they could return to Japan to give him proper medical treatment. After the incident, Cologne went to speak with the captain of the vessel and explained something about their passengers, he then went and spoke to the crew, and no further incidents happened. The crew knew of the Nyanchiczu, it wasn't the first time they ferried them across the Sea of Japan, and they knew to keep their distance. All the captain had to say we they were Amazons, and that was that. They had a desire for female companionship, not a death wish.
The young Saotome heard a faint footstep next to him, turning his head to his right he saw Akane there. Reflexively he reached out and put his arm around her. Akane snuggle up against him and smiled as she felt his warmth warming her against the cool breeze coming off the ocean. By now the old Akane was dead and gone and the new Akane was alive and well. The old Akane would have punted Ranma into the air with a swift kick and a curse of "Pervert!" if he had done this, but the new Akane was different for she wanted Ranma to hold her and love her. Akane was glad to have her new self, glad to see the old Akane wither and die. As time passed since the trip to see Ranma's family in Ohkayama she came to detest the old Akane, the Akane that abused Ranma, called him names. She never wanted to be that Akane ever again.
Little more than a week passed since the horrifying confrontation with the dreaded Lich. Securing transport to China turned out to be harder than expected. Increased security due to the situation between the Americans and the Middle East was making things difficult. Finally, one of Cologne's Yakuza contacts got them an unregistered vessel. They lost a few days, yes, but if they had a hard time finding transportation that would also mean Kun-Lao had the same problem. That was only assuming he didn't use other methods to reach China.
"You alright?" Akane asked her iinazuke.
"We haven't been back to Josenkyo since Saffron." he said.
Akane hugged her husband to be tighter. She remembered the terrible day, the day she died and then came back to life because of the agonized and heart broken cry from Ranma. Why it had taken so long for them to finally admit to one another how they felt she didn't know. All she really cared about now was getting this unfortunate chapter of their lives out of the way so they can go on with the rest of their lives together at last.
"I know, it'll be strange going back there." she said.
"Will you try to get a cure for your curse there?" she went on to ask.
Ranma replied truthfully, "I don't know, after what happened with Washu's cure machine I started to think that maybe there was a reason why I was given this curse."
"For what?" Akane looked at him, astonished.
"I can't really put my finger on it, but something tells me I have this curse for a reason, that it was meant to happen." he said looking as if he were pondering something as mysterious as the meaning of life..
"Is it because of Ranko?" Akane had to ask. She had to admit she was very jealous of Ranma's new sister. During that week they were all in limbo waiting for a ship to China, there had been discussions about Ranko in the family. Genma formally announced that he would adopt her into the Saotome clan, effectively making her Ranma's sister. Akane however noticed a few things about Ranko, and one of them was the fact that the girl who sprang into existence out of Ranma was also attracted to him.
"We cleared that up, all we are to one another is brother and sister." he told her. The incident that nearly broke out into a knock down drag out battle royale between Ranko and his other iinazuke came to his mind. The girl had been watching Ranma work out in the dojo and decided to join him. Ranma being a nice guy let her spar with him. The girls were watching also, and during the fight Ranko made the mistake of stealing a kiss from Ranma, completely blowing his concentration, and enabling her to win the fight by hitting him with an Amaguriken attack. Of course the girls wanted to tar, feather, and roast the red head alive for what she had done. This prompted the long conversation between the two of them that resulted in Ranko being just his sister and nothing more. For Ranma it wasn't easy turning the girl down, she was beautiful, intelligent, and was as good a martial artist a he was. But it didn't feel right forming a relationship with someone who spawned from you. Ranko wasn't very happy with having to agree to this but she did, reluctantly. If she couldn't love him as his iinazuke she would love him as his sister, it all he could offer her.
"I know, I'm sorry for bringing it up." Akane apologized.
"Its alright, I know how you feel about the whole thing." Ranma replied hugging Akane closer. "How was I supposed to know she was falling for me?"
"Why does every girl who so much as looks at you falls in love with you?" Akane asked him coyly.
"That whole Jurai energy thing I guess, yeah, that's it, Ranko doesn't have anyone so that's why she went after me." Ranma snapped his fingers.
Akane's eyes went wide at this revelation. "I almost forgot about that, that's why Nabiki's your iinazuke now too."
"Yeah, well I'd be lying if I said I didn't sorta have feeling for her before all that happened though." Ranma admitted.
Akane didn't know whether to be mad to that comment or not, but said, "Well maybe your sister will find somebody in China."
Somewhere in Mainland China a young man walking alone on a back road through the wilderness sneezed violently. He passed a sign in Chinese kanji that reads "Valley of Josenkyo 60 kilometers". Of course, he can't read a bit of Chinese. The young man stops, takes off his yellow and black stripped bandannas revealing another underneath it, and uses it as a handkerchief.
"I wonder where I am now, this is all Ranma's fault!" he cried into the wilderness frightening the birds.
Back on the ship, Shampoo and Cologne had all but totally taken over control of the ship's galley for the remainder of the voyage to China. The crew was very happy for the cooking prowess of the Nyanchiczu was as renowned as their fighting prowess. The current ship's cook was a huge, greasy looking man named Donk with an honest to goodness peg leg, and he didn't take very kindly to women taking over his galley. Unlike the rest of the crew he wasn't very smart, he was a gaijin, an American, and knew nothing about the Nyanchiczu, nor did he believe the captain's wild tales about these people. When he tried to toss Cologne out on her rear when she came to take over the kitchen he got a lesson in "Listen When Your Captain Tells You Something 101". After about an hour of getting thoroughly beaten and humiliated in front of the entire crew he decided to just act as cook's assistant until the old hag was off the ship.
For the crew of the "Old Man of the Sea" it was really hard obeying captain's orders with a girl like Shampoo hopping around the galley. They watched with fascination every bounce and jiggle of her ample breasts as she delivered some of the best food they'd eaten in years. They loved the antics of her catching plates and bowls of food Cologne and Donk would throw to her. In this short time the old woman and the ship's cook became friends and Cologne actually shared some recipes with him.
Ever since her now official engagement with Ranma, Kuonji Ukyo decided to no longer hide her female figure. Despite her past efforts to hide the fact that she was a girl, she had indeed developed into a very lovely woman with a body most young women would die for.. Dressed in her Okonomiyaki uniform she danced around the galley delivering meals to the crew as well. Sometimes they just came there for the "show". Nobody tried to cop a feel on either girl after one man decided to slap Ukyo on her cute bottom, and got a face full of her giant Baker's Peel. The Hentai Twins were a part of the group heading to China. The girls had a reputation for being rather "friendly" with men. The twins both took one look at what passed for men on this ship and became violently ill. On the opposite side of the coin was the Most Evil Martial Arts Master in the World. He had a good reason to be on this trip, he hated Kun-Lao who in some ways was almost a kindred spirit to the ancient pervert. But, Kun-Lao violated the only woman he had respect for, his Little Hinako, and so Happosai wanted nothing more than to spill that jerks blood for what he did to her. The ship was carrying a load of contraband that was legal in Japan but illegal in China. One of the items that was in big demand in China was Hentai movies, anime, manga, and magazines. The girls were very thankful for this because it meant that Happosai spent most of his time down in the ship's hold instead of bothering them.
On the upper deck of the ship the sole female member of the crew, Kirokori Megumi, watched the man known to her only as Kuno Hikaru perform dazzling kata exercises with this katana. She wasn't one to fall for men easily and earned a great deal of respect from the crew as someone you don't try to take liberties with. She was a martial artist from the Kirokori School of Martial Arts Smuggling, a secret art developed by smugglers of old that was very similar to the Amazon Hidden Weapons style. The other young man, the one with black hair and a pig tail wasn't too bad on the eyes either compared to the worthless wastes of skin that served as a crew on this ship. She would watch the samurai for hours on end and just sigh, and her mouth would water when the other young man would do his morning exercises on the deck. The captain's orders applied to her as well, she didn't understand why because she wasn't interested in the girls. It was the way the female passengers on the ship treated the young men named Ranma and Tenchi that gave her a clue as to why keeping her distance was a good idea. They were all nuts about them, and they shared those feelings. The only one Ranma didn't show the same affection for was the red headed girl with the pig tail, but Megumi discovered she was his sister. Tenchi she noticed was thin but well built and practiced with a bokken practice sword. His harem of beauties was one of most bizarre collection is strange but gorgeous women Megumi had ever seen.
As a smuggling vessel the "Old Man of the Sea" could not take a direct route to China via the normal shipping lanes. There were too many regular Chinese navy patrols, so the vessel took an alternate route which added a few more days to the trip to Josenkyo. Ten days total, if truth be told, good weather permitting. Ranma and Akane went below decks, there wasn't a cabin large enough for him to share with all of his girls so they each had to have separate rooms. Thankfully these rooms were all in the same section of the ship, and the girls each took turns staying in Ranma's cabin at night. Tenchi and his girls, Ryoko, Aeka, and Mihoshi did pretty much the same thing.
They passed Tenchi and Mihoshi as they headed up towards the deck, when Ranma mentioned that they were headed for the ship's onsen his cousin and his iinazuke decided to join them for a good bath. The onsen was the only room on the ship not covered in decades of rust, grease, and grim. Kirokori Megumi was in charge of keeping it clean, since she used it she made sure nothing that the male crew members probably did have never got to her, so the place was always sparkling clean and sanitized.
Even after more than a year Tenchi still could believe his eyes when Ranma changed into a girl. Akane dumped a wash tub over her iinazuke's head and he transformed instantly. Mihoshi, wrapped in a towel like Aeka, sat behind Tenchi scrubbing his back with loving care.
"When we get to Josenkyo I want you and your ladies to stay away from the springs, ok cuz." Ranma warned him.
Tenchi waved to him. "I sorta understand the danger."
"Good, because Washu might hurt me if you return from China transformed into a pig or rat or bird or something." Ranma replied.
"Or he could fall into the spring you fell into." said Mihoshi.
Tenchi shuddered at the thought of turning into a girl every time he got splashed with cold water. He was curious though, what would he look like as a girl. The First Prince of Jurai banished the thought immediately. "I'd rather not think about that." he grinned.
Ranma was about to say something in reply when suddenly the floor beneath them lurched to one said. The two cousins shifted their weight and moved their bodies in such a way so their feet stayed steady on the floor, then they grabbed their girls to keep them from flying across the room. Loose bottles of shampoo and bathing lotion went flying past them.
"What the hell was that?" Ranma shouted a question as alert klaxons went off around the ship.
Quickly the four of them raced to the dressing room, dried off, changed into their fresh clothes, and made for the upper deck. Most of the crew was already up to and looking out over the side of the ship. Shampoo, Ukyo, Aeka, and Ryoko were there as well near the front of the rusty old vessel. Moments later Kuno Hikaru emerged from below with katana in hand.
"Is it a sea monster?" he asked, his hand ready to draw his family sword.
"Its a monster alright." Ryoko replied pointing towards the sea.
A column of water rose from the surface of the ocean, not a spray, but a solid column of pure water as if it were being drawn up into an invisible container of some design. The column expanded and slowly began to take the shape of a human face. Ranma and Tenchi watched as the water of the Sea of Japan took on the likeness of Kun-Lao, the Chi Sorcerer. The girls and Kuno Hikaru all took fighting stances when they saw the face forming.
"Taking a boat ride I see." said the face of Kun-Lao. "So you know about the key in Joketsuzoku."
"You will not possess the key!" Cologne shouted at the apparition and shook her fist.
"On the contrary Matriarch Cologne, I will very soon possess that which is rightfully mine." Kun-Lao smirked.
"Stupid magic boy no get key from Amazon village easily." Shampoo spat.
"You speak the truth my lovely." said Kun-Lao. "You Nyanchiczu are rather impressive specimens of beauty. Its a shame that I have to destroy your entire village, you all could have provided me with such entertainment."
"You touch a hair on the heads of Shampoo's people and I'll kill you!" Ranma cried.
Shampoo puffed up with pride over Ranma's declaration and commitment to protect her people. Cologne could not help but feel very thankful. "You are quiet welcome to try boy, come to China and we'll see who kills whom." Kun-Lao returned and with that said the apparition formed out of water suddenly fell towards the ship. The crew ran for cover as nearly a ton of sea water slammed onto the deck. When Ranma awoke on "her" back on the deck she noticed a small weight on her chest.
"Meow?" Shampoo meowed questioningly. In cat speak she said, "Is airen alright?"
"C-C-C-Cat!!!!!" Ranma-chan screamed hysterically.
A hand quickly reached out and snatched the white and purple kitty off of Ranma-chan's chest. Akane cradled Shampoo in her arms and scratched her behind the ears. "That wasn't a good idea Shampoo, you know how Ranma is with cats." she said.
The cat nodded. "Meow."
"Is everyone alright?!" Tenchi shouted as he climbed to his feet. There were many groans and grunts as everyone else picked themselves up.
"I really hate that guy." Ryoko groaned. She had been slammed to the deck of the ship by Aeka when the water struck. This left the two girls in a rather suggestive looking position.
"What in the Nine Rings of Hell was that?!" the captain of the "Old Man of the Sea" demanded. Kowishara Huruku had been the captain of the ship for nearly fifteen years. He was old seaman, once serving in the Merchant Marines, and now running one of many smuggler ships in the Sea of Japan. He was over sixty four years old, yet despite his age he still had the vitality of youth due to his martial arts background, and what he called "cleaning living". Huruku, who the crew lovingly called "Old Cap" had earned the respect and admiration of his crew. His years of experience pulled them through many disasters, natural and otherwise.
"That, my dear captain was the trouble I warned you about." Cologne explained. She touched very lightly on the fact that they were after someone who wasn't to be taken lightly.
"Did any of my men get washed overboard?" he asked surveying the deck as if taking a visual account of his men.
"We didn't see anybody fall overboard." Ranma replied.
"What is our distance to China?" Cologne inquired as she pogo sticked over to the captain.
"About fifty nautical miles since our last position check." Huruku told her. "But we have about one-hundred and ten miles left before we reach port."
It unnerved Cologne that Kun-Lao had been able to locate them so easily at sea. She had hoped that by not using the living space ship they would avoid giving off telltale vibes allowing him to find them. Her concern now was for her group, Ranma and Tenchi, the girls, and the crew of the ship. Kun-Lao could easily send them to the bottom if he put his mind to it.
"Prepare one of your launches, the Nyanchiczu will compensate you for it's loss." she said to him. "It is not my desire to endanger you or your crew any further, we will continue this journey on our own."
Captain Huruku looked at her then looked at the lazily rolling sea. "Begging your pardon Matriarch, but we got a gale coming in." he gestured towards the waters. "You take a small launch out in that and you ain't gonna make it to shore."
"He's right, sugar, that water's starting to get kinda rough." Ukyo agreed.
"I've been sailing this ocean since I was fifteen years old." the captain said. "What I saw today isn't as nearly weird as some of the other shit I've seen out there from time to time." Many of the other nearby crewmen who'd been with the "Old Man of the Sea" nodded or grunted in agreement.
"I'm afraid we must risk it." Cologne countered. "Our enemy is on the move he likely has a head start on us by several days."
Ranma-chan looked at her. "Uh, you remember the last time we got caught out in a storm at sea?" Cologne just rolled her eyes. She knew what Ranma was talking about, the incident on Tatawaki Kuno's yacht that got them shipwrecked and then a rescue mission to Torgenkyo rescue the girls.
"I don't think Prince Toma will kidnap the girls this time." she replied with a smirk.
"I'm not worried about that." Ranma-chan shot back fold her arms over her ample chest. "What if we capsize or something out there?"
"The pretty young lady's right." one of the crewmen spoke up.
"Tell ya what, we're a bit of ahead of schedule, so we'll alter course and take to within twenty miles of the coast and drop you off there." Captain Huruku suggested. "But it could be dangerous, coastal patrols and all."
Cologne smiled and waved her hand. "Do not worry about the agents of Beijing, my people have learned that they can be easily bought."
The captain shrugged. "Whatever, you're the one paying the bill for this ride." He turned and headed back towards the rear of the ship.
"This detour should shave off at least a few days off our travel time." Cologne explained to the others. "We must still hike across county to our valley."
"Pops and I used to hop onto freight trains to get around in China when we found them." Ranma-chan detailed remembering their trip through China to reach Josenkyo the first time.
"When we went to China to save Akane from that Prince Kirin guy we all took a row boat." Ranko interjected. "Then hiked across country."
"I'm starting to think maybe we should have flown in Ryu-Ohki after all." Ryoko sighed in exasperation. Aeka and Mihoshi nodded in agreement.
"When we reach the shore we will be relatively close to our lands." Cologne pointed out to them. "The cross country journey will be two days, no less."
"I wonder how much of a head start does Kun-Lao have on us anyway?" Akane asked.
"Impossible to tell." Hikaru said frowning. "It could be that he is at this moment sailing the same sea that we are."
The Hentai Twins came up from below decks with their aunt Rouge. It was her idea to keep them below in their cabin away from the crew. The twin's choice of attire was extremely distracting, but the strategy was not meant to keep from tempting the crew so much as to keep the girls from misbehaving.
"We use spell, Kun-Lao is on mainland." Salt, the white haired twin announced.
"How far into the mainland is he?" Cologne asked quickly. If he reached the mainland already it meant he had a good one day head start on them or more.
"Only a few kilometers." Pepper, the black haired twin, answered.]
"That means he has a last a possible one or two day head start on us!" Cologne growled in frustration.
"Is there any way we can send a warning to the village that he's coming?" Tenchi asked Cologne.
She shook her head. "We have no telephones or access to telegraphs."
"We can send a Spirit Messenger!" the twins chorused and jumped up and down. The crewmen were all fixated on the way certain parts of their anatomy bounced and jiggled. A good number of them collapsed from nosebleed induced blood loss.
"What's that?" Akane asked.
"It is a magical sprite created to carry a verbal message to whomever you choose to send it to." Cologne explained. She turned to the twins. "Go below, you're distracting the crew, and prepare the spell quickly."
"Hai! Honored Matriarch!" the twins replied then bounded away below decks to the disappointment of nearly every man on the ship.
"Those girls are going to be the death of me someday." Rough sighed and followed slowly after them.
"Somebody had better go down into the hold and drag Happy out." Cologne suggested. "Knowing him he's opened every crate of hentai material on the ship."
Ranko walked around the gathered "task force" and headed below decks. "I'll go fetch the little pervert." She sent a wink Ranma-chan's way before vanishing down the stairs. His iinazuke all growled a bit at this but only for a moment.
Four hours later, Ranma, Ranko, and Tenchi heaved on a rope as they dragged the launch onto shore. It had been a harrowing experience navigating the rough waters over only a short twenty mile stretch. But, the most exciting part of the journey was getting Happosai out of the hold of the "Old Man of the Sea". The diminutive pervert was neck deep in hentai magazines and manga. Ranko had to resort to luring him away by stripping down totally naked so that Ranma and Tenchi could trap him in a net. Doing so was difficult as Tenchi was constantly on the verge of a major nosebleed. Ranko was every bit as lovely as Ranma's cursed form. Meanwhile, the twins cast the Spirit Messenger spell, and hoped it would reach the village in time.
The girls under Cologne's direction covered the launch in tree branches to camouflage it from the coastal patrols. Hikaru was skilled at covering up tracks. Using a large tree branch he brushed the sand erasing all evidence of something heavy having been dragged across. The waves lapping against the shore could erase the rest of the evidence in time.
"We have six hours until it starts getting dark, we'd better start now and find a place to camp when the sun starts setting." Cologne checked the sky and the position of the sun.
"I think I remember this place." Ranma looked around at the surroundings remembering various landmarks. "Isn't there a village near here where a healer name Lo-Ping lives?"
Cologne nodded. "Hai. We are very close to that village."
"Then Josenkyo isn't far away, maybe a good day's journey after we camp tonight." Ranko added.
"Correct, now we should be moving." Cologne smiled. Everyone picked up their backpacks, Ranma carried his and Akane's, and headed across country. China was a mountainous country, there was very little level ground. The communist government worked to remedy that by leveling the land for farming and settlement. Many major rivers were dammed for hydroelectric power. This resulted in several problems, for much of the land leveled by the government had been wetlands. During the rainy season many of these areas were prone to catastrophic flooding during times of severe weather. It didn't happen often, but it happened often enough to require the building of drainage canals to carry away excess water from the flatlands. This water washed away the industrial pollution laid down for decades in the high population areas and resulted in a environmental disaster for the country, but very few people in the world knew of it. The Amazons did, for that same contaminated water began to drain into their pristine water supply. This required the Nyanchiczu to seek other sources of water. They found that source in the mountains around Josenkyo. From the mountain bubbled a spring of pure water that was diverted into a reservoir that served as the main water supply for the entire region. Joketsuzoku was the main village of the Amazon people, there were five villages total. No one village could contain all of their people at one time, and after the arrival of the communists it was deemed very important to keep things that way.
A system of bamboo pipes buried shallow in the ground a series of pumping stations powered by diesel fuel supplied each village with all the water they needed. Though they did not have indoor plumbing and had to get the water from the village fountain, it was far better than having to pay the expense and attract attention by building a large treatment facility for the regular water supply. Within recent years, pressure from other nations forced China to recognize the environmental problems in their water supply. For the past twenty years the rivers and lakes around the lands of the Amazons have seen the amount of pollution drop, but never completely go away. After almost forty years of getting their water from the reservoir the Amazons never went back gathering water from the river again.
Ranma, Tenchi, and the rest of the group followed this same river through the wilderness. The lands around the valley of Josenkyo are some of the most beautiful but also some of the most Kami forsaken land in the world. The land was rugged, almost impossible to traverse even with off- road vehicles. The diesel pumps for the water supply had to be flown in with helicopters. This region had been the hiding place for many marauding bands of outlaws who plagued the lands of China during those chaotic years between the fall of the Emperor and the rise of the communists. Even before that time it was home to all sorts of groups who wanted to remain unseen. It was a perfect place for the Amazons to remain hidden from the rest of the world. Modern day satellite technology and ground imaging systems have recently opened up the region to exploration by the communists of Beijing. Unbeknownst to them, their efforts were being thwarted by the Chi Sorceresses of the Nyanchiczu who let the government see only what they wanted them to see.
As the sun was slowly dropping below the rim of a large mountain chain, the group reached the crest of a great hill. In the distance, Tenchi spotted what looked like a huge lake. He lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes and realized what he thought had been a lake was really a huge collection of smaller bodies of water. Hundreds of them in fact.
"Is that-" he began.
"Yes, that is Josenkyo." Cologne answered.
Ranma shielded his eyes from the light of the low hanging sun and judge the distance. "We're about a day and half away at best, unless we can find a better train." Indeed, the train they were traveling was some of the most rugged land there was.
"We should reach the road you and your father used to reach the springs tomorrow morning." Cologne said. "It will mean that we will have to pass through Josenkyo to reach the village however."
"That's ok, as long as we get there faster." Tenchi's tone showed that even his immense patience was starting to wear thin.
"Just because we're walking through there doesn't mean anything will happen." Ryoko added patting Tenchi on the shoulder. ":Right?"
Cologne looked at the two of them with a hard expression. "It has been known to happen that people intending to just pass through Josenkyo end up obtaining a curse by accident, some even say the pools call to people sometimes.."
"Lets not worry about that right now." Ranma jumped in hoping to change the subject. "If we keep going down this trail another hour we should reach that small clearing down there." Everyone turned to look where he was pointing and saw the clearing in the wood far down the hill.
"Hey, isn't that where we and pop camped out when we were running form Shampoo?" Ranko asked her brother. He nodded.
"Aiya, it is, Shampoo remember place." the beautiful Amazon nodded in agreement also.
"It's only a few minutes from the road, but far enough out of the way so we have some cover." Ranma added.
"There's also a stream there for a water supply and if I remember there were a few berry bushes down there." Ranko said remembering the details about the place.
"Blackberries I think they're called." Ranma replied.
The stars were starting to appear in the sky as they reached the clearing. They had just enough light left in the sky to pitch a few tents without have to break out the flashlights. The ring of stones that marked the old fire pit Ranma and his father used were still there. Akane, Ryoko, and Mihoshi gathered firewood while Ukyo and Shampoo prepared to make dinner. Aeka and Cologne set to the task of making some tea. Tenchi, Ranma, Happosai, Hikaru and Ranko did a patrol around the campsite looking for any sign of Kun-Lao. They could barely hear Rouge and the Hentai Twins as they moved around further out in the woods setting up trip wire traps and magical wards. When the moon rose in the sky everyone returned to camp just as the girls finished cooking.
"Our Spirit Messenger must have reached the village by now." said Salt.
"Yes, it is likely Elder Lotion is having defenses erected around Joketsuzoku as we speak." Cologne nodded.
"Kun-Lao is pretty formidable with that magic of his, can your people hold him off?" Ukyo asked her.
Cologne shook her head. "Sadly, I do not know. I pray they can delay him until we arrive."
"These mountains have changed so little since I came this way." Hikaru Kuno commented.
"We like it that way." Cologne smiled at him.
Ranko gobbled down her bowl of rice in record time. She, Ranma, and Ryoko seemed to be in a race to see who could finish their food first. When she was done she asked, "Perfume is likely going to be a forefront of any defense, being the village enforcer, right?"
Cologne nodded. "Likely, yes."
"Perfume very strong, that why she village enforcer." Shampoo explained.
"Yeah, but she's also just as drop dead gorgeous as you are." Ranko pointed out to her. "And we all know how that sick bastard is."
"He makes Happosai look tame." Akane laughed.
"Hey!" the old pervert frowned, speaking for the first time since being dragged kicking and screaming off the "Old Man of the Sea".
"Gee, it finally speaks." Ranko said trying not to sound too disappointed.
"Because of you three I'll never know if Yuko and the Tentacle Fiend of Kyoto get married or not!" Happosai fumed pointing at Ranma, Tenchi, and Ranko.
"Is that from Tentacle Fiend Zero number twenty-two or Tentacle Fiend Resurrection number forty?" Ryoko asked him.
"You read hentai manga?" Akane asked he former space pirate in surprise.
"Oh yeah, Tenchi's dad has a collection of just about every Tentacle Fiend manga ever published." Ryoko replied and gave Tenchi an affectionate smile.
"Sweeto!" Happosai cheered. "Me and your pop are gonna become good friends for now on Tenchi my boy!"
The old pervert suddenly found himself smashed under the foot of a Juraian Princess and a Former Space Pirate. "Oh no you don't, he's bad enough!" they both growled.
Ignoring the small battle taking place between Happosai and the two alien women Tenchi asked, "Where in the village is the key hidden, Matriarch?"
"In the tomb of Ambrosia at the center of the village." she answered him. "It is near the village fountain that is feed by our makeshift waterworks."
"Any idea on the locations of the three others?" Ranma asked and looked at the amorous Hentai Twins.
"We think we felt one in Nerima while on the ship, but we'd have to check again to be sure." Pepper told him.
"Nerima?" Ranma gasped.
"Some old stories say that before she died, Ambrosia gave one of the keys to the Kuno clan as a gift for Hikaru's sacrifice." Cologne replied remembering some of the ancient lore of her people.
Ranma threw up his hands in frustration. Hikaru looked at him with a funny expression then looked to Akane. "We haven't told you much about your family." she said to him. "There are Kunos living in Nerima."
"Why have you not told me this?" the samurai demanded.
"Because we didn't want you to see what the Kuno clan has become in recent years." Ranma answered in a low tone. "They are rich and have a great deal of influence in the community but they also have a reputation that you would not look favorably upon."
"Please, explain to me what you mean." Hikaru looked to Ranma and Akane with a pleading expression on his face.
"Kuno family crazy." Shampoo cut in. "Oldest son Tatawaki think he samurai, but he just big bully who think he Kami gift to all women. Daughter, Kodachi, is crazy girl who make poisons from black rose. Father is madman who think he be cool surfer from place called Hawaii, he run the high school like it his personal torture chamber."
Hikaru put his face in his hands and was silent for a long time as everyone looked at him. "Alas, I had thought with the death of Ikaru the Madness Curse of my clan that caused us to loose our honor the first time was over."
"Madness Curse?" everyone asked in surprise.
"Hai! A Madness Curse effected many in my clan, made them turn against the emperor and we lost our name in dishonor." Hikaru explained. "The emperor knew my branch of the family did not have the curse, thus that is why he allowed me to remain a samurai in his employ secretly."
"Who put this curse on your family?" Cologne asked. She had never heard of this before today. She had assumed that the father had gone mad due to his isolation in the islands, and the children due to their upbringing by their abusive mother.
"That knowledge has been lost long before I was born." Hikaru replied.
Akane put a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "You're, you're not going to commit seppoku because of this are you?"
The samurai looked up at her and saw the warmth and worry in her eyes. For a moment he had been contemplating it, but the thought of doing so suddenly made the image of Kasumi appear blocking the path towards those thoughts. He shook his head. "No, though it would be appropriate for me to do so under my code, I cannot." he said. "To do so would mean leaving the woman I love and waited centuries to be reunited with. There is no way I could control what my clan has become in this modern age."
"You could adopt the Tendo name if you married Kasumi." Akane offered.
Hikaru smiled. "I remember a samurai baring that name, a most honorable man."
Morning did not come too soon for Tenchi and Ranma. Everyone woke up at the crack of dawn, ate a quick breakfast over cooked by Shampoo over a open flame then headed out. The road, if it could be called that, wasn't so much a road as it was a well worn path through the forest. It wasn't wide enough to accommodate a large vehicle like a truck or a car. The road was in good enough condition that they excellent time. Soon they were cresting a hill that overlooked Josenkyo before winding down into the valley that held the cursed springs. As they reached the top of the hill Hikaru Kuno stopped and gave out a gasp like a hiss.
"Smoke." he pointed out beyond the cursed springs to clouds of black smoke rising from the hills beyond.
"Aiya! That were village is!" Shampoo cried.
"We must hurry!" Cologne exclaimed as she hurried down the road.
As everyone reached the lower part of the valley they enter the grounds of the curse springs of Josenkyo. Tenchi gave them a nervous look before following his cousin. They soon came upon the Guide's hut, its condition set off alarms in the group. The bamboo and grass structure was smashed almost completely flat. Ranma and Akane walked over to the ruins of the building. A strange sickening smell greeted them. With is foot Ranma lifted a piece of roof panel. The stench of horrible and what was underneath was even worse. Akane gasped in fright and threw her arms around Ranma as the contents of her stomach threatened to come out. Ranma pulled her away from the horrific scene and the smell urging her to breath and calm herself. Cologne and Rouge walked over the body Ranma had discovered and looked it over as if the smell didn't even matter.
"Its the guide." Cologne said without emotion. "This happened two or three days ago."
"His head was crushed." Rouge added.
"Two or three days, he can't have that far a head start on us." Ryoko protested.
"Plum must have run away, I don't see any sign of her, I hope she's ok." said Ranma and Akane nodded in agreement.
Tenchi noticed Hikaru examining something on the ground. When he walked over to the samurai he realized he was looking at strange animal tracks in the soil. They looked like no animal tracks he'd ever seen. They were very large, like that of a bear, but had the toes of an ape. If he had to guess as to the size of the thing that made them, it had to be huge.
"What kind of tracks are those?" he asked.
"Troll, mountain troll from the way the large toe bends inward like a thumb." Hikaru said. "These are only one or two days old at the most."
"Troll?" Tenchi looked at him with surprise.
"Mountain troll, vile creatures." Hikaru said as he stood up. "Very large creatures bearing a resemblance to apes except the face is more human and they have less hair. From these tracks I would estimate at least five came through here."
"They must be what killed the guide." Ranma spoke up while he was still holding Akane who was starting to get the color back in her face.
"Aiya. Mountain troll no like to come down out of peaks." Shampoo said.
Cologne bounded up and looked at the tracks her herself as did everyone else. "Your tracking skills are formidable Hikaru Kuno, at least five of the vile beasts have been here." she said.
"They would only come out of the mountains if ordered to do so by Gaal, their tribal leader." Rouge added.
Ukyo and the other girls looked at her. "These things have a tribe." Ukyo said unbelievingly.
"Why are we standing around!" Ryoko shouted to them from her vantage point high in the air. "I think Shampoo's people are in big trouble!"
"What do you see?" Aeka asked her.
"I'm no expert, but I'd say we just walked into full scale siege." the ex-space pirate replied.
As fast as they could run the rest of the group made it though the small valley of Josenkyo then made for the road that lead to the village of Joketsuzoku. They began to hear the sounds of great drums, the deep guttural cries of huge creatures, and the higher pitched battle cry of Amazon warriors. The village of Joketsuzoku was surrounded by a huge wall made from the largest trees in the region. The Amazons could easily erect such a wall for defense in less than a day and a half if the whole village helped. Ballista and catapults could be fired at enemies approaching the walls, or fired at siege engines to stop their advance. Archers would line the walls ready to pick off anyone trying to scale them, and armed warriors were there to take on any who succeeded to get that far. It was an ancient and archaic means of defense that did not work at all in age of modern weaponry, but the foe the Nyanchiczu faced this day fought as primitively as they did.
Mountain trolls, huge creatures, moved massive bamboo siege engines towards the wall. They were rickety structures made form lashed together bamboo rods and animal skins that allowed hundreds of warriors to storm over a fortress wall within minutes without climbing up ropes. Flaming balls of pitch and napham came flying over the wall setting the siege towers aflame. Dozens of the brutish monsters, each wearing armor made form heavy leather and carrying huge weapons made of stone fell as three foot long ballista bolts struck them in the chest. Not all the casualties were on the troll's side of the battle. Bodies of dozens of Nyanchiczu littered the battlefield or lay at the foot of the defensive wall.
"AIYA!" Shampoo cried in dismay.
"Whoa! I think I've seen this in a movie once!" Ukyo gasped.
Akane pointed towards the battle and looked at Ranma. "We're going into the middle of that!?"
Ranko answered by cracking her knuckles. "I call this a target rich environment."
"What could have gotten them so riled up?" Happosai questioned rubbing his chin. "Mountain trolls usually keep to themselves."
"Let me give you one guess." Cologne said to him.
"Kun-Lao." said Tenchi.
Hikaru drew his sword and gestured towards the creatures. "Gaal served Kun-Lao during my time, trolls are nearly immortal sleeping for hundreds of years without aging a day. The best and quickest way to kill them is either by crushing their skulls or piercing their hearts."
"EWWW!" Aeka, Mihoshi, Ukyo and Akane cried out at once.
"The skull of a mountain troll is nearly three inches thick." Cologne explained to them. "Their hide is almost as thick of leather armor, but our finely crafted arrowheads can pierce their flesh easily."
Ranma laughed. "Damn, and I thought Ryoga had a hard head."
"We have little time for any further banter, we must reach the village quickly!" Cologne shouted and she raced off towards Joketsuzoku. Everyone else joined her and ran with all their might the rest of the way to the defensive wall around the village. The trolls, being creatures of great brawn but of little brain, we're attacking the defensive wall of the Amazon village only from one direction. It didn't occur to them that it would have overwhelmed the defenses of Joketsuzoku if they attacked all sides at once. A few individual groups did get the hint, but they didn't survive very long when arrows suddenly rained down on top of them.
An Amazon named Lilac directed the archers on one of the walls frequented by the brutish creatures. It happened to be the section of wall that Ranma and the others were running towards. The archers raised their bows preparing to fire as they saw several figures advancing through the smoke.
"Hold your fire!" Lilac ordered. "Its the Matriarch!"
Lilac was a tall woman, one of the tallest among the Nyanchiczu. She carried a crossbow with a shoulder sling, and slung over her back she carried a dual edged long sword. Her right arm sported a small buckler shield. Like many Amazons she was a true beauty, not as voluptuous as Shampoo or her cousin Perfume, but in bust size she rated very highly. Her outfit looked like something straight out of the old American TV show "Xena: Warrior Princess" and was made entirely of tanned leather with an under layer of fine chain mail armor.
"Ropes!" she called out and three of the archers dropped their bows and began tossing ropes over the wall. Cologne was the first to reach the wall and scaled up one of the ropes with the ease that came from centuries of practice.
"Honored Matriarch!" Lilac bowed as Cologne climbed onto the catwalk that lined the walls.
"Lilac, where is your mother?" Cologne asked.
The Amazon gestured towards the heart of the village. "She is with the council right now, she received your Spirit Messenger two days ago." she said.
"These others who have accompanied me are friends of the Nyanchiczu and are to be treated as such." the Matriarch said gesturing towards the others scaling the wall. "They have come to help defend the village."
"As you wish, honored one." Lilac bowed in response.
Ranma watched as Happosai and Ukyo made it up the ropes. He waited, holding Ukyo's rope until she made it to the top. Akane looked at the thin hemp rope and then looked at Ranma. "I couldn't climb these things even in gym class." she protested.
"Hang onto me then." he told her turning his back to Akane. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and held on with all her strength as Ranma scaled the wall with ease despite the added weight. Ranma risked looking down as he climbed and saw Tenchi carrying Aeka up the wall the same way. Ryoko, carrying Mihoshi in her arms, flew to the top of the wall. Shampoo and Hikaru were the last to go up. They stood guard for any attacks with weapons drawn.
"How long has the village been under siege?" Cologne asked the tall Amazon.
Lilac cocked and loaded her crossbow. "Four days now, our scouts in the mountains spotted the trolls coming down from their peaks a week ago so we had time to prepare for them."
"We were still at sea at that time!" Tenchi exclaimed.
"What of Gaal?" Cologne asked.
"We have not seen him." Lilac told her.
Hikaru looked puzzled and everyone noticed. They had learned since the fight with the Lich to listen to the ancient samurai and take note of his expression. Of all of them he had the most experience dealing with Kun-Lao and his minions. "They would not move without their tribal leader." he said. "Trolls do not recognize leadership without the challenge of combat and Gaal is the strongest among them. Any who tried to take charge without challenging Gaal as leader would have been killed and eaten as per their laws."
"Those things are cannibals?!" Aeka gasped in revulsion.
"Only if they have no other food sources, but from time to time they will eat their own kind if they are killed for committing an offense deserving death." Cologne explained to them. "They believe that eating the flesh of the one who wronged the tribe appeases their gods."
"How barbaric." Aeka looked like she was about to turn green.
"There is only one other reason why they would come out of the mountains without their tribal leader." Hikaru continued.
"Lack of food is one thing that could have done it." Lilac jumped in and added. "Or one of our scouts in the mountains got into a skirmish with one of them and that set them off."
The sound of booming drums pierced the air and literally made the air reverberate with the sound. The archers on the wall, male and female Nyanchiczu readied their bows.
"They are attacking again!" Lilac hissed. Sure enough, the army of mountain trolls shifted their attack to that part of the defensive wall now. Lilac's archers let their arrows fly and the howls of dying trolls filled the air.
"They are only attacking one point in the wall at a time?" Tenchi asked the tall Amazon.
Lilac nodded. "Yes, these monsters are too stupid to try anything more sophisticated."
"Something isn't right." Tenchi murmured scratching his chin.
"These loathsome beasts are dumb." said Cologne. "They will keep throwing themselves against our walls until the last of them have fallen to our arrows and swords."
Ranma walked over to his cousin. "What are you thinking, cousin?"
"If Kun-Lao is directing these creatures to attack us, why do it like this?" Tenchi said questioningly. "We know he's a lot smarter than this."
"But is he directing them." said Cologne.
"Who else would be?" Tenchi asked her. "Hikaru just said these creatures served him in his time."
Suddenly Cologne's eyes became very wide as if she had been suddenly surprised. Everyone looked at her questioningly as the old woman suddenly became very pale.
"The catacombs!" she gasped.
"Catacombs?" Tenchi said questioningly.
"There be many many catacombs under village that run deep into mountains." Shampoo explained. "Amazons mapped some of them but there so many it impossible to map it all."
"Ancient lava ducts and steam vents from the days when the mountains in this region were active volcanoes." said Cologne. "There is an entrance to the catacombs down in Ambrosia crypt. Eventually a few lead to Josendo."
Tenchi and Ranma both looked at her, then at each other. They both leapt from the catwalk and ran through the village towards where they both believed the center could be found. Cologne bounded after them with the rest of the group running close behind. They soon arrived at a stone statue erected in the center of the village in dedication to the ancient warrior. The two cousins noted that the woman was very beautiful in her day, looking very much like Shampoo in some ways.
"How do we get in?" Tenchi asked.
"I don't see any doors." Ranma said as he walked around the statue.
"You have to move the statue to the side to reveal the entrance." Cologne told them as she skidded to a halt. The two young men put their shoulders to the huge stone statue and began to push. They both groaned with the strain, then slowly the stone began to move to the side revealing a small square hold carved out of its base.
"Looks deep." Ranma said as he peered inside.
"Its only a short drop of six feet, the tunnel is small, you will have to crawl most of the way until you reach the larger tunnel." Cologne explained. "After that you must keep to the right until you reach the chamber that holds the key and Ambrosia's crypt."
Ranma shrugged and lowered himself into the hole. When he was inside Tenchi started climbing down, he looked up at Ryoko and the others who gathered around. "Ryoko, you and Aeka go and see what help you can give the Amazons fighting off those creatures." he told her.
"What about you Lord Tenchi?" Aeka asked him.
"Ranma's is with me, and I have the sword." he reassured her.
"Besides I'm coming along too." Ranko insisted.
Ranma stuck his head up out of the hole. "Ukyo, Shampoo see what you can do too." he told them. "Akane, I'd like you to come with me."
"Why, maybe I can help." she protested.
"I got no idea what might be down here, we're safer in numbers." he explained and Akane nodded.
"What about me?" Mihoshi asked.
"Guard this hole and don't let anything come out unless its one of us." Ranma told her.
The blond GP officer drew her side arm. "Nothing will get past me." she said cheerfully.
"Tenchi, son-in-law, be careful down there." Cologne told them. "There are many strange things beneath the earth in this land, so be on your guard down there."
"Why not guide the way?" 'Akane asked her as she climbed down into the hole with Tenchi's help.
"My people need me up here, besides reaching the crypt is easy, stay to the right and you will reach it quickly." the old matriarch said and passed several torches to them.
"What does the key look like?" Ranma asked her.
"You will know it when you see it, it is made of almost solid jade." she told him.
"I will give what aid I can to the Joketsuzoku as well." Hikaru said as Ranko descended into the hole after Akane.
Loud warning cries from another section of the wall sounded drawing their attention. Cologne climbed up onto the statue and peered into the distance. She saw archers firing down the wall at something, then the head of a troll pop over the head and was nearly cleaved in half by Lilac.
"The trolls have divided their attack into two strikes, they are dumb creatures but they can learn." she muttered unhappily.
"SEIGE ENGINES! SEIGE ENGINES!" came a cry from another part of the wall.
"Oh bugger!" Cologne cursed and bounded down to the ground. "Hikaru come with me, this battle is getting worse by the second." The samurai nodded and followed the ancient matriarch who bounded off using her cane like pogo stick.
Under the earth, Ranma, Tenchi, Ranko, and Akane made their way through the darkness of the small tunnel on their hands and knees. Akane was glad that she decided to wear something other than a dress on this trip and had an outfit more like the one she wore to Josendo originally. The low, narrow tunnel ran for several feet, at times it grew narrower and wider until eventually it opened up into a large area. Once everyone was out Tenchi lit everyone's torches from a box of matches in his pocket. The tunnel they were in was made of black, igneous rock which proved it had once been a lava tube. They followed the tunnel keeping to the right like the old matriarch had said. Eventually the tunnel forked left and right, and they kept to the right until the tunnel suddenly ended and they found themselves before large, ornate door made of stone. Ancient carvings that Ranma recognized as Chinese kanji covered the door along with pictures depicting many battles.
"This is it." he said.
"Doesn't look like anybody has been in there." Ranko commented.
"That's a good sign, it means we got here first." Tenchi nodded.
Ranma stepped in front of the door and grasped it on either side. "Everybody stand back." he said and he gripped the sides of the door and grunted. The sound of stone grating against stone sounded loud in the eerie quiet deep under the earth. Akane held her breath, transfixed by the bulging muscles on Ranma's back as he strained with the weight of the door. Finally he stopped and peered into the dark interior of the crypt.
"Spooky." Tenchi said while thinking this reminded him of the time he freed Ryoko from her cave.
Ranma went into the crypt first. The chamber was filled with treasures that would have made the Egyptians jealous. In the center of it all was a stone burial chamber with a marble lid.
"The key must be buried with her." said Ranko.
"That would be the likely place." Akane nodded.
Ranma and Tenchi grabbed the lid of the burial chamber and pushed. As it moved they heard the sound of a hiss as air rushed into it for the first time in centuries. A thin white mist rose from the opening they had made and began to gather above them.
"Uh, Ranma!" Akane shouted pointing above them.
The mist grew and grew and began to condense into a solid form. This amorphous glob of white mist morphed into the likeness of the beautiful Amazon depicted in the statue outside. Her eyes shown bright with blue light as she regarded those who disturbed her rest.
"Who dares enter my tomb and disturb the rest of the dead?" the thing that looked like Ambrosia asked.
Ranma hesitantly stepped towards the spirit and bowed deeply in respect. "Honored one, forgive us this intrusion." he said respectfully to the spirit. "We seek the key to the chamber of ascension hidden within your crypt. Kun Lao has escaped from his prison and now inhabits another body, and he seeks the keys, but we intend to stop him."
"You are not an Amazon, you are a mere male." the spirit spat. "An agent of the foul one who took my honor."
Ranma shook his head. "I am one of you by way of your laws." he told her. "I defeated the village champion of this time, and I am her husband."
The spirit raised a hand towards Ranma and touched his forehead. She seemed to close her eyes for a moment then opened them and her expression of rage became serene and peaceful.
"Forgive me my distrust, the key lies with my body in the tomb." she said. "Take it and may the goddess of war smile upon you as you smite the vile Kun Lao into the darkness of hell forever." With that said she vanished.
There was silence in the room for a moment and Ranma seemed to suddenly stumbled and rugged his eyes. "Oh man, what the hell just happened?" he asked.
"You were just talking to what I think was the ghost of that Amazon." Akane told him.
"But you were talking in Chinese." Tenchi added.
"Nani?" Ranma looked at them. "I don't know Mandarin."
"You were speaking it." Ranko nodded towards him.
"The only Mandarin I know are the words for 'husband' and 'you I love' because Shampoo is always saying them to me." Ranma protested.
"Whatever!" Ranko said pushing past him and looked into the burial chamber. "Let just get that key and get the hell out of here." She came up holding what they were looking for. It did not look like a key at all, but was piece of jade encrusted with jewels and ancient writing that was in a language none of them understood.
"This must be the key." she said.
"Cologne said it was made of solid jade." said Akane.
Together, Ranma and Tenchi replaced the marble lid on the burial chamber and slowly they left the crypt. Outside, Ranma strained with the door to put it back into place. This was more out of respect for the dead than anything else. With that finished they turned and headed down the tunnel. As they neared the fork in the chamber they heard the sound of something in front of them. Ranma and Ranko fell into a fighting stance while Tenchi ignited the Master Key. They could see movement in the flickering light of the torches. Ranko turned to Akane and handed her the key so she could fight without a hindrance.
The things, if they could be called that, came into the light. At first glanced they looked like insects of some sort, but they walked on two legs. There were dozens of the little creatures slowly advancing on them, claws clicking in anticipation of rending warm flesh.
"What the hell are those things?" Ranko asked in disgust.
A scream from behind drew their attention and Ranma froze, his heart turned to ice. Kun Lao smirked at him as he held Akane in his arms from behind, the edge of his jeweled dagger resting against her neck. Ranma ground his teeth in frustrated rage as one of the man's hands grabbed Akane's right breast and squeezed.
"And you used to call her flat chested." he said in an amused tone.
"Let her go." Ranma said menacingly.
"Oh, I do have to thank you for getting the key for me." Kun Lao said, his hand slowly moving down Akane's body towards the forbidden area between her legs. "The ancient magical protections placed on her tomb were even too strong for me to break, and that is a surprise."
"You got the key, now let her go." Tenchi told him.
The man who had once been Gosunkugi Hikaru did things with his free hand to Akane that made her blush with frustrated humiliation. Ranma could only watch as this madman molested the woman he loved and he could do nothing about it or she might fall to that blade on her neck. Moving his hand just so Kun Lao felt the reflexive shiver run through Akane despite the fact that she took no pleasure in what this man was doing to her in front of Ranma. She tried to suppress her gasp, but it was almost too much.
"Nice, very receptive." Kun Lao said softly.
"You are one dead son of a bitch." Ranma growled, his self- control was on the edge of giving out. The sight of that blade resting against Akane's neck was the only thing keeping him held in place or he would have been on the Chi Sorcerer within seconds.
"I'd like to stay and play some more with this one, but I have a date with the Musk." Kun Lao said as he took the key out of Akane's hand and vanished. Ranma grabbed Akane into his arms the second the Chi Sorcerer was gone. She sobbed against his chest for what seemed forever as he held her and tried to calm her.
"I'm sorry I reacted, I couldn't help it." Akane cried, ashamed of having gasped when that bastard made her orgasm with his hand.
"I don't blame you, I love you." he told her reassuringly. "I'm going to kill that bastard, he is dead meat. Nobody but nobody molests anyone I love, nobody."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and look up at Tenchi's face which wore a mask of rage and concern. Ranko gave out a battle cry and all hell suddenly broke loose. The horde of little creatures snarled and attacked. Filled with rage Ranma and Akane joined the fight with Tenchi following behind with the Master Key. They were all determined to show these "things" what rage could do in the hands of skilled martial artists.
___
Hikaru Kuno beheaded a troll trying to climb over the wall, and another came up right behind it wielding a heavy mace. Metal rang against metal as Hikaru's sword connected with the weapon before it came crushing down on his head. The monster roared angrily. Its rage was quenched as a dozen crossbow bolts embedded themselves into its chest. The samurai took a moment to nod his thanks to Lilac and her archers. When he turned back a troll was baring down on him with a war hammer. The samurai deflected the blow and pierced the creature in the left eye driving the tip of his sword in enough to reach the brain. The monster fell off his blade like a rag doll.
Shampoo and Ukyo stood back to back, bonbari maces and baker's peel at the ready. Trolls spilled out over the wall near them and the two went into action. Shampoo crushed the skulls of two of the loathsome beasts with quick strikes. Ukyo gouged out the throats of two with the razor sharp edge of her baker's peel. The two monsters feel to the wood floor of the narrow walkway that ran around the top of the wall as their life's blood gushed out.
Donning her battle garb she hadn't worn since the war with Lady Tokimi, Princess Aeka punched one advancing troll square in the face. Her punch, strong for a humanoid was enhanced by her Jurai Power. The creature went flying as blood sprayed from its broken face. Hearing an explosion near her she turned to see Ryoko blasting two troll into oblivion and grappling with a third. The cyan haired woman was much smaller than the hulking troll, but it soon discovered that this small woman was nearly its equal in strength. Ryoko grabbed the creature's arm was it tried to take her head off and threw it back out over the wall. The shrill sound of Mihoshi's GP sidearm were unmistakable as the girl took a position with the archers. Most of her shots failed to connect, but at just the right time she did manage to get a few trolls and save a few lives by accident.
"I do not know if I can keep this up." Aeka huffed as she staggered a little.
"This is insane, we could use Ryo-Ohki for air support right about now." Ryoko said as she caught the princess before she fell over.
"She alright sugar?" Ryoko heard Ukyo ask from where she and Shampoo stood on the wall. Ryoko shook her head in reply.
Cologne bounded up to the wall where they stood. "She has overused her Jurai Power, she needs rest." the old matriarch said. "Bring here this way." She turned and lead the way into the village. Ryoko followed by flying with Aeka in her arms. The princess was out by the time they reached the ground. Cologne lead Ryoko to a small cabin and guided her to lay Aeka on a large bed.
"She'll be alright in here." she told the cyan haired ex-space pirate.
"This whole situation is crazy!" Ryoko growled at the old woman. "There is no way we can hold out against a force of that size, and don't give a rat's ass how tough you Amazons think you are!"
Cologne nodded. "I agree with you. The enemy is attack with more forces than my people can deal with, even with the help you and the others are providing."
"So, what we gonna do?" Ryoko asked.
"It is dangerous, but we must sent runners to Pheonix Mountain and the citadel of the Musk Dynasty to ask for help." Cologne said with a sigh. "They are in danger also for it is said that the Musk have one of the keys, and Kun Lao has no love for the people of Pheonix Mountain."
Ryoko thrust at thumb at her chest. "I'll go!"
"Not alone, neither the Musk nor Pheonix people know you." Cologne told her. "I'll send you with one of our warriors."
"That's fine, lets get going before this seige gets worse." Ryoko told her and the two left the cabin. They reached the wall and Ryoko gasped at what she saw in the distance. The thing stood several feet higher than the rest of the trolls on the field and was garbed in heavy spiked armor. The monsterous creature carried twin spiked maces that were as large as an average human and nearly ten times the size of Shampoo's bonbari maces.
"It just got worse." Cologne said, her voice dripping with dread.
"What the hell is that?" Ryoko asked.
"Gaal the Crusher." __________
To be continued...
Next time... Part 6: The Battle of Joketsuzoku - Act 2
The siege of Amazon lands continues as Kun Lao makes for the Musk Dynasty for another one of the keys. Tenchi, Ranko, Ranma, and Akane continue their battle beneath the earth, but events take a strange twist and they all get separated. Can the group get together in time to stop Gaal the Crusher from destroying the Nyanchiczu?
Moko Takabisha Bakusai Tenketsu Nyanchiczu Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken Umisenken Yamasenken Joketsuzoku Hiryu Shoten Ha