My Life's Stranger Than Yours

All Out Brawl! Anything Goes vs. Crane School

Ranma and Gohan stood at the ready, prepared for any incoming attack from Tao or Taro. The cursed chimera snorted as he tilted his head forward, as if preparing to charge. Glancing aside, Gohan whispered to Ranma, "Hey, I think we need to fall back for a moment."

"Nah, I think as long as we take out Taro quickly, we may be able to handle the two of them," Ranma countered.

"It's not that, it's something else."

"What something else?"

"I'll explain later, but first, we've got to get out of here."

"Okay, okay, fine. Got a plan?"

"When I say now, close your eyes."

None too privy to their whispering, Taro finally let loose and sprinted, headfirst to the duo, letting out a bellowing "Moo!"

"Now!"

Ranma did as he was told and closed his eyes as Gohan put his hands aside his face. Tao's optics zoomed in on Gohan as he quickly recognized the stance. "Wait, that's the-!"

"Solar Flare!"

The area lit up in a blinding flash as Gohan called for Ranma to run, as did he. Taro was disabled by the light and wound up dashing head first into a random rock formation as Tao shielded his eyes. Though initially stunned by the flash as well, his optics quickly adjusted and his vision returned sooner than normal. Unfortunately, the two young fighters were nowhere to in sight, though Tao was undeterred.

"You may be able to run boys, but you can't hide." He proclaimed.

Taro picked himself up out of the rock, just as Tao seemingly materialized onto his back. "Get up Pupil, they can't have gone far," Tao noted.

Nodding, Taro shook the debris off his body before branding his wings and taking to the air. Tao's enhanced vision was able to pick up traces of the two's movement, so finding them would be no issue at all. It was only a matter of how far they could manage to run in those few short seconds.

[]

With the two boys each boasting incredible speed, distancing themselves from the villains was an easy feat. Hiding in a wide open crevice, the pair took the moment to recuperate.

"Okay Gohan, start talkin'. Why are we running?"

"Before I answer, I have a question of my own about…Pantyhose," Gohan replied.

"What is it?"

"By any chance, are his tentacles venomous?"

Ranma raised a confused eyebrow. "I…don't know actually…but why are you askin'?"

"Well…believe me or not, I was holding my own against him pretty well. However, he wrapped his tentacles around me and out of nowhere, I just felt…very weak for some reason."

Ranma's confused look quickly turned to one of empathetic dread. "Uhhhh…define 'weak'? Are we talkin' like, 'I have a cold' weak or somethin' worse?"

"I can't really explain it but to put into perspective, I was holding his arms back and then he's suddenly able to overpower me once he has me all bound up."

"Gohan, take off your shirt!" Ranma demanded.

"Excuse me?" asked the confused hero.

"It'll make sense in a bit, and don't make it any weirder than it already is, just turn around and take your shirt off!"

"Okay…" dispelling his costume, Gohan lifted his civvies up and over his head before revealing his back to Ranma. "Uhh Ranma, what are you doing?"

"Just hold still, I'm still lookin'."

"Looking for what?"

Ranma remained silent as he continued to examine Gohan's back. Ultimately, nothing seemed out of the ordinary and he let out a relieved sigh. "Phew, looks like you're fine."

"Fine? Fine from what?"

Ranma went on to give a quick rundown of his experience with the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion and how he feared that Taro or the old guys MIGHT have gotten their hands on it somehow, which would explain Gohan's sudden weakness. Because he found no marking on Gohan's back however, that couldn't be the case.

The mystery of Gohan's weakness spell remained open as Gohan brought the conversation back to Taro's tentacles potentially being venomous, though Ranma quickly discounted that theory, noting that if he was venomous in any way, it'd be something he'd use a LOT more often (Although, he didn't fully dismiss the possibility as Taro could always learn new tricks). They're brainstorming would ultimately end when a large shadow cast itself over their heads.

Glancing up, the two could make out a large four-limbed silhouette above them. "Guess that means they found us," noted Gohan.

"You wanna make a fast-break again until we can figure out what's wrong with you?" asked Gohan.

Raising his fist, Gohan sternly replied, "Not a chance," before reactivating his costume. "I admit, I may have taken this guy a bit too lightly, but now that I know what he's capable of, I intend to end this quickly. Whatever he did to me before, I'm not going to let it happen again."

"Dude, you can't really take them both by yourself!" exclaimed a surprisingly reasoned Ranma.

Flashing his impromptu partner a confident grin, Gohan gave a thumbs up and replied, "Just watch."

[]

From Taro's back, Tao continued to scan for their two charges. 'They should be somewhere right around…'

"SNORT!"

"What's the problem pupil-GAH!?"

Tao's question was silenced by the large chimera suddenly charging straight ahead. Recovering from the shocking motion, Tao was prepared to scold Taro, until he glanced ahead and saw Great Saiyaman floating motionlessly.

Kneeling, Tao grasped Taro's fur for dear life. "I admire your enthusiasm, but don't waste your time with this one!" he ordered.

Ignoring the call of his elder, Pantyhose Taro continued zooming straight for the cross-armed Saiyaman, his horns front and center. Aside from the blowing of his cape, Saiyaman remained still, making no attempts to either dodge or defend Taro's upcoming attack. Seeing this as his big chance, Taro straightened his wings, increasing his speed, and with a hearty snort, he rammed straight through Saiyaman…but felt zero impact.

As the confused chimera turned back around, he saw the image of Saiyaman vanish like a mirage, and Tao let out a sigh. "I knew it. An afterim-!"

THWAM!

Tao leapt off the giant beast as he was struck squarely in the dome of the head by a hefty dropkick. His consciousness fading in and out, Taro was unable to keep himself airborne and quickly found himself fluttering down to ground level. Lucky for him though, he was able to steer himself away from the numerous rocky pillars and kept himself from crashing. Tao on the other hand, landed gracefully on a pillar behind the behemoth.

'This is starting to get a little concerning. He was able to ground our pupil with a single blow. A sneak attack, but one strike, regardless. Not only that, but he even knows the Taiyo-Ken and the afterimage. Just who is this boy?'

Taro's descent finally stopped and he rubbed his sore head just as Saiyaman landed behind him, quickly accompanied by Ranma who gave an impressed whistle. "Not bad. I won't say sorry for doubtin' ya, but I will say I'll probably start listenin' to ya more."

"Thanks I think…" Gohan chuckled.

Reaching into his shirt, Ranma pulled out a capsule. "Now, what's say we make things a bit easier for us and…?"

BLAM!

"GAAAAAAGH-!"

Ranma keeled over, clutching his injured hand as a familiar yellow light struck it, making the capsule fly away in the process. "No, the hot water!"

"I knew it," came the familiar voice of Mercenary Tao. The elderly assassin leapt over the two young fighters to rejoin his partner in crime who was beginning to recover from Gohan's earlier attack.

Less than pleased at being sucker punched (or kicked in this case), Taro once again prepared to charge at the two, but was halted by Tao raising his hand.

"Hold it boy, there's something I want to ask him first," Tao pointed to Saiyaman.

"Me?"

"Yes. You said a while ago that you knew me?"

"You know him?" asked Ranma.

Gohan silently cursed himself for letting that nugget of information slip while he was in costume, but ultimately shrugged it off. "Yeah. I don't know if you'll recognize me, but we did meet before." Removing his helmet and cape, Gohan stared Tao in the face and the elderly cyborg put a hand to his chin.

"I admit you do look vaguely familiar…almost sort of like…!" as realization began to set in, Tao's expression quickly dropped from confident smarm to worried panic. 'Wait a second…!' Tao slowly but surely began recalling the times earlier today he heard a certain name, and why it gave him such unease. "Kid, what's your name?"

A cocky smirk forming on his face, the unmasked hero replied, "It's Gohan. Son Gohan."

'Gohan…? Wait…! I REMEMBER NOW!' Tao's face went from worry to full on fear as his body trembled, retreating behind Taro.

"N-n-n-no…No…! Why…? Why…does this keep…HAPPENING!?"

Both Ranma and Taro looked at the crumbling Tao absolutely dumbfounded. "Well…that was unexpected…," noted Ranma.

Annoyance evident on his face, Taro pulled out a sign and quickly smacked Tao in the head with it. "What the hell is the problem Old Man!?"

"That kid…the one he wanted…he didn't tell me it was the son of Goku!"

'He?' Gohan mentally noted.

"Who the Hell is Goku, and who the Hell cares who his father is!?"

"Doesn't matter! What does matter is, I'm pulling out of this operation! I'm not even getting paid for this bullshit, so I sure as hell don't intend to put my neck on the line dealing with that family of freaks!" Tao proclaimed.

Taro's response was an angered, full bellied "Moooooooo!" just as Tao began sprinting away. The elder assassin paused in his retreat. Turning back to Taro, Tao glanced the beast square in the eyes and the two shared what seemed to be a silent agreement. Returning to the battlefield, Tao's earlier fear vanished as he regained his usual cool demeanor.

"I'm ashamed you had to see that side of me, but I don't intend to let either of you leave with the memories of my fear," Tao proclaimed.

"Dude, what'd you do to him?" asked Ranma.

"Me personally? Nothing, but apparently he's terrified of my father for some reason."

"Your earlier attack was just a lucky shot!" Tao proclaimed. "I don't know how you and your father are so inhumanely strong, but this time it won't matter, for I have my own inhuman force of strength!" Tao raised his hand aside and as if introducing himself, Pantyhose Taro began to flex. His animalistic muscles bulged with each pose, his wings stretched and flapped elegantly, his tentacles took on the grotesque mystique of their original owners before Taro leapt in the air and finished his routine with a strongman pose, all his extra limbs stretched out.

A baffled Ranma was about to speak up but held his tongue when Gohan stepped forth. "My father's strength comes from his endless desire to better himself. Mine however, comes from my endless devotion to protecting this world!" Gohan struck a pose, thrusting his hand across his body as he continued. Spinning on his heel he struck another pose as he continued his intro. "Sometimes I'm a scholarly student, other times I'm a caring son and older brother, and sometimes an affectionate boyfriend, but my truest identity is…!" Pressing the button on his watch, his costume disappeared before reappearing, his cape and helmet back in place. "The ally of justice who does not tolerate kidnappers and assassins! I am…The Great Saiyaman!"

BOOOM!"

A small explosion went off as Gohan struck his finishing pose, leaving all present eyes flabbergasted. Tao was completely motionless, while Ranma had the biggest look of embarrassment on his face.

'This is the worst Kamen Rider I've ever seen…'

Pantyhose Taro on the other hand had a small, but notable twinkle in his eye after witnessing Gohan's performance. Sensing the intrigue, Gohan flashed his current rival an approving nod, before the two retreated to their respective partners.

"Gohan…please don't tell me you do that in public…" Ranma lamented.

"No…I sort of made that up on the fly. When this is over, I'll show you my standard routine." Gohan said proudly.

"How has Videl not left you?"

"What…what's that supposed to mean!?"

"Well, I do enjoy a showman, but it's time for the curtain to fall. Pupil?"

Taro nodded and reascended into the air, with Tao quickly hopping back on his back.

"So, it's a sky battle they want huh?" grinned Ranma.

"Maybe…but why do I have a feeling that's not what they're going for?"

"Huh?" Glancing back up, Ranma noted that all 8 of Taro's tentacles were spread wide, bathing the area in a wide shadow. The shadow lessened as the tentacles slowly moved forward and the tips on them began to glow. It didn't take long for the pair to realize what was about to happen.

"You gotta be shi-!"

"Move!"

Grabbing Ranma by the collar, Gohan zipped away from the shadow as a barrage of Dodon Blasts showered down on them.

"Seriously!? He can fire from his tentacles too!?" yelled a frustrated Ranma.

The silent Gohan continued to dash and warp away from the yellow light rain remaining on the defensive. 'Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for me, but I have to keep Ranma safe. He's fast, but I doubt even he could avoid something like this.'

"That's right fools, run! Run like the vermin you are!" Tao taunted with a vicious cackle.

[Meanwhile]

A panting Akane hid behind one of various rocky pillars as Shen continued to glide overhead.

"Come out little girl. Don't you want to play with old Uncle Crane?" he taunted.

'I would…if I could somehow hit him from here…," she lamented.

"You can run, but you can't hide for long."

From her hiding spot, Akane saw the old master landing atop the peak of one of the various pillars. 'What's he doing?'

Shen extended both of his index fingers and they began to glow. Tiptoeing on his right foot, Shen then began to spin in place. "Dodonpa!"

From both fingers, Shen fired the Crane's signature technique, over and over repeatedly and indiscriminately blasting everything within the immediate radius. Akane ducked for cover but quickly found herself having to flee when a stray blast shattered her hiding spot. Hoping he was too busy spinning to notice her, her hopes were swiftly dashed when the energy bullet-hell ceased just as quickly as it began.

"Gotcha!" Leaping from his perch, Shen swan dived straight for the retreating Akane. While she had wanted him to get closer, she was in no position to deal an effective counterattack so her only option for now was to keep running until she could get him back on the defensive.

Shen quickly cut off that hope with another Dodon Ray. Firing right between Akane's legs, the resulting backlash was enough to stumble the girl and make her fall. Seemingly caught, Akane's only defense was to protectively raise her arms up as the Crane School elder swooped down to grab her.

Instead of the fabric of a gi, or the flesh of a young girl, Shen's hand came into contact with…an umbrella?

"What the-? DOOOF-!"

Shen was forced back as the tip of the surprisingly heavy tool jammed itself in his forehead. The wielder of said tool revealed themselves to be a tall, yellow clad, bulky young boy. "I don't know who you are, but I won't let you lay a finger on Akane!" he proclaimed.

"Ryoga!" Akane gleefully beamed.

The lost boy rested his umbrella on his shoulder, flashing a toothy smirk. "Looks like I got here just in time."

"I'll say."

Shen

Picking himself up, Shen fixed his disheveled crane hat before dashing back to the pair. "You…who are you and where did you come from!?" he demanded.

"Ryoga Hibiki prefers not to converse with kidnappers, but because I'm a man of honor, I'll tell you." Pulling a microphone out of his shirt, Ryoga recounted his arrival.

[Moments ago]

Ryoga wandered aimlessly around the rocky valley, following a hand-drawn map that, as usual, led to nowhere.

"Akari and I had gotten separated shortly after my last return to Nerima and I tried desperately to find her again. Crossing mountains, forests, and even a swamp, I eventually found myself in this cavern.

Zipping straight into a random rock formation, Ryoga began to dig his way through using the Bakusai Tenketsu. After digging for what felt like a half hour, he soon found himself met with what felt like…a metal plate? Confused on what it was and why it was there, Ryoga ultimately ignored it and continued to blast through with the Breaking Point. Upon bursting through the metal and rock, Ryoga soon found himself in a room that looked extremely technology heavy.

"What in the…? Where am I now!? This doesn't look anything like any of the usual places I wind-AGH!"

Ryoga fell face first on the cold floor as he stumbled upon some unknown object. Turning back to curse the thing for tripping him, Ryoga's eyes widened as what tripped him revealed itself to be an unconscious young girl chained to the floor, and not just any girl. A girl that Ryoga was well familiar with.

"You…you're Akane's friend! The one with that weird, perverted, but strong boyfriend!" Ryoga quickly stumbled over his words trying to recount her name, stammering out every feminine 'V' name he could think of until finally he remembered. "Vital…Vidle…Videl…RIGHT! Your name is Videl!"

Quickly patting himself on the back for remembering, he examined the unconscious Videl and took note of her rather ragged look. "Hey…are you alright?" Lifting her head up, Ryoga received no response. Thankfully, she was still breathing so she was still alive, but there were still so many questions to answer.

Before he could ask any of those questions, the room shook as a loud BOOM was felt, even from inside the metallic room. "What was that?"

Rushing towards the door, Ryoga punched the metal seals away and from a distance could make out the silhouette of a familiar, large, winged beast.

"Is that…Pantyhose Taro!?" Ryoga gasped. Turning back to Videl, Ryoga started piecing everything together. "Now I get it…that demon bastard kidnapped you, didn't he?" Strolling back to Videl's unconscious form, Ryoga raised a finger and jabbed it into the chained anklet, shattering it. With her now being freed, Ryoga hoisted the unconscious girl on her back.

"I'm sure that boyfriend of yours is probably going nuts trying to find you. Apologies for stealing your glory Son Gohan, but I'm going to be the hero today. I suppose it's the least I could do to repent for my earlier mishap."

Ryoga returned to the lab entrance, intending to leap from the large perch, but he halted when a bright flash of light from just to the side, caught his eye. It was closer to the lab than Taro was, so Ryoga was able to make out the scene below. A scene consisting of an airborne old man chasing after a girl. Upon closer inspection, Ryoga's narrowed eyes widened as he quickly recognized the girl being pursued.

"AKANE!"

[Present]

A cross armed Ryoga nodded as he finished his tale. "And that's how I ended up here."

Shen and Akane remained still taking in Ryoga's story. The awkward silence was ended by Akan who asked, "Uhh Ryoga, what did you do with Videl after you came to save me?"

The cocky lost boy froze stone cold as he realized his massive error. "Uhhhhhh…?"

"She's still in their hideout!?"

"Yeah…but she's free to leave now since I broke the door and the chain she had on her," Ryoga chuckled.

Shen sighed. "Well…she has already served her purpose so I suppose letting her go isn't much of a loss at this point…" putting a hand to his chin, he continued pondering. "Then again, it's probably best to keep her here to ensure that caped fool stays put. So excuse me children, but I have to…"

Shen was cut off by Ryoga's umbrella driving straight into the ground in front of him. "Well that was rude. I let you finish your story. The least you could do is let me finish speaking."

"My rescue may not have been perfect, but I'm not letting you undo it!" Ryoga proclaimed.

"Well said Ryoga. Keep him busy for me would ya!?" calling back to him, Akane dashed off amidst the rocks.

Shen quickly attempted to pursue her but was halted by the whizzing of Ryoga's bandana blade barely nicking his moutache. "I won't let you touch her," Ryoga sternly announced.

Shen grit his teeth. "I'm getting sick of playing these stupid games with you whelps. I'm done fooling around. I'll take care of you quickly and capture the girl in due time."

Ryoga raised his index finger and Shen followed suit, his own glowing. After a tense stare down, neither of them daring to make a move, Shen aimed at Ryoga and fired his Dodonpa while Ryoga dug his finger into the ground launching shards of earth at the Crane Master. The thin beam tore a straight path through the rock and shrapnel but couldn't prevent it all from reaching it's target. Similarly, Ryoga couldn't avoid getting hit with the deadly beam, though he was fortunately able to keep it from hitting a vital area as it struck his arm.

"GAH!" 'Damn…that burns…lucky it didn't pierce my skin though.'

"Wait…why does that technique seem so familiar?" Shen asked aloud.

"Here, take another look!" Bounding at the bird-headed fighter, Ryoga threw his hand down right in front of Shen who instinctively backed away from the lost boy's strike. The sudden attack was enough to catch Shen briefly off guard, making him unable to fully avoid the Breaking Point's impact. Unfortunately for the grounded Ryoga, Shen continued to rise higher and higher beyond the range of Ryoga's technique.

"Your technique is impressive boy, but while the Earth may be your weapon, it's useless against a man who walks across the skies!" Shen taunted.

'He can fly too?' Ryoga chuckled as he recalled his previous bouts with both Videl and Gohan. "You're right Old Man. My Bakusai Tenketsu can't reach you up there…" Ryoga then cupped his hands together in front of his body and a blue ball of light began to form. "…but I bet this can."

Shen's eyes widened as felt the young fighter's energy rise. 'No way…that technique looks just like his! But it can't be…can it!?'

"Take this! Shishi Hokodon!"

Thrusting his hands, Ryoga fired a wide blue beam at his airborne opponent who gasped before ascending out of the blast's path.

Following his hearty evasion Shen breathed a sigh of relief. 'So, that wasn't the Kamehameha. Still, to think that a whelp in this day and age would know a similar technique…then again, we did teach the Dodonpa to Taro.'

"You wanna play this game old man? Let's play!"

Raising a glowing index finger, Shen swooped down, replying, "With pleasure!"

[Elsewhere]

Beneath the lightshow that was the two ensuing battles, Akane kept herself out of the crossfire as she continued sprinting through the rocky paths. 'I probably should've asked Ryoga where…what am I thinking? I'd be in an even worse position than I am now. Still, since Ryoga was able to see everything, that means their hideout has to be close by. I just wish I had some kind of sign to find-.' "OOP!"

Akane's thoughts froze as she hit the ground, tripped up by what seemed to be…a large metal plank? "The heck is this?" Examining the thing, she flipped it over to reveal what looked to be a handle. "A door? Wait!"

Recalling Ryoga's story, Akane looked up a large rocky mountain. Backing up, she spotted what looked to be a cave in the side of it. "Bingo!" Quickly smacking her cheeks, a determined Akane leapt upon the rocky formation and grabbed onto its rough surface, pulling herself up bit by bit.

[Back with the guys]

Gohan and Ranma continued to zip around the rocky terrain as Taro fired Dodon Rays from his myriad of tentacles. With the latter now clinging onto the former's back, Gohan was able to keep them ahead of Taro's blasts, though with his concern of keeping Ranma safe, there was little to no room to counterattack.

"Hey Gohan, you got any ideas to get us outta this!?" asked Ranma.

"I could try and fire back at them but…"

Ranma facepalmed. "Oh DUH! Okay, you keep flyin' I'll blast em' down!"

"Ranma?"

Turning up towards their massive enemy, Ranma raised his arm and called out, "It's counterattack time. Moko Takabisha!" From Ranma's hand came a yellow beam that Taro had to dart backwards to avoid, nearly throwing Tao off.

"Whaa-!? Oh right. I nearly forgot that boy also has a special technique of his own." He quietly noted.

With Taro stunned, the energy rain finally ceased, giving the guys the opening they needed. "Now's our chance!" Quickly turning back, Gohan flared his energy and zoomed right for Taro.

Though the giant was able to recompose himself, his resulting counterattack would prove useless as Gohan, with Ranma surfing on his back weaved through a tangle of tentacles with beams added courtesy of Tao. Taro's last attempt to grab Gohan with his elastic appendages failed as the heroic pair vanished from sight.

"Where did they go!?" Tao immediately scanned the area, but saw nothing. In the next instance, an intense beeping filled his ears as his optics once again protruded. "Wait, is that…?"

"Mmmmmmmmmmo!"

"Gagh!"

After an intense flinch, Taro froze in midair, his wings ceasing to flap and his tentacles falling limp.

"What's wrong boy!?" asked Tao.

Taro could only mumble in response but made no movement. Tao climbed atop Taro's body, resting at his head before glancing down to see his eyes practically bugging out of his bull-faced head. Looking slightly ahead, the assassin was then met with a smug faced Ranma flashing him a V-for Victory sign and Saiyaman with his fist buried deeply in Taro's gut.

"No…this can't be…!" Tao muttered, fear present in his voice.

"That's not all pal," taunted Ranma.

"What do you mean?"

"Ain't you wonderin' how a guy with wings is still floatin' while his wings ain't even movin'?"

A short second later, Tao realized Ranma's implication, but held his ground. "No matter. You think I can't recover from a few stories high fall?"

"Uh pal, I don't think you realize how high up we really are," Ranma noted.

Scanning the area around them, Tao's expression grew blue as he realized, not only were they much further up than a few stories high, was nothing for him to safely land on. Clutching his metallic dome, Tao screamed in frustration upon realizing their decision to attack Ranma and Gohan from a distance had backfired, mentally cursing himself for never learning his brother's signature technique.

"Tell us where Videl is, and I promise I'll let you both down gently," Gohan replied. "If not…"

"You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" to make his point clear, Gohan retracted his fist and Taro began to inch backwards.

"Why you…!" Tao quickly aimed his Super Dodonpa at the two, and Ranma's response was to casually cross his arms behind his head.

"Hey man, you can shoot that if you want, but remember what happens if he gets knocked away. You sure you wanna take that chance?"

Tao's firing arm quickly grew shaky as he was now covered in a cold sweat. The stare down continued as Gohan retracted his fist even more and Taro once again inched back. Finally, Tao fell apologetically to his knees. "Fine…I give up…I'll…tell you where she is. My brother and this freak be damned! I intend to live through this!"

Both Gohan and Ranma smiled, the latter tauntingly adding, "Now was that so hard?"

Tao sneered as Ranma let out a victorious chuckle and Taro's large body began slowly descending to the ground.

"Before we touch down, would you mind telling us where Videl is?" asked Saiyaman.

Tao mumbled an incomprehensible statement and Saiyaman froze. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you."

When Tao failed to respond, Ranma hopped off Gohan's back onto Taro's head to confront him directly. "Yo Gramps, ain't you hear what he said? Tell us where Videl…!"

"Hyaaaaagh!"

Tao lunged at Ranma with his blade out and ready. Though surprised, Ranma was able to react in time to stop his attack, grabbing him by the wrist. "Wow…that was kinda pathetic."

"You okay Ranma?"

"Fine, but I don't think these two will be."

"That's my line boy," Tao sneered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"NOW!"

Before either of them could realize what was happening, Taro clamped his giant massive hands around Gohan, squeezing him tightly.

"Gohan!"

When Ranma turned back to check on his friend, Tao quickly poked the barrel of his blaster into Ranma's chest. 'Dammit!' Stepping aside, Ranma was ultimately unable to avoid the attack, though he did manage to keep Tao from hitting a vital area, instead getting blasted through the shoulder.

"Gaaaaagh…!"

"Damn, I missed. And at point blank too. How shameful." Tao chuckled.

Ranma clutched his bleeding arm as Tao stood over his weakened form. "You could've lived had you decided to walk away from this, but now you and Goku's son will both meet your ends."

"I wouldn't count on that."

Ranma and Tao looked down to see a panicking Taro try desperately to close his hands over Saiyaman who was pushing his hands back.

Realizing what was likely to happen next, Tao retreated from Ranma quivering. "This…can't…be…happening…!"

With a hearty yell, Gohan's aura exploded, blasting Taro back and knocking both Tao and Ranma off him. Snapping down, Gohan grabbed his injured friend by his good arm while Taro caught Tao and proceeded to descend.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, but do you think you could do the dramatic hero thing a little quicker next time?" Ranma snapped.

"Sorry. I've been trying to prolong this fight, until they either told us where Videl was or she'd recovered enough that I could sense her presence, but I think that ship has sailed. It's obvious at this point that we'll have to find her the old-fashioned way, so it's time to end this fight."

"For sure," Ranma concurred. "But look on the bright side, maybe Akane's found her by…!"

They both gasped as they remembered their third teammate was currently fighting alone against someone who's suspected to be a much superior fighter.

"Crap, we forgot about Akane!"

"Give me a second!" Gohan closed his eyes and opened his senses, attempting to find Akane's energy. Instead however, his senses were attracted to two powers much higher than Akane's, though with some extra focusing, homed in on hers not too far away.

"I can feel Akane's presence that way!"

"Wait, you can sense her from this far away? How?" asked an intrigued Ranma.

"I'll explain later, but she's not the only one I can feel. Someone else is there besides that Tao's brother," Gohan informed.

"I'm not sure, but it feels…familiar for some reason…Wait!"

Gohan and Ranma were both drawn to yet another blast lighting up the sky. With the energy now fully expelled, Ranma was able to get a feel of it as well. "Okay, even I felt that one…!" His eyes lit up as he too felt a familiarity with it. "And I'd know a chi that heavy anywhere. That's gotta be Ryoga!"

"Ryoga? Why would he be here?"

"Moron probably got lost again, but if he's here, then I'm sure he'll keep Akane safe…"

Ranma paused after making the statement and Gohan had no immediate response. Finally he awkwardly replied. "Well if you think that…"

"But…I should probably get over there to make sure he doesn't screw anything up!" Ranma quickly added.

"O…okay…if you say so…" Gohan gently descended before letting Ranma down. "I'll catch up with you guys once I've finished dealing with these two."

Ranma nodded. "Normally I'd try and discourage you from doin' this but since you've actually fought the Old Guy before, I'm gonna trust you know how to beat him."

Gohan smirked. "You might say that."

"Okay then. Go and…OH! Wait!"

"What is it?"

"I almost forgot about my thermos!"

"Thermos?"

"My mom suggested I start bringin' a thermos with me so I could change back whenever my curse activated. I pulled out my capsule with it, but the old guy shot my hand and made me drop it."

"I get it. You want me to find it so I can turn Taro human again."

Ranma nodded. "You're probably gonna have to go through a lot of rocks to find it, but if you ask me, it'll totally be worth it."

"Got it. Just leave those two to me, now go and help Akane and Ryoga."

Ranma sprinted off before leaping off one of the rock formations and dashing between the pillars, leaving Gohan alone. Taking a deep breath, Gohan ascended.

'Sorry Ranma, but you're going to have to buy a new thermos.' Bathed in a white aura, Gohan jetted off after the retreating villains. 'I know Ranma was just trying to help, but I can handle Taro, even in his cursed form. It's time to stop playing around and end this.'

"Tao! Taro!"

At the sound of their names being called, the pair turned to see Saiyaman fast approaching, his fists outstretched as if poised to attack. Terror in their eyes, Taro straightened his wings to increase his speed, but was ultimately fruitless as Saiyaman blasted ahead and rammed straight into Taro's back, driving him straight into the ground, and Tao was subsequently squashed by Taro's massive hand on impact.

"Gaagh…!"

Tao cried out in pain as Taro let out a weak "Moooo…"

Saiyaman stood triumphantly over Taro's deflated form while Tao pushed his hand off him. Before he could try and escape, Saiyaman fired a small blast, signaling him to stay put.

"It's over you two." He declared. "We'll find Videl on our own soon enough, and when we do, you two are going to tell us everything."

"What do you even want to know? We took the girl to lure here, simple as that!" Tao yelled.

"Maybe, but why were you even after me in the first place?"

"Ask him!"

Gohan looked down at a dazed Taro and a bead of sweat rolled down his face. "I…don't think that's possible right now.

"Tough luck kid, cause he's the one who wanted you so badly," said Tao.

"You're lying."

"Huh?"

"I remember earlier, you said "He" was the one who wanted me, and you weren't referring to Taro.

After a moment of thought, Tao inwardly cursed himself as he recalled his verbal slip up. The hired hand still refused to give an inch.

"You want answers, you'll have to get em' from him. As for me…" Tao reached into his shirt and pulled out what seemed to be a grenade. When he tossed it up, Gohan instinctively went to grab it on the way down. To his surprise, the bomb detonated not with a bang, but a flash, or rather a flash bang to be precise.

Though stunned by the initial flash, Gohan's eyes were shielded from the optical assault by the visor on his helmet and he was able to make out Tao zipping away. "They always run, but I won't let you escape this time!"

Gohan leapt off Taro to pursue Tao, but would find himself forcibly yanked back down as his leg was bound by one of Taro's tentacles. "Fine big guy I guess I'll take care of you first…!"

As Gohan spoke, his hand was quickly bound before all 8 of Taro's tentacles wrapped around his body completely encasing him. With a sharpened glare, Gohan raised his energy, and prepared to blast Taro back when once again, his power suddenly dropped when Taro's tentacles bound his lower body.

'A…again…!? W-why…!?'

Gohan's confident vigor was soon replaced with genuine worry as he felt his strength fade until the point where he couldn't even struggle against Taro's bindings, let alone raise his power level. Before long, Gohan's vision began to fade.

'Maybe…I should've taken Ranma's advice….'

The last thing Gohan could remember before completely blacking out, was the enraged face of Taro snorting at him, as well the name of his beloved other half.

'Videl…!'

[Meanwhile]

Sprawled across the cold, dusty ground of a hidden cave, a fit, petite, female figure could be seen laying unconscious as the world around her was engrossed in pure chaos. Despite all the madness happening below her current position, a single sound had managed to find it's way to her ears, or rather, straight to her mind; the sound of her own name, from a very familiar voice.

"Go…han…?"

(A/N: And that's one for the record. This one was another on the longer end of things at over 6K words (this A/N not withstanding), but things heat up. Honestly, though it'd have taken me a long while, I probably could've fit the resolution to this whole ordeal in this chapter and really make it a long one, but one reason I don't is because if I try to do too much in a single chapter, I start 'overloading' for lack of a better term and go a little nuts, hence the cliffhangers. Regardless, I intend to end this whole spiel in the next Chapter. I know I said last chapter that Gohan's weakness spell would be explained here, but it just wasn't meant to be. Next time, it'll all make sense for sure (or at least I hope it will). Although speaking of, quite a few people already figured out where I was taking that angle, and I will say, yes it does involve THAT but in a way some people may not have thought of (although it is something of a popular headcanon around the more salacious parts of this fandom). So yep, in summary, Ryoga saves the day in more ways than one, Tao remembers Gohan and regrets everything now, and our kidnappee is en route to be a free bird. Stay tuned)

PS: In regards to Taro's tentacles potentially being venomous, I did a Google search and, as it turns out, all octopi are indeed venomous. Probably wasn't common knowledge back when Ranma was being written, but imagine Taro being poisonous on top of the rest of his curse's…features. That's kind of terrifying.