Chap 6: Stinger

"They're his WHAT!?" Ranma yelled at Ichijyo after they'd return from the battle.

"I just received a call from Ryuki. Apparently, Cologne is his Great-grandmother and Shampoo is his cousin," Ichijyo repeated.

Ranma just stood there in shock. "Is there something else I should know?"

"Well, they'll be staying with Ryuki's family," Ichijyo replied. Ranma groaned. "But, don't worry. Ryuki promised me that he wouldn't tell them where you were. I told him what you told me."

"Great…" Ranma muttered sarcastically, "And he doesn't have to tell them. Sooner or later they're going to track me."

"Oh, I forgot to mention that Elder Cologne will be training him as well. I do believe that he will be learning some of the techniques you know."

Ryuki had decided to tell Cologne, Shampoo and Mousse the truth that he did know Ranma but had made a vow to not lead them to him because of all the things he'd heard. Mousse growled while Cologne nodded. Ryuki had made the promise to Ichijyo and well…Ryuki always kept his promises.

"Obaa-sama, is this really necessary?" Ryuki asked. He was hung up in some sort of elaborate harness and only his right arm was free. However, his entire right hand was wrapped up in cloth to only expose his pointing finger.

"Lister here, Ryuki," Cologne said to her Great-grandson, "This is the training method us Amazons have used for centuries. It's absolutely fool proof." Cologne was standing on a rather large boulder that was suspended by rope.

Jinx, Shampoo and Mousse had accompanies them. They were still in the Hasuma-Narukawa Estate, but in a large area that looked like a small forest. It would suffice for this training. Jinx had her hands on Ryuki's Zodiac Deck. That would mean he wouldn't have access to any of his Zodiac Powers. Super Strength was one of them so now he would have to rely on his own strength and skill. Also, his power of geokinesis could not be used either.

"Are you ready, Ryuki?" Cologne asked, "Just sense the breaking point."

"I'm ready," Ryuki said firmly. He began swinging back and forth, building up his momentum. Cologne was on the hanging rock and after building up some good momentum, send the rock flying at Ryuki. "HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" Ryuki yelled out loud as he got ready and thrust his finger at the rock…

WHAM!!

"Itai…"

Jinx flinched as Shampoo gasped. Mousse, however, was chuckling.

Ryuki had rammed into the rock instead, face first. He swung back with a dazed look on his face, groaning, but shook his head to get out the cobwebs. A hit like that would usually knock a normal person out, but Ryuki had built up an endurance…This training reminded him of when Ichijyo was teaching Ryuki how to master his own telekinetic gifts. Ryuki suffered a concussion after that one session and developed a phobia of bricks for a few weeks.

"Again!" Cologne said as she sent the rock sailing again at Ryuki who once again got ready to shatter it…

WHAM!

POW!

BASH!

"You're not even trying!" Cologne cried out in frustration.

"Shouldn't we be stopping this?" Jinx asked as she looked up to see her beloved boyfriend hanging limply in his harness. He was developing some pretty nasty bruises.

"If cousin is strong, cousin will be able to master Breaking Point technique," Shampoo said confidently.

"Or die trying," Mousse added but Shampoo knocked him upside the head.

"Mousse no helping!" she snapped.

Jinx looked up to see Ryuki panting. He had almost got it. Also, the look in his eyes…she knew he would not give up even if it killed him.

"One last time, Ryuki, and use your senses, not your eyes, to look for the Breaking Point!" Cologne instructed.

"Hai!" Ryuki nodded but this time he decided to close his eyes. He began to build up a momentum and when he heard the 'swish' of the boulder coming at him, he swung towards it.

Jinx closed her eyes. She couldn't look.

'Look with your senses, not your eyes!' Ryuki repeated in his mind…'THERE!' He then thrust out his arm.

POW!

Cologne shook her head in dismay as her Great-grandson once again failed to shatter the rock. Maybe this city living had softened him up as well as relying on his powers instead of his skills. She was about to call it quits when she looked down to see a hairline crack on the rock. The crack then started to spread all over the rock boulder. They started to spread faster and faster, until…

BOOM!

The rock boulder itself shattered into tiny pieces. The force of the explosion pushed Ryuki back and Cologne had to jump onto a tree branch to be safe from it.

"Yat…ta…" Ryuki said tiredly before he suddenly fell asleep, hanging in the harness without a care. He was just so tired now. Cologne watched him collapse while she nodded in satisfaction at her great-grandson's success.

"Definitely my Great-Grandson," she smiled.

Next would be the Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire technique.

Ryuki had placed himself in front of a medium-sized bonfire. Cologne was on the other side as she threw several chestnuts into the flames. Ryuki was somewhat confused at what they were doing before Cologne decided to explain it.

"This technique is called the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, otherwise known as the Chesnut Fist for short," she explained. "The training for this technique involves moving so fast that the chestnuts can be pulled out without burning the trainee's hands."

"Is that even possible?!" Jinx cried.

"Yes," Mousse sighed in disinterest.

"It is," Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo take training when she younger. Airen learn technique in one week. He so good."

Mousse suppressed a growl lest he get a cane to the head. It was obvious to Jinx that he really didn't like Ranma because he had captured Shampoo's interest. She had heard that he already had a fiancée so just why was Shampoo chasing him?

"Ranma-san went through this training?" asked Ryuki.

"He did," Cologne nodded. "Son-in-Law did master the technique in one week where most Amazons take a month. Now you understand part of my interest in chasing him. Shampoo is quite taken with him and adding him to the family would strengthen our bloodline."

"So you are doing your duty as a grandmother in trying to secure Shampoo's happiness, and your duty as a Matriarch in upholding your laws?" asked Ryuki. His cousin had versed him in Amazon laws when he asked why she was initially chasing Ranma.

"Correct," Cologne nodded. "Now, Grandson, are you prepared?"

"Hai, Obaa-sama," Ryuki nodded.

He stared into the flames and managed to pick out where the chestnuts were sitting. Normally he could use his power to reach into the flames and pick out the chestnuts. Having the Power of Combustion made one rather fireproof in most situations. Sadly, that would ruin the point of the training so he had to do this normally. Steeling himself for the pain that was sure to come, Ryuki went for it.

"HAH!" he cried before launching his hands into the flames.

A few minutes later, Ryuki was being nursed by Jinx, who was tending to the burns on his hands. A small pile of burnt chestnuts were next to the bonfire. Cologne was inspecting the burns on his hands to see how he did for his first attempt.

"Hmmm," she pondered. "You did reasonably well for a first try, Grandson."

"Really, Obaa-sama?" asked Ryuki before a knife of pain lanced through his hands. "Itai!"

"Aiyah," Shampoo gasped. "Cousin so good! Shampoo burn hands too too bad when she first try!"

"It's not that impressive," Mousse grumbled, despite knowing that it was. Most trainees had to stop training after the first attempt so they could heal before going back at it. With Ryuki wounded so little, he was definitely going to gain some notice from the other elders if Cologne sent word back about his existence.

"Now, Grandson," Cologne spoke again. "Would you like to continue training?"

"Hai!" Ryuki nodded with conviction.

So it continued. Ryuki continuously tried to learn the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. He was getting better at it with each passing attempt as well. Cologne had watched with interest and admitted that if she hadn't hit her wayward son-in-law with the Cat's Tongue shiatsu; he may have learnt the Amaguriken in the span of a day or two. Another factor was that Ryuki was used to fighting in many more life or death situations. As such, he had learnt how to be fast very quickly.

After a few overnight hospital trips, Ryuki was back at training three days after beginning the training. Cologne sat expectantly near the fire after dumping some more chestnuts in. Shampoo, Jinx, and Mousse were at the sidelines watching the event.

"When you are ready, Grandson," Cologne spoke as Ryuki concentrated.

"Hai," Ryuki nodded. He took a deep breath before looking to the flames. He then put all he had into his movements.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" he called as he launched his hands into the flames.

Cologne watched with pride as Ryuki's hands blurred through the flames. He showed no sign of being injured or pain. He finally stopped as his hands were shown to be filled with slightly burnt chestnuts.

"Yatta!" he cheered before he realized what he was holding. He dropped the chestnuts very quickly. "Itai! I forgot how hot they were!"

"Cousin so silly!" Shampoo giggled.

"Very good, Grandson," Cologne smiled. "I think you would be serious contender against Son-in-Law."

"Aww, you praise me too much," Ryuki smiled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, so humble," Shampoo giggled. "He be good catch back in village."

Jinx stiffened and sent Shampoo an evil eye. The bubbly Amazon didn't even notice the glare directed at her.

Next was the Splitting Cat Hairs technique was relatively easy training for Ryuki. He was able to move fast enough to create after-images of himself to confuse his opponent, which was his cousin Shampoo. He surprised her with the speed in which he learnt it and then he smiled at her. Oh, if he wasn't her cousin…well, the Splitting Cat Hairs was easy for him. He did have training using the previous Axel System as well as the current Clock Up system. The Splitting Cat Hair was a speed based technique and with his experience it was a piece of cake.

Ryuki and Cologne were standing out in a large clearing. Cologne had just finished drawing a large spiral in the dirt. She took her cane up and looked at her great-grandson. She was impressed that he had progressed so well over the past week. He was definitely in the same class as Ranma and Ryoga. There was only one thing that she could teach him that could put him close to her son-in-law.

"Listen close Great-Grandson," Cologne spoke. "This is one of the most powerful attacks that I can teach you. It is the Hiryu Shoten Ha, otherwise known as the Heavenly Dragon Ascension Blast. It is a ready favorite of Son-in-Law."

"Ranma-san tried to use it on me when we were sparring," Ryuki nodded. "I didn't let his insults get to me though."

"That's good," Cologne nodded. "Then that means you can slip into the Soul of Ice already. But you will have to be trained in the movements so we will test how strong your Soul of Ice is."

Off to the side, the usual audience of Jinx, Shampoo, and Mousse were watching how it was going. Today, Emiko was also part of the audience. She had her usual camcorder because she wanted to get a good recording of Ryuki's training.

"Emiko-san?" asked Cologne. "Could you come here?"

Emiko left her camcorder to Jinx and walked over to where Ryuki and Cologne were standing. She was a little confused at what she could possibly do to be helpful. She may have metahuman abilities, but she was a fashion designer, not a fighter.

"Did you bring what I asked you?" Cologne asked. Mirth was beginning to show in her voice.

"Yes," Emiko nodded.

"Good," Cologne smiled. "Now, you shall make an attack only the mother of Ryuki could make. Are you prepared?"

"Oh!" Emiko gasped. She realized now just what she was supposed to do. Well, she wasn't about to let her little Ryuki down. "Yes!"

"Good," Cologne nodded. "Then begin!"

Ryuki watched as his mother reached into her jacket and pulled out a small slip of paper. He was expecting her to attack but instead she turned straight towards the audience and waved it, "Oh, Jinx! Do you want to see this photo from the last pool party we had? The girls from Ryuki's class all wanted a copy of it!"

"ACK!" Ryuki cried. He leaped forward to try and snatch it away from her. "Okaasan! No!"

Ryuki had a very good reason to be embarrassed by that photo. You see, there was a huge class party that Emiko had thrown for his class since it was his birthday. Ryuki still couldn't believe that all his classmates were girls at the time. So, he had invited Ichijyo and Takada. Ichijiyo came because Ryuki begged but Takada was there in a flash since there were so many girls. It didn't help that the girls were wearing all sorts of sexy swimsuits in attempts to snag Ryuki as a future boyfriend. Whenever Takada would try to flirt with the girls, they would turn him down saying they had their eye on Ryuki. Takada got angry at this and started a water war with Ryuki, splashing at him. Emiko was taking pictures the whole time and Takada had taken the war out of the pool. In an attempt to attack Ryuki, he had accidentally pulled down his trunks him. All the girls had developed nosebleeds so they had to clean the pool afterwards. It didn't help that Emiko had gotten a picture of it either. One thing could be said for it though. No one had heard Ichijyo laugh that hard before.

Emiko dodged the leap for the photo as Jinx and Shampoo came running. Both of them caught a glimpse of the photo and started giggling.

"Oh, if you not Shampoo's cousin," the bubbly Amazon giggled.

"Hmm," Jinx purred. "He's definitely gotten bigger since then."

"Ahhhh!" Ryuki cried from embarrassment as he launched himself for the photo.

"Look at this one," Emiko smiled as she pulled out another photo as she dodged the leap. "This was taken when Ryuki was only seven years old! It was his first play too!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Ryuki cried.

Jinx and Shampoo were subject to Ryuki on stage with a bunch of other little kids. He was dressed up in a bear suit that looked absolutely adorable on him. The girls started cooing over the photo and commenting how adorable little Ryuki was in his little bear suit.

"Stop!" Ryuki called with another leap for the photo.

CRACK!

Ryuki was put to the ground with a large bump on his head. Cologne landed lightly on the ground while shaking her head. It was obvious that while he had a remarkable hold on his temper, he was very susceptible to being embarrassed. Well, it was a little better than her son-in-law anyway.

"You didn't even follow the spiral!" she frowned. "If you want to use the Hiryu Shoten Ha, then you have to have a true Soul of Ice! That means you can't let yourself be embarrassed by little things like photos!"

"Hai, Obaa-sama," Ryuki commented with his face full of dirt.

Training had continued from there. It was unbelievable how many embarrassing things Emiko had stockpiled from Ryuki's childhood. She didn't stop no matter how much Ryuki begged her to. Shampoo and Jinx delighted in seeing what Emiko had shown them. Ryuki just kept getting extremely embarrassed about what his mother had. It had been some time before he actually managed to complete the spiral. It took even longer before he actually managed to do it properly without getting distracted by the photos that his mother was showing Shampoo and Jinx.

"Well done, Great-Grandson," Cologne acknowledged. "You can do a complete spiral without getting distracted. That is something to be proud of."

"Oh, Ryuki!" Emiko squealed. "I'm so proud of you!"

"However," Cologne commented. "That is only half of the training. The other half we will do tomorrow. Get some rest, Great-Grandson. You've earned it."

"Arigatou, Obaa-sama," Ryuki smiled brightly.

"You are very welcome," Cologne smiled before laughing heartily.

"Come on, baby," Jinx smiled as she tugged at Ryuki's arm. "Let's go get some rest."

"Hai, Jinxy-chan," Ryuki smiled.

The city of Tokyo was calm as night came over. There were a few people working late and there were others who were out enjoying the night life. There were no Mirror Monsters making trouble and the various places that were known for weirdness and such were quite as well. In all, it seemed that the city was going to be peaceful for the night.

"SWEETO!"

Never mind. It seemed that Happosai had arrived, looking for his wayward 'pupil'.

Ryuki and Cologne returned to where they were practicing the Hiryu Shoten Ha yesterday with their usual group of viewers following. Emiko came again since she wanted to witness her son mastering a powerful martial arts technique. Ryuki was donned in his exercise clothes, but he had something else on him as well. There were metal cables attached to wristbands running up his arms and across his chest. There were similar cables running down his legs.

"Ano...Obaa-sama, what are these cables for?" Ryuki asked in confusion.

"Just a little something to keep your battle aura in," Cologne explained. "Try manifesting your aura."

Ryuki blinked but did as she asked. In a split-second, the cables snapped tight. His limbs were forced behind his back, practically crippling him. With no legs to hold him up, Ryuki did a face plant into the dirt again.

"Those cables are made of memory metal," Cologne explained as she brought out a pail of water. "They will react to the least amount of heat and put you in that position."

Cologne poured the cold water on Ryuki, which made the memory metal soften and release Ryuki. The young man got back to his feet and coughed to get the dirt out of his throat.

"So I can't let any spark of my aura out or else I get constricted," Ryuki nodded. "That's clever, Obaa-sama."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Great-Grandson," Cologne snickered. "Nice try though."

"So what else will we be doing today?" Ryuki asked.

"You will be fighting an opponent to use the attack," Cologne replied before turning to the audience. "Mousse! You will be Ryuki's opponent!"

"Sure, sure," Mousse grumbled. He didn't like being on the receiving end of the Hiryu Shoten Ha. He learnt just how effective it was after Happosai had hit Ranma with the Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion. Mousse had thought that he could finally defeat Ranma once and for all, but the old ghoul had snatched victory from his fingers and had taught Ranma that attack. Mousse was still a little sore at one of his many chances at Shampoo lost.

This time, however, maybe he would be able to overcome it and possibly defeat Ryuki. He still didn't think Ryuki was much, only convinced that his armor and powers were his strength and he didn't have much skill to back him up…

Oh, he would be proven wrong.

"Hey, aibou," Yaminekoryu whispered into Ryuki's ear, "Let me at him."

"You want to fight him?" Ryumi whispered back.

"No, but I'm gonna help you make him mad enough and then, well…" Yaminekoryu snickered, "You'll see…"

Cologne's eyes narrowed as she saw the astral form of Yaminekoryu hover over her great-grandson. The same demon had been bonded to her Koinosuke as well. It took her awhile to get used to but she loved Koinosuke so much that she accepted the demon. He was a part of him, after all and he did help out.

"Are we going to begin or are you going to continue talking to yourself?" Mousse said in a bored tone.

"Make sure you keep your glasses on," Ryuki mocked.

"And, begin!" Cologne said, giving the signal.

Ichijyo, meanwhile, was in his office as he read the paper. He read one of the headlines and quirked an eyebrow.

The headline read: "MYSTERIOUS UNDERWEAR THIEF HAS STRUCK AGAIN!"

He continued reading. The police were baffled as numerous complaints from women who'd lost their underwear had increased. Also, some women have sighted that the perpetrator was a 'little troll' of some sort.

Remembering several of Ranma's stories, Ichijyo knew that this could someone from Nerima that had come to track Ranma down. Kuno had not been sighted and neither was his sister, Kodachi. The Kuno family wasn't one of Ichijyo's favorites. True, they were an honorable samurai family, but the present generation was a disgrace…plus they were insane too. Also, no sightings of that girl Ukyo or a certain Lost Boy by the name of…

His phone rang and he picked it up, "Hello? An intruder? I see. Well, I'll be coming down there to meet with this intruder." He hung up and wrapped himself in shadows, teleporting him to the secret underground lab.

Ichijyo arrived in the lab to see numerous personnel, security guards and operative on the ground, unconscious with numerous injuries. He listened and heard a scuffle and calmly walked over to the source.

There, standing before him, was a young man about Ranma's age in a sleeveless yellow shirt, black pants, sandals, and with binding tied around his shins. There was also a yellow and black bandanna around his head.

"WHERE'S RANMA!?" he screamed.

'This must be Ryoga,' Ichijyo guessed as he walked over to the Lost Boy. "You know that this is a restricted area, right?"

"Who are you!?" Ryoga yelled.

"You've intruded into my building," Ichijyo said with his eyes narrowed, "I should be asking you that."

"Look, I was looking for Ranma and have no idea how I got here and then these goons tried to attack me."

"I can see that it was self defense," Ichijyo nodded. "So, you're looking for Ranma." He smirked, "I think we can talk. Follow me."

"Where?" Ryoga asked in confusion.

"To my office and better stay close and don't get lost," Ichijyo said before turning. "Oh, and my name is Ichijyo Amakusa."

"Ryoga Hibiki," Ryoga nodded.

"I know," Ichijyo replied. It would appear that another candidate had appeared. Ranma was good and all but a new Inzecter user would be useful as well and Ryoga's capabilities were remarkable. He also had a one-track mind but that could be fixed. He'd read Ryoga's mind and found some very interesting information.

Ryuki kept his cool as he continuously dodged and avoided all of Mousse's attacks. Non of Mousse's weapons could touch him. It was fortunate that Ryuki's Orphenoch abilities included enhanced reflexes so dodging was easy for him. He could see Mousse's expression. He was growing frustrated and annoyed, but not angry…yet.

Time to let Yaminekoryu into the driver's seat as some of the demon's personality mingled with Ryuki's own.

"I think I know why you chose hidden weapons as your forte, Duck-Boy," Ryuki said as Mousse's eyes narrowed under his glasses. "It's because you're coward."

Cologne smirked. Now it began.

Mousse, from the comment, grew infuriated and demanded, "WHAT!?" he sent a weighted chain at Ryuki's head only for him to duck and then stand back up smirking.

"You use those cheap magic tricks to win your fights! I should be calling you a chicken instead of a duck!" Ryuki mocked.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" Mousse shouted, enraged as he sent knives flying at Ryuki. Jinx and Emiko gasped as the knives went sailing. However, he calmly held up his hand and then the knives just bounced back from a psychic barrier.

"Got your feathers ruffled?" Ryuki grinned. "If you can't beat me, then you can never beat Ranma. Face it, you're in a much lower league, chicken-boy."

That comment was the straw that broke the camel's back. Mousse's red aura rose up as his anger did as well. He would not be insulted by an outsider!!

"DIE!!" Mousse yelled out, jumping high to execute a fatal blow. Ryuki's calm blue aura flared a bit as his green eyes flashes.

"HIRYUU SHOTEN HA!" Ryuki shouted out before throwing his fist high into the air. The combination of cold and hot aura then created a tornado of power, blowing dirt and leaves away.

Both Ryuki and Mousse were caught in the middle.

Jinx dug in her heels to keep herself standing as did Emiko who was holding tightly to her camera. The tornado was spinning around with great speed as it rose up high into the air…

Then, as soon as it had begun, it had ended. The tornado dissipated and then a calming breeze replaced it. There was dust cloud and a lone figure could be seen as his silhouette stood tall in the cloud of dust. Ryuki then walked out of the dust cloud, a little dirty, with Mousse on his shoulder. Mousse had received the brunt of the attack and had passed out. Ryuki gently lay the martial artist down on the grass. Cologne hopped over, followed by Shampoo, Jinx and Emiko.

Ryuki then bowed as Cologne reached out and affectionately patter his head.

"I am proud of you, great-grandson," she said.

"Arigato, Obaasama!" Ryuki said as he bowed in respect to his Amazonian great-grandmother.

"That tornado was too-too strong!" Shampoo exclaimed, "Stronger than Airen's!"

"I still apologize for what I said to him," Ryuki admitted, looking down at Mousse. "Will he be…"

"He'll be fine," Cologne nodded, "Mousse has a lot of endurance. You should see how many times he goes after Ranma. He's persistent, I can give him that."

"So, is there more for me to learn?" Ryuki asked.

Cologne shook her head, "At the moment, no. So far, you have learnt some of the most powerful techniques of our tribe and in the least amount of time yet."

Emiko and Jinx were speechless. They had seen Ryuki break stone with a finger, punch faster than the eye could see, create illusions with his speed and now he could create tornadoes with his fist.

He had gotten stronger…

"Baby!" Jinx jumped into Ryuki's arms, "That was amazing!"

"I got the whole thing on tape too!" Emiko said, waving the camera in her hand. "I am going to watch this over and over…"

"Okaasan…" Ryuki groaned. Jinx handed him his Zodiac Deck and then his head snapped up as the ringing invaded his ears. Jinx and Emiko both knew that look well.

"Trouble?" Jinx asked.

"Hai," he nodded. His mother held up a small compact hand mirror and he held out his deck in front of it and summoned his belt. He then shouted out, "EMPOWERMENT OF THE ZODIAC DRAGON! HENSHIN!" In a flash of red light, his armor equipped itself to his body.

Taking in a deep breath of air, the mirror shimmered and rippled like water before Draco dived in. Now, a mirror so small couldn't possibly fit a person of average size. It just wasn't physically possible!

However, magic was a way to make the impossible possible.

Shampoo eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. "Where cousin go?"

Jinx smiled knowingly as a buzzing sound came to her ear.

Ichijyo, in his office looked up as the same sound invaded his own ears. He didn't look worried, however, but happy instead.

Across from him, sitting in a chair was Ryoga Hibiki. On his right wrist was a metal bracelet of some sort made from hi-tech material.

"I think now would be a good way for you to test your new abilities, Mr. Hibiki," Ichijyo said, fixing his glasses. Ryoga looked up and smiled nervously.

"But what if I get lost?" Ryoga asked and then something buzzed next to his ear.

"I believe your new friend can handle it."

Ranma had received a call on his SB-Phone (Ichijyo had given it to him) that told him there was a monster attack in Tokyo. Everyone had been evacuated by Smart Brain Operatives but the monsters, named Gigazelles, were still running amok, destroying anything they could grab. Hagemoto had driven him to the location and then Ranma kicked open the door (to Hagemoto's chagrin) before raising his hand into the air to grab the golden Caucasus Inzecter.

"Henshin!" Ranma cried out before sliding the Inzecter onto his belt.

"HENSHIN!" the Inzecter echoed before the golden Caucasus armor covered him. The Gigazelles, noticing Caucasus then went on the attack and began jumping around, striking at Caucasus hard and fast. Ranma was usually fast and with good reflexes, but his Strong Mode armor was getting in the way of that. Sparks began spilling out as the Gigazelles continued to strike at the golden armored warrior until he was on the ground.

"Damn it!" he cursed before getting up and then reaching for his belt, "Cast Off!" and then pulling the horns of his Inzecter.

"CAST OFF!" the Inzecter repeated before his armor exploded off him and slammed into a number of Gigazelles before sending them sailing and crashing onto the ground. He rolled his shoulders, flicked his wrists and then cracked his neck while cracking his knuckles.

"Okay, let's go!" he then charged into the fray.

A red Knightrider flew out of a nearby window before screeching to a halt. The top canopy then slowly swung up and then the safety attachments unsnapped to allow Draco to exit the vehicle. Looking at the Gigazelles and then seeing Caucasus fighting them, Draco then rushed in to engage them.

Now was the time he could test out what he'd learnt.

The first move he decided to try was the Splitting Cat Hairs. Moving at such speeds, he created after images to confuse the Gigazelles. They mistakenly attacked the illusions, only to come out empty handed. Now, Draco used another technique.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!" He unleashed a flurry of punches, each fist blurring as he threw and pulled them back. He added his super strength and fire powers to deal more damage. The ones he'd hit were destroyed immediately.

At hearing the exclamation, Caucasus just stood in shock. Draco had also mastered the Chestnut Fist. Shrugging, he went to fight some more. He slammed one Gigazelle in the stomach with a kick before reaching down and then pressing the leg buttons of his Inzecters in their proper order. "1," he ducked under a Gigazelle that tried to tackle him. "2," he jumped over three Gigazelles charging at him before he landed on them, hard. "3," he then leaned back as a Gigazelle attempted to slash his face. He reset the horns of his Inzecter before pulling them back. "CAUCASUS POWER!" The energy traveled throughout his armor, pushing it to its peak before he unleashed his attack.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!" The punches hit faster, harder and destroyed each Gigazelle with a single blow. They all exploded around him as he struck with his fists, getting them in the face or chest. Some exploded while they were being sent flying by his punches. Soon, a small number of them remained.

"FINAL VENT!"

Draco came down with his powerful…"DRAGON COMBUSTION KICK!" and rammed into several Gigazelles, destroying them. Out of the 40 that had arrived, now only 5 remained.

"Well, looks like it will be easy for us now," Caucasus said as he flicked his wrist. Draco nodded. But, as they turned to face them, a new player entered the fray.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

"Huh?" Caucasus blurted out before the ground under the Gigazelles exploded and then sending them flying. Caucasus and Draco then both caught a figure coming down on the Gigazelles.

"HORNET STING!"

The figure threw his fist and then imbedded it in the chest of one of the Gigazelles. He then threw the Gigazelle with its brethren before the charge that had been forced into it traveled along the others and then they all blew up.

The new arrival then landed in front of Caucasus and Draco.

He stood like a proud and powerful warrior. His sleek suit of armor reflected that. It was mainly yellow with black stripes and worn over a black bodysuit. His boots were yellow and so were his gauntlets. Armor plating decorated the side of his arms and legs and he had a pair of white hornet wings on his back. His shoulders were sharp and triangular and his helmet was mainly black with a yellow faceplate with black stripes that housed a pair of black insectoid eyes and a pair of antennae on top. On his right wrist was a bracelet that held a hornet-like Inzecter with its stinger elongated and pointing in the same direction as his fist.

"How's that, Ranma?" the new Inzecter warrior said as he turned to face Caucasus.

Ranma's eyes widened. He knew that voice. It couldn't be…could it?

"Ryoga?"

"That's right," Ryoga chuckled, "But now I am called 'Stinger'. Oh, and one more thing…" He then charged at Caucasus, "RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!!"

Caucasus could only say one thing for this moment, "Oh…hell no."

Stinger used a flying leap at Caucasus, trying to bash his head in with a flying punch. Caucasus ducked back before leaping to give himself some space. Stinger looked straight up and snarled angrily before cupping his hands together. Draco could see green energy collecting in his palms.

"SHI SHI HAKODAN!" Stinger roared before he fired a blast of green energy straight at Caucasus.

Caucasus was quick to react as he brought his own golden ki forth, "MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

Caucasus fired a golden orb of equal size at Stinger. Both attacks met and nullified each other. Caucasus took advantage of the slight distraction and landed hard before lunging at Stinger. Both armored fighters went into their usual brawl of punches and kicks which would leave ordinary people bloody and beaten by now.

Draco only stood by and watched. As much as he knew that this fight wasn't a good idea, he didn't have much of a way to stop it. This battle was directly between Ranma and Ryoga. Besides, it seemed that Ryoga wasn't about to listen to reason at this point. Not that it seemed he ever did to begin with.

"I'll make you pay for my suffering!" Stinger roared as he pulled back for another punch.

"Oh, yeah?" Caucasus sighed as he reached to his belt. "Just try and catch me! Clock Up!"

"CLOCK UP!" echoed his belt as he hit the button which activated the system.

Stinger stopped his attack when Caucasus vanished right before his eyes. He at first assumed that Caucasus had run away 'like the coward he usually was', but that thought was knocked out of his head when an attack came out of nowhere. Stinger barely blinked before several more hits collided with him.

"CLOCK OVER!"

Caucasus reappeared in front of the struggling Stinger. He stood still and waited for him to move.

"I don't get it, Ryoga," Caucasus sighed. "Everything I do seems to piss you off. I beat you to bread, you try to kill me. I accidentally get you cursed so I can understand being angry about that. Hell, you get lost all the time on your own and you still blame it on me! You seem to think I'm a womanizing jerk when you can't even make up your mind between Akane and Akari! You are such a hypocrite!"

"SHUT UP!" Stinger bellowed. "IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT I'M SUFFERING! TODAY YOU PAY!"

Stinger reached to his wrist-mounted Inzecter and pressed a button that was planted on its thorax, "HORNET STING!"

Draco cried. "Don't!"

"DIE!" Stinger roared as he charged at Caucasus with his arm raised. Energy was ripping through his body and into the stinger of the Inzecter on his wrist.

Caucasus prepared himself for another round when something happened that no one expected. The Hornet Inzecter on Stinger's wrist suddenly detached itself from him and flew off. Stinger didn't even stop or even seem to notice before his armor started vanishing around his body, leaving him as plain old Ryoga Hibiki.

"What?!" Ryoga cried. He hadn't stopped moving so he was now in front of Caucasus. The gold warrior didn't need much incentive to plant a well-aimed punch into his face. Ryoga went down like a ton of bricks. He was out cold. The only one who had done that was Lime of the Musk Dynasty and retainer of Herb.

"Okay!" Caucasus growled as he looked to the sky. "Just who was the genius that gave this guy an Inzecter?!"

"That would be me," a new voice spoke.

Okay, so now Ryoga has (or had) an Inzecter now. Just what was Shadowcobra thinking? All will be explained in the next chapter. Anyway, the next chap will have the the Inzecter Warriors and Zodiac Knights going up against Happosai. Who do you have ur money on?