CHAPTER 06

-"BASS GETS A NEW ALLY!"-

Last time:

Well, Akane beats up on Ranma and poisons him with her cooking (As usual). Then, she gets beat up by Ryu's number one fan Sakura (If you ask me, Akane had it coming, in my opinion!). Ran learns an awful secret about Akane's past (Aww, that poor girl!). We find out THE MCD's really an angel with a Jusenkyo curse, which causes him to turn human! (WHOA! Didn't see that one coming did you?) And he does it without cold water! Now that Michael Angelus (THE MCD's true identity) has appeared, the Cat Ghost King's getting a little nervous. (OK, he's freaking out!). In response to this as well as to speed up their plans, the feline fiend has summoned his High Priest and Chief Advisor Erick Genryusai. But it seems Erick has a secret agenda of his own – what could it be? Meanwhile, hoping to remember something from her past, Ran willingly undergoes hypnosis – with some unexpected results.

Interesting stuff, huh, folks? Well, if you thought that was cool, check out what happens next!

In the secret fortress of the RED CAT GANG, Dr. Wily, Bass, Treble, and Bubbleman, are in the secret chamber with the statue of the Cat Ghost King. Bass is about to give his report on the progress he's made in locating the Phoenix Stone.

The statue speaks. "Meow! OK, before we go over Erick's new plan, let's hear today's report. Bass, have you found the Phoenix Stone yet?

Bass gives his report. "Funny you should ask, Big Cat. Ya see, we've searched the area around the cliff where we last saw Lady Ran, and….

"We didn't find her," Bubbleman completes Bass' sentence.

This irks Bass, but he continues. "So I assumed that if she fell off the cliff, she would have fallen into the ocean and drowned. I had a team of divers go underwater, you know, to find her body…."

"We didn't find her there, either," Bubbleman completes Bass' sentence - again. That's strike two.

Treble (Bass' mecha-wolf companion), embarrassed, puts his paw to his face. "Grrrrf….(Oh, brother…)", he growls.

An irritated Bass turns on Bubbleman and says, "Hey, Bubbles! You tryin' to make me look bad in front of the Doc and the Big Cat?"

"Oh no, Bass! I was only trying to help."

"Be quiet."

"I mean, all you had to tell them was that we didn't find the girl and…."

"Shut up!"

"Well, I don't see why you're so mad at me. I was just saying…."

Bass has had it! He grabs Bubbleman by the collar and shakes him. "Shut up, will you, shut up!"

"ENOUGH!" Dr. Wily yells. Bass stops shaking Bubbleman and tosses him to the ground. Bubbleman's out cold, with little dizzy swirls in his eyes.

"No more delays, Bass. I want that stone, and I want it NOW!" Dr. Wily tells Bass.

"Don't you start up with me! This mess is all "Dog-Boy's" fault, you know! Grrr! When I get my hands on that guy, I'm gonna….!"

"You'll do what to him, Bass?" a mysterious voice says out of nowhere.

"HUH?" Bass looks around. "Who said that?"

They all turn around to see who it is. Out of the shadows, High Priest Erick Genryusai and his assistant Delia appear.

"Ah, it is my loyal High Priest, Erick!" the Cat Statue purrs.

Erick addresses the Cat Ghost King, "Greetings, oh great one!" Then, to the others, he says, "Greetings to you too, Dr. Wily and Lord Bass."

The sincerity of Erick's greeting catches Bass off guard. "Uhh…yeah, right." Who is this Erick guy, anyway? There's something funny about him and his gal pal…This keeps on getting interesting.

The statue speaks. "You came just in time, Erick. We were discussing about…."

"The Phoenix Stone?" Erick finishes his master's statement. "Yes, I already know about the incident. But you guys may have already made things worse. While you were searching for Lady Ran here, she may have already gone somewhere else. At any rate, she's not here. Trust me, I know."

"What? How?" Bass wants to know.

"You forget, Bass. Lady Ran has the Phoenix Stone. It's got powers that even I don't know about yet. In fact, I believe it protected her, preventing her from falling to a watery grave. You still want to find her, right? I'll even give you a hint: go fishing."

"Go fishing?" WHAT KIND OF A HINT IS THAT?

"Hey, it's a hint, Bass. Take it or leave it. Oh, one more thing!"

Erick looks over in Delia's direction, and she pulls out a small, clear, crystal ball the size of a baseball and gives it to Bass. "Use this to find the Phoenix Stone. And…" He then pulls out a piece of paper with something written on it and gives that to Bass, too. " …if anyone gives you trouble, just use this; it's the sacred word of the RED CAT GANG. It'll come in handy."

"By the way, Dr. Wily meow, how's R doing on his mission?" the statue asks.

Dr. Wily reports, "R is currently attending Furinkan High School as a transfer student. He's learned some new moves that he believes will help him destroy Ranma Saotome. It won't be long before he takes care of him."

"That's good. Meow! OK, now let's talk about the new plan Erick has for us. Take it away, Erick! Meow!"

Erick bows. "Thank you. As I said last time, my plan is to set up surveillance cameras on many areas of Nerima, that way we will have eyes and ears everywhere. By doing this, we will know our enemies, know their weakness, their desires, everything. But in order for us to carry out this plan, I'll need to borrow the men under Lord Bass's command."

"WHAT? HEY! He can't do that! That's MY search party!" Bass exclaims.

"Well, somebody has to put up the cameras all over Nerima. Delia and I can't do it all by ourselves, you know."

"But how am I supposed to find Lady Ran WITHOUT my search party?"

"Oh, Bass, don't whine! Just use that crystal. It's like a metal detector; only it's attracted to magical objects. Find the Phoenix Stone, and you'll find Lady Ran. Simple."

Satisfied with the current plan, the statue of the Cat Ghost King glows in approval. "Meow! OK! You all know what to do. Now..." A dramatic pause. "Go! Meow!"

Dr. Wily turns to his second-in-command, "Bass….!"

Bass rolls his eyes – he knows what the old fool's going to say. So he replies, "Yeah, yeah, I know, grab Bubbleman, and let's go back to the lab."

Bass picks up the unconscious Bubbleman, effortlessly slinging him over his shoulder, and then he and Dr. Wily leave the secret chamber. Erick and Delia, however, remained behind. Then, Erick and the Cat Ghost King have a conversation of their own… "Erick, it seems our "old friend" has returned," the statue says.

Erick pretends to be surprised. "Michael Angelus? But how?"

Little does the Cat Ghost King know that Erick ALREADY knows that his rival Michael Angelus is on Earth.

"It doesn't matter. Erick, it will be your job to keep Angelus from interfering. Give him a hard time, bug him, tease him, whatever it takes, but do NOT allow him to foil my master plan!"

"Don't worry. I'll keep Angelus out of your fur."

"See that you do, Erick. Meow!"

"Of course, my master."

Then Erick and Delia leave the secret chamber.

Later, Bass is getting ready to leave the secret fortress and continue his search for Ran and the Phoenix Stone.

Erick appears out of nowhere, startling Bass. "Hey, Bass!"

"ACK! Why, you….! DON'T DO THAT!"

"Sorry. Actually, I wanted to speak to you in private. I heard that the Cat Ghost King has promised you a kingdom if you get the Phoenix Stone back for him. Am I right?"

He's been talking to the Big Cat behind my back. He's up to something, Bass thinks. Out loud, annoyed, he replies, "Yeah? What's it to you?"

"Well… Every good king needs a royal advisor. Allow me to serve you, Lord Bass." Erick bows to Bass.

This surprises Bass. "HUH? Uhh……" Then, "Yeah, right. Serve me? Why would you want to do that?"

"I have my reasons, Bass. For now, let's just say that you're not the only one who's not too keen on the new star of the RED CATS."

Bass knows who Erick's talking about. "Lemme guess…."Dog-Boy"?"

Erick laughs, "Yes, that's a good name for Lord R. I like it! It fits him. He is a dog isn't he? You have a great sense of humor, Bass!" His tone of voice at this point gets serious. "But anyway, with my help, you'll be able to find Lady Ran and the Phoenix Stone a lot quicker."

Bass seems to like Erick's idea. "Hmm…. Sounds interesting. But what do YOU get out of it?"

"Bass, I'm hurt! I guess working for Dr. Wily has made you rather skeptical. Believe me, I'm on YOUR side. I believe we'll make a great team. Besides, seeing Lord R humiliated and broken is more than enough reward for me." For now, anyway…

Bass is interested. "Really? Is that so? Hmmm…. Very well, you've got a deal." He then shakes hands with Erick.

Erick seems pleased. "I knew I could count on you, Bass. You won't be disappointed."

"I had better not!"

Erick sweatdrops. "Err…right. Anyway, you go ahead and continue the search. That crystal I gave you also acts as a communicator. I'll be keeping in touch with you from time to time until we join R in Nerima."

Then Bass leaves. Delia appears behind Erick. "Can we really depend on him, Erick?"

"Of course, De-chan," he tells her. "Dr. Wily might not think so, but Bass WILL succeed in his mission. I personally intend to make sure that he does. We'll need him if we're going to deal with Michael Angelus. And once both Angelus and Ranma Saotome are out of the way, then nothing will stand in the way of the Cat Ghost King's return. The world will be ours, my love. It won't be long…"

Bass, along with Treble and Bubbleman, continues to search for Ran and the Phoenix Stone. They left the secret fortress, and are wandering through the woods when all of a sudden the crystal that Erick and Delia gave him starts to glow. It shoots out a ray of light, pointing them in the direction they should go. The three robots follow it all the way through the forest until they reach a small town. In this town, the people make their living by fishing. Bass thinks: Ah! This must be what Erick meant when he said, "Go fishing".

"Say, Bass, why did that crystal lead us here?" Bubbleman asks.

"I dunno, Bubbles. But we're here now, and it's a LOT better than wandering around in that forest! Let's go in; besides, somebody might have seen Lady Ran here."

They enter the town and head for the docks. We can see fishing boats of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. Then, we see an old man sitting on the dock of the bay. Bass and Bubbleman walk up to the man. Rudely, Bass asks, "HEY! Old man! Do you know where we can find this girl?" He shows the old man a picture of Ran.

The old man crosses himself with a look of terror. "Aaaagh! Who sent you?"

"The RED CAT GANG, that's who!"

The name hits like a shot. "Aaaagh! No. Never. We've seen no girls here," the old man tells Bass.

"Look here, you old geezer! If you don't tell us where we can find the girl, my friend and I will say ..." Bass looks around worriedly, as if he's embarrassed concerning what he's about to say next. "... We will say..." He pulls out the piece of paper with the RED CATS "Sacred Word" and reads it. "NI!"

"OH! Do your worst!"

"Very well. If you won't help us voluntarily, then ... NI!"

"ACK! No! Never! No, I will not tell you anything! No girls!"

"NI!"

Bubbleman tries to say the word, but instead it comes out like "NU! NU!"

Bass winces at Bubbleman's error. "No, it's not that, it's "NI!""

"NU!"

"No, no, no! It's "NI!" You're not doing it right. NI!"

Bubbleman tries to say "Ni". "Nee. Neeee….!"

"Ni, that's it! That's it! You've got it! NI! NI!"

Bass and Bubbleman continue to say "Ni" to the old man until he passes out unconscious. Then, a stranger driving an old, beat-up truck loaded with fresh fish appears out of nowhere. "Excuse me, but are you saying "Ni" to that old man?"

"Uhh…. Yeah?" Bass replies innocently.

"Oh, these are sad times are they not?" the fisherman laments. "When passing ruffians can say "Ni!" at will to innocent people! There is a pestilence upon this land! Nothing is sacred. Even those who catch and sell fish are under considerable economic stress at this period in history."

"Wait a minute! Did you say ... fish?"

The fisherman proudly says, "Yes. Fish are my trade. I am a fisherman. I catch, and sell fish!"

Bubbleman waves his arms and yells rather aggressively at the fisherman, "NI! NI! NI! NI! NI! NI! NI! NI! NI!"

At this point, Bass pulls out a large mallet and whacks Bubbleman over the head with it!

WHUNK!!

"Ni….," Bubbleman says weakly, as he falls over, unconscious, with little dizzy swirls in his eyes – again!

Bass points to the now-unconscious form of Bubbleman. "You'll have to excuse my friend; he's an idiot. Say, you wouldn't have seen this girl by any chance, would you?" He shows the fisherman Ran's picture.

The fisherman looks at the picture, and says. "Nope, sorry. Can't say I've seen her before… (Realizes something) Although, I did see something strange floating in the water while I was out fishing a few days ago. It looked like a glass bubble, and it was giving off an eerie red glow…. I doubt if that's any help to you.

Bass remembers what Erick said back in the secret chamber. "Lady Ran has the Phoenix Stone. It's got powers that even I don't know about yet. In fact, I believe it protected her, preventing her from falling to a watery grave."

Bass smiles knowingly, "Oh…you've been really helpful, sir. Thanks a lot!"

The fisherman cheerfully says, "Oh, you're welcome. And, please, feel free to come and buy your fresh fish from me, instead of saying "Ni" to innocent people!" He then drives off in his truck.

Bass thinks, What a weirdo! Then he notices the crystal's vibrating and takes it out; out loud, he says, "OK, you stupid crystal! Show me where that Phoenix Stone is!"

Once again, the crystal shoots out a ray of light, pointing out the location of the Phoenix Stone. Only this time, a bunch of numbers appears inside it. Remembering that the crystal can also be used as a communicator, Bass decides to call Erick. He yells at the crystal ball, "HEY! YO! ERICK!"

Erick's voice responds, You don't have to yell Bass! I can hear and see you just fine.

"Whatever. Listen, this crystal of yours is acting funny. I got a bunch of numbers popping up inside it!"

Numbers? They might be map coordinates. Tell me what they are, and I'll check, OK?

Bass gives Erick the numbers. We see Erick in a darkened room, with a lot of mist floating around on the ground. It's his private lair, hidden somewhere in the RED CAT GANG's secret fortress. He goes over to a large crystal ball floating on a platform and pushes a button on the side. A hidden keyboard slides out from a panel on the platform. Erick punches the numbers in with the keyboard, and a map appears inside the crystal ball. They ARE map coordinates, and they lead to….)

Uh oh…

"What? What's wrong?"

Bass, abort your mission and return to base immediately!

WHAT?

Look, I'll explain everything when you get back, OK? Just hurry up!

Then Erick hangs up. Bass, wondering what got Erick so worried, picked up the unconscious Bubbleman (again!), and he and Treble return to to the secret fortress.

When they arrive, two RED CAT soldiers escort them to Erick's secret lair. Once inside, Bass wants to know what's gotten this so-called High Priest all worked up. "OK, Erick, what's going on?"

Erick is still at his crystal ball / computer when Bass and Treble enter his room. He turns to Bass and says, "Bass, take a look at this map, and tell me what you see."

Bass goes over to the crystal ball and looks at the map. He's surprised when he sees where the object of their quest is currently located. "Well, whaddya know, it's…"

Erick replies, "Yep. Nerima, Japan. Lady Ran is there, and so is the Phoenix Stone."

"But how?"

"It's like I said. It's the Phoenix Stone's power at work. I overheard your conversation with that fisherman earlier, and what he said just proves it. The Phoenix Stone created a protective bubble around Lady Ran. Then the bubble, with Lady Ran inside, floated all the way across the ocean, washing ashore somewhere in Japan. From there, I believe she made her way on foot to Nerima."

"Well, that's just great! All we have to do now is go to Nerima, force Lady Ran to give us that stone, and finish her off once we get it, right? No problem!"

"You're wrong Bass; there IS a problem! You forget – that dog R is also in Nerima, too. I fear that Lady Ran's presence may have an adverse effect on his brainwashed mind. He's difficult enough to work with as is. Imagine if Lord R regained his memories and finds out what we intend to do with him? I shudder to think what would happen!"

"Is that what's bothering you? Gimme a break! Look, Doc Wily took care of that by brainwashing the idiot! "Dog-Boy" might be a pain in our rears, but at least he's on our side. So stop worrying already!"

"Well, anyway, we'll go ahead and put up the surveillance cameras like we originally planned. But, we should also go and report these new developments about Lady Ran and the Phoenix Stone to Dr. Wily and the Cat Ghost King."

Bass shrugs, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

And so Erick, Bass (still carrying the unconscious Bubbleman), and Treble leave and head for the Cat Ghost King's secret chamber. There's going to be a change in plans….

TO BE CONTINUED…