'Please let this be all of them.' Ranma thought, having found his way back to the room on the second floor where the cryptosaurs had been contained. To his relief, the number of cages was small, so Argost had at most seven cryptosaurs here assuming that the dobhar-chu were not also originally contained in this room. The downside was of course only one of the cryptosaurs was still in this room, meaning Ranma had to go find the others.
"Six dinosaurs loose in an office building, now there's an anime arc for you." He commented. Fisk grunted in a way that sounded like he was agreeing.
Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a white metal orb that had a purple button on it. He glanced at the dinosaur cryptid, which strongly resembled an iguanadon and was looking around for something to eat, then pocketed it again.
"Ehh wuaat?" Fisk asked, pointing at his pocket.
Ranma shook his head. "Not yet. I've only got one chance, I need to get them all in one place. But this room won't hold them anymore. We need to lure them all somewhere. But how can I do that when I can't command them?"
With no ideas coming to him, Ranma decided to go with the famous Saotome logic of 'why not' and went up to the iguanadon. It saw him but paid him no mind, still looking for some foliage to eat. Ranma jumped at it and got himself on it's back. Now the iguanadon was agitated and tried to force him off, but he was holding tightly. At least as tightly as he could considering there were no reins.
"Easy boy, or girl, the food's out there." He said, kicking at it to make it move. The iguanadon went forward alright, still trying to dislodge him, but he left the cryptosaur out of the room and into the hall. Fisk, Dragoon, and Fu got out of the way and followed behind him. "Good, now let's go find the rest. I just hope they're too big to have left the floor."
"What the heck is that thing?" Akane shrieked.
Genma broke off a fake tree and used it to prevent the dimetrodon from chomping on whatever part of him the cryptid wanted to eat. "It's a Nguma-monene, but right now forget the name and try to get it subdued!"
Without a weapon Nodoka wasn't much of a fighter compared to her husband and son, and it wasn't like Argost was going to let her keep her sword while in captivity. Having little other choice, she grabbed the pot that the fake tree had been in and battered the dimetrodon's head with it. The cryptid let go of the fake tree and passed out on the floor.
"Nice hit dear." Genma praised.
"It would have been better if I had my sword." She muttered. "I'm not leaving without getting it back."
"What are you going to do? Make Argost give it back?" Genma asked. The look on his wife's face told him she intended exactly that. "Nodoka, you know it's not going to be that easy."
"We're secret scientists, we accomplish what the rest of the world says is impossible."
Genma took a deep breath. "Well, you're not going without me."
"What about me?" Akane asked.
"You can't handle this, so I suggest you get out of the building without letting something follow you." Genma told her just before he and Nodoka ran down the hall.
"Seriously? You made me come just to tell me to go away once we're here?" Akane huffed, taking offense. "I'm a martial artist too, if they can handle these things I can too."
She did walk away, but she wasn't going to head to the exit. Not yet anyway.
"And of course Argost would have to bring one of these here." Ranma groaned, trying to subdue a cryptid in a body hold. This particular cryptid was one that strongly resembled a tyrannosaurus, though clearly a young one but still big enough to pose a threat to any normal person. Ranma was on it's back trying to figure out how to apply a sleeper hold on the cryptid, and it was doing a more effective job of trying to thrash him off. And of course he wasn't acting alone, Fisk was trying to restrain a single leg, as effectively as that sounds, while Fu was biting the foot on the other leg and Dragoon was pecking at the tyrannosaur's eyes. That last one was probably just making things worse.
"C'mon, I know I can control you." Ranma stated, his eyes glowing with his clawed staff tightly gripped. Yet the tyrannosaur refused to comply. It kept trying to shake him off, and once even attempted to crush him against a wall. It didn't like that so it hadn't tried that again, though Ranma was probably more hurt than the dinosaur was. "I need some help here."
"Whoa! Is that what I think it is?"
'Not her.' Ranma thought, not needing to turn around to know that Akane had somehow gotten behind them, seeing him and his cryptid companions trying to corral the cryptosaur. However the tyrannosaur turned around instead in its attempt to free itself from him. Distracted, Ranma lost his grip and flew into a wall. Fisk lost his grip and well but had a softer landing. The tyrannosaur roared and moved its head in an attempt to chomp down on Dragoon, but the flying reptile succeeded in getting away, going to Akane and tried to warn her to escape.
Akane ignored Dragoon and just stared at the bigger cryptid in horror, her instincts unable to reach a proper conclusion. The tyrannosaur paused for a bit, taking some breaths while enjoying no longer having an uninvited passenger, and saw Akane.
"Get out of here!" Ranma told her despite groaning.
Akane however stood as still as possible. 'Don't move, it can't see me if I don't move.'
The tyrannosaur roared again and charged at her. And then she ran away with Dragoon following.
Ranma, Fisk, and Fu all got up and chased after them. Ranma tried forcing his will onto the cryptosaur with all his might, but it was still refusing to comply with him. 'Dammit, I've got to stop it the hard way. But it's literally nature's perfect killing machine, there's no way for a human to take it down barehanded.'
Akane simply continued to run, grateful more than ever that she was a routine jogger. At one point the dinosaur came close to biting her and it was nothing short of pure luck and adrenaline that helped her avoid its teeth. She turned a corner and the dinosaur tried as well, though it had a harder time with the confining spaces of the hallway and smacked into the wall. It wasn't hurt and quickly resumed the chase, but it gave Akane plenty of time to put more distance between them.
'Dammit, I don't have a choice anymore.' Ranma thought, reaching into his pocket to take out the white metal orb he had taken out not too long ago. He pushed the purple button and the orb flatten into a disk the size of a frisbee and extended a small keyboard to the side with a screen.
'Home destination?' The screen asked.
Ranma pushed the clear button erasing the message and began to type in something. 'Dammit I don't know what the specific coordinates are. Thanks a lot Pops, waiting till I'm older sure worked as planned for you didn't it?' He mentally rued, forced to type in his best guess.
In the meantime the dinosaur had tried to catch up to Akane. She got the idea to get to another floor and went to an elevator since it was the first chance she saw, but it wasn't coming fast enough. The tyrannosaur got to her before the door opened and she screamed.
"Here goes nothing!" Ranma yelled, coming up to them both and pushing a button.
All of a sudden there was a flash of light, then the light faded and the hallway was empty.
"What was that?" Gozaboro asked, pointing at the monitor that was in the hall that used to have Ranma and Akane in it. Acting quickly, he went to a separate monitor and pulled up the recent video history, thus leaving the other monitor to continue filming. Finding the right footage, he replayed it, and then replayed it again in slow motion.
"That... that looked like some kind of teleportation." Gozaboro said to himself. He zoomed in the camera, showing that the pigtailed boy had something in his hand and that was the origin of the flash of light before everything vanished. "That's it. The Secret Scientists possess some form of authentic teleportation technology. No wonder they think they can get these dinosaurs out of my building without being caught by the public."
A sudden realization came to the businessman, making him come close to snarling. "Did Argost know of this? The Secret Scientists have technology that could potentially double or triple my current profits easily and he's trying to buy me off with mere animals?"
He clenched a fist, looking like he wanted to punch the masked albino in the face. "He must be scamming me. After all, it's what I would do in his place. It's what anyone would do. Well fuck him. I'll continue working with him, but only until I find out how to get these technologies and whatever power that stone of his grants. Then I'll stab him in the back. He'll regret thinking I'm harmless. Mark my words Argost and Secret Scientists, I will destroy you both and build my empire on your ashes."
Walking down an empty hall, Argost came to a stop. He put a finger by his mouth, looking oddly satisfied.
"Hmm... I appear to have lost a connection to one of my annelids. And yet, now it's back. Odd, but it must mean something. Ah, perhaps one of them succeeded in getting a cryptosaur away from here, disrupting the psychic signal but only momentarily. I should take a look."
He closed his eyes, and with some mental probing he could see a sort of vision. Visions of trees and wildlife, and a frightened human girl. The vision shifted to look around, and he could see Ranma and the other cryptids as well.
Argost stopped the vision and opened his eyes. "Wonderful, it appears the children are all alone. Now I just need to get the parents to react according." He chuckled to himself a little and continued walking, taking out a cellphone in the process and beginning to dial.
Genma had been going down a hall with Nodoka beside him when all of a sudden he stopped and forced her to stop too. Right away a gunshot was heard and a hole could be seen in the wall near them. Genma knew that while he was faster than he looked, he wasn't fast enough to dodge a bullet. That had been a warning shot.
"Looking for something?" A man's voice was heard asking them in English. The couple turned, seeing a masked man holding a gun. More specifically, a metal skull mask concealing his entire head. His attire was a short sleeve black shirt under a brown vest, black pants with brown boots, grey gloves, and some kind of pack on his back that the two couldn't see clearly. The gun looked like an ordinary pistol. And in his other hand was Nodoka's sheathed sword.
"What do you want? If you didn't want something you wouldn't have bothered with a warning shot." Genma replied, speaking English.
"I'm just a hired hand, so this isn't personal. But I am curious what the big guy wants with you." He surprised them by lowering his gun and putting it in the holster. "I don't like being given vague answers. 'Keep them from finding me or this sword' isn't enough for me. Not for the price he's paying. So..."
He then surprised them again by tossing Nodoka's sword towards them. Nodoka swiftly caught it and held it close to her, like he would take it back if she didn't.
"I wanna see what it is you can do that he doesn't want you doing."
"You can't be serious." Genma argued.
The man shrugged. "It's not like I can't just take it back when I have my answers." He reached behind himself and took out some kind of baton. Both Nodoka and Genma suspected there was more to it than just a hard thwack. "Go ahead, show me why someone would pay me to keep you unable to fight."
Gritting her teeth, Nodoka unsheathed her sword. "I've been dealing with that son of a bitch Argost since before my son was born. The fact he paid you to keep me from fighting him should have been your first clue." Right there in her hands, the blade of her sword burst into flames, seemingly without cause. Yet Nodoka looked like this was nothing new to her.
"It was." The man calmly replied, then he came at her.
Nodoka moved her sword horizontally to block his attack, and he hit her sword with his baton. Flames flicked away but did not subside, while sparks and a brief flash of light emitted, as if Nodoka had hit a bugzapper. The man then raised his free fist, and from his glove burst a strange purple gas in her face. Nodoka coughed and backed away, giving the man an opening to swing his baton and hit her in the side. She felt an electrical shock not unlike a taser and screamed.
Genma naturally started making an effort to help his wife, but something wrapped around his ankle and made him lose his balance. He caught himself from falling on his face, but he was still down on one knee.
"What did I tell you about starting the fun without me?"
Genma looked around and saw a woman wearing a full body black leather jumpsuit. She had gloves on, a white belt with pouches, black boots, and a mask that looked like something out of a kabuki play. The only reason he knew it was a woman was because the outfit clung to her breasts rather well in a way he'd expect out of a manga. There was also some brown hair visible behind the mask in a style that reminded Genma of Kasumi and Akane.
"Did you take care of the cryptids they brought with them?" The asked man asked the masked woman.
"No I couldn't find them. Guess they're with the son, or maybe they're dinosaur food."
Having been untying the snare around his ankle this whole time, Genma got free and went to support his wife. He threw a punch at the masked man, hitting him in the chest and knocking him away. The masked woman responded by closing the distance between her and him, withdrawing the tether in the process, and then delivering a kick directly into Genma's right achilles tendon. The pain made Genma freeze and fall to both knees this time despite his body protesting the descent.
"They're not so tough." The masked woman said.
"Or maybe we were holding back." Nodoka warned, gritting her teeth. With a speed that implied a surge of adrenaline responsible, she got back up and swung her sword at the masked man. He blocked with his baton, but Nodoka quickly swung again at his open side, forcing him to back away to avoid it. He could still feel some of the heat from the flames though. He put his hand at the affected area, certain that he had a heat rash at the very least from that.
"Where did you get that sword?" He asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't every day you saw swords on fire after all.
"You're in no position to know that story." Nodoka repeated, parrying his attempt at another hit back.
Genma rolled over and quickly worked to untie the tether at his ankles, thankfully good with bindings. The masked woman released the tether on her end only to reach for something that looked like a knuckle brace. However, she stopped and took out a phone too, holding it to her ear.
"Boss, now is not a good time." She paused. "Really?" Another pause. "Okay, got it." She ended the call and pocketed the phone. "Hey, job's over, the boy is heading to the Kur Stone now. Boss says we're to follow him."
"What?" Genma said in disbelief, free and getting to his feet.
The masked man jumped away from Nodoka. "If you say so." He then threw down a smoke pellet, one that included a rather nasty odor and forced Nodoka to back away and cover her face. He left, and so did the masked woman.
"Are you okay Nodoka?" Genma asked, coming to his wife and getting her away from the smelly smoke.
"What did that bitch say about our son?" She asked.
"She said that Ranma was heading to the Kur Stone. But that's impossible. I never told Ranma that the stone even exists let alone where it is. And he himself admitted he didn't know anything about it."
Nodoka did not look relieved. "What if Argost informed him?"
"That doesn't change the fact that Ranma doesn't know where it is." Genma pointed out. "So where could he possibly go?"
Nodoka's eyes widened and her jaw slightly dropped. "The only place he knows we keep secret things but he barely ever goes to himself."
Genma got the implication and his expression turned to horror as well. "No, we cannot risk Argost finding that place. Please tell me you weren't there when he abducted you Nodoka."
She shook her head. "No, I was out getting supplies and having some fun. He never came near the Sanctuary."
"If Ranma goes there, Argost will destroy everything we have." Genma stated. "But if we just leave, the cryptosaurs will escape and run through downtown Tokyo. I hate to say it, but our priority is getting the cryptosaurs back where they belong."
Nodoka was hesitant, but nodded. "Do it as fast as possible Genma."
"Sheesh Ranma couldn't you have warned me about that light?" Akane complained, rubbing her eyes unable to see anything. She then felt a set of arms grab her around the waist and run off carrying her, much like how she imagined cavemen would abduct cavewomen for perverse reasons.
"Hey let go of me!" She tried fighting off her carrier.
"You want that thing to get you while you're blind?" Ranma's voice was heard asking.
That put the mental image of a tyrannosaur chomping down on her because she couldn't see, and so she stilled herself. If Ranma could see he was her best chance of getting away in one piece.
In her silence, Akane could now hear what was going around her, and it became quite apparent that something was different. She could hear many animals, wind blowing through trees, the buzzing of insects, and something crunching under Ranma's feet with each step he took. She could even smell things that she knew couldn't possibly be inside a Japanese office building. Things she didn't know how to describe.
"Where the heck are we?" Akane asked, hearing the roar of the dinosaur behind her. She yelped and went quiet again, hoping Ranma had gotten them far away enough. Her vision was returning, but everything was still out of focus.
"The only place in the world were a cryptid like that belongs. We're in the Congo."