The moment Ranma stepped off the train, he took a moment just to enjoy being in the busy atmosphere of the town of Nekomi. It was a particularly crowded day at the train station with professors and students of NIT (Nekomi Institute of Techonology) going out and about. "Man, it feels good to be back."
"Move it, Saotome! Or we'll miss the bus!" shouted Nabiki.
Before he could retort, a loud cry for help somewhere in the crowd pierced the air. It took a bit of time for him to find the one who let out the scream since the station was crowded but he finally managed to get to the source. On the ground was a young woman dressed in a formal blouse and skirt with a box near her left. "Yamano-sempai?!"
Yamano Satoko, NIT graduate student and girlfriend of Otaki Aoyama of the Motor Club, had a surprised look on her face when she saw the young man. "Ranma-kun? You're back?"
"We can catch up later. What happened?" asked the young man just as the three Tendo sisters caught up with him.
"Somebody stole my purse from me when I had my hands full carrying a surprise for Otaki-kun." At the mention of a purse snatcher, Ranma scanned the streets and was able to make out the silhouette of someone darting away.
"I'll get it back for you. Sit tight!" After exchanging a quick glance with Akane who assured him that the Tendo sisters would look after Satoko, he made his way to the streets and was just in time to see a red Enzo Ferrari drive away with an angry Aoshima Toshiyuki screeching about how he got carjacked. Taking this new information into account, Ranma knew he didn't have much time before the thief would be too far away to chase.
He leapt over the railing which separated the pedestrian sidewalk from the roads of Nekomi and timed it to land neatly on the rooftop of a moving vehicle. 'I may have to thank Pops for that spar on top of the train.' He then focused energy into his legs and leapt forward to another moving vehicle a few spaces ahead of the one that he had just occupied. He did this a few more times but no matter what he did, that Ferrari was still out of reach. It was a good thing that traffic ahead made it difficult to really escape but the Ferrari still had a speed advantage.
Ranma then spotted a familiar white truck just up ahead and knew immediately who was inside of it. He quickly leapt on top of the vehicle's rooftop and knocked on the driver's window. "Otaki-sempai! Tamiya-sempai!"
The two former directors of the NIT Motor Club were quite startled at their friend just popping upside down outside their vehicle window. "Saotome?! When did you get back?"
"That can wait. There's a thief who took Yamano-sempai's purse and he's driving in that red Ferrari up ahead!"
Although neither male could see it, Otaki's eyes hardened beneath his shades. "Hold on tight because we're gonna catch us a thieving bastard!!"
It was times like these that Tamiya wished he was driving instead.
**********
The chase went on for a good forty minutes with the Ferrari leading the trio out to a more remote area of Nekomi. The margin between the two vehicles wasn't as large as one would think it could be since the thief had no clue on how to maximize the potential of the Enzo Ferrari in terms of shifting to the right gears for additional speed. Also, the pursuers were highly skilled mechanics who had a pretty decent vehicle that could keep up with the Enzo to a certain extent. "Otaki-sempai! Get in just a little bit closer!"
Pushing his vehicle's acceleration to the maximum, Otaki was able to close the gap by another four metres. Ranma knew this was probably as good as it gets so he got into the best possible position and took a large jump towards the red vehicle. Tamiya's eyes widened at the athletic ability of the young man who married Skuld and whipped out a camera to take some action shots. After all, it would be a great way to promote the Motor Club if they could claim that they churned out impressive manly men like Morisato and Saotome.
Ranma quickly punched throught the rear glass window to give the driver a good scare. He got in and put a firm grip on the right shoulder of the thief. "Pull over!!"
The driver panicked and by doing so, caused the car to start skidding. Cursing his luck, the martial artist punched the other person's lights out before scrambling to the driver's seat to try and regain control of the car. Thankfully, it was finally able to come to a full stop after skidding for thirty meters. Ranma gave a huge sigh of relief as that took care of things. But now it would take more time to get back to the temple...
He spotted a cell phone that had been recharging in Aoshima's vehicle and picked it up. 'Good. I can call the Temple and let them know I'll be late. Thank goodness Skuld showed me how to work this thing.' He immediately placed the call and heard someone on the other end pick up. "Hello?"
Rather than the Kasumi-esque tone of Belldandy on the other line, a melodic voice answered him instead. "Yes, yes! This is the Earth Assistance Centre! Your luck has earned you the right to the services a Goddess offers. Please stand by!" *CLICK*
'...... oh boy.' Just as that thought came into his head, he saw a bright light from behind him and turned around. He could visibly see Tamiya freaking out at seeing something emerge from his camera. Once the light died down, a female with the markings of a Goddess dressed in skimpy black garments and an orange body accessory appeared in a graceful pose.
She immediately launched into her intro speech. "It's very nice to meet you! From the Earth Assistance Centre, First Class, Second Category, Unlimited..."
"Yo, Peorth!"
"......RANMA?!?"
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(Posted Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:50)
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