Ranma waited for the inevitable, it wouldn't be long now. Suddenly, he felt the Great Will of the Universe being ripped from his being. It was at this exact moment that his little 'surprise' went off. Reality warped itself and everything became white for a second.
When Ranma opened his eyes again, he received a punch straight to the face. Two thugs were holding him against the railing of a boat in pouring rain while a third was beating him up. A short man in white wearing glasses came from behind his tormentor with two more hirelings escorting him. He approached Ranma and searched inside his leather jacket, pulling out a solid gold christian cross set with jewels.
"That's the second time I have to take back something belonging to me from you, professor Saotome !" The man nearly yelled at him in order to be heard in the middle of the coming storm.
Ranma sneered and spoke a little louder "It belongs to a museum !"
"Always the same tune, I see... Throw him off my boat, will you, gentlemen ?" The man turned and walked away from Ranma, the cross secure in his hands. His thugs picked up Ranma to obey their boss but things did not go according to plan.
Ranma took advantage of the momentary loosening of the hold put on him to get free and toss one thug with a judo throw. A well-placed kick in the stomach of the second and a blade hand on the throat of the third took care of the opposition. He jumped right in front of the gagging thug and took two custom pistols and a metallic whip from his belt "Those are mine !" A nice headbutt sent the thief into unconsciousness.
The man in white had seen Ranma freeing himself and getting back his weapons. He motioned at his remaining men to take out the archeologist while he ran away like the stinking gutless coward he was went looking for reinforcements, just in case.
Ranma made short work of the two bodyguards and activated his cyberwhip. The weapon uncoiled and lashed out, grabbing the man in white's legs, sending him crashing on the deck. A quick dash later, Ranma had gotten back the Cross "Third time's the charm, I guess..."
He barely had the time to jump away to dodge a hail of bullets. The crew had decided to join in with automatic weapons "Crap !" He hid behind a corner, drew his pistols and returned fire. Amazingly, all his shots struck home but no one was killed. Then he smelled something... Apparently the engines and the fuel tank had been hit. It was only a matter of time until the boat blew up.
Ranma jumped into the sea (and did not turn into a girl, more on that later) and swam as quickly as he could. Since he had been trained in the Oceanborn technique in his old life, that was saying something. A few seconds later, the boat exploded in a huge fireball, sending debris all around. Ranma paused and took a last look at the burning wreck then got going. He still had a few dozens of miles to cross to find the coast, a piece of cake for him...
*****
Ranma entered his home, looking like a drenched cat (he did not flinch at this thought, more on that later). An english butler came out of a room and walked up to Ranma, taking his wet clothes "I trust you were successfull in your endeavour, Sir ?"
Ranma smiled but said nothing and contented himself with showing the cross to his butler.
"Coronado's cross..."
"Yes. A holy relic brought in the japanese archipel by a spanish priest in the first catholic proselytizing effort of Japan. I think the Tokyo museum will find a nice place for it..."
"Another job well done, sir"
"Yeah, now if you'll excuse me, Nigel... I need a shower and a good night's sleep"
"Of course, sir... May I remind you that you've got an important appointment tomorrow" "Really ? I had forgotten... What was it again?"
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Tue, 18 Mar 2003 21:43)
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