Gaia's Awakening --- " " are speaking ' ' are quotes { } are thoughts * * are sounds --- Chapter 3 --- At the Amazon Village, everybody was doing the last preparations before the final attack on the Tyrant's hive. Two Amazon girls were chatting while they verified their weapons. "Perfume, I'm a little worried for tomorrow. Lot's of us will die on the battle field." Said a girl with long cyan hair. "You always worry too much, Lotion. You saw Shampoo and her friends' power, and the Matriarch Cologne herself will be leading us." Perfume replied to her friend. "Yeah, but I heard there was another group fighting the beetle army. Maybe we could join force with them?" "I don't know, last report I heard of, they were naming themselves the 'Chosen of Civa' and seemed to be all insane somehow. Anyway, we are proud Amazons and we don't need no men to battle for us!" "Maybe. But this battle is not ours only. We could use the help." "It's too late to contact them anyway. We must take care of these weapons, we are going to need them." --- When they departed, it was magnificent to see. A little more than a hundred Amazon walking side by side, going to war. The travel took a lot more time than for the elite group, lead by Ranma. The Amazons couldn't allow to be detected before they got to their destination, and the forced stealth just increased the length of their travel. It took them two whole weeks to get to Los Angeles. Already having the plan of the city from the scouting party, they planned an all-out attack. The Amazons were split in several groups and each took its place. Cologne would lead the elite group herself, their goal being the tyrant himself, while the other groups were to deal with the soldiers guarding the headquarter. The attack was finally launched, and the Amazons discovered sadly that the number of enemies was way over what they had planed. But they got the effect of surprise, and a much better training for them. All in all, it was a pure blood bath. --- The Amazon Elite Group tore its way pretty easily into the depth of the building. The only problem was to locate Ma Yuan's exact position, Cologne only being able to sense him if he wasn't too far. Once done, they rushed up to the top of the HQ tower, since the self proclaimed World Master seemed to like high places. When they got to the last couple top levels, they encountered the personal guard, consisting in a War Prince and some Justicers. The Elite Group hold them up while Cologne went to meet with the one that began all this madness. --- Cologne entered the room. It was pretty dark in here, but her sensitive eyes could see even without any light at all, so it was not a problem. The room looked a lot like a typical throne room described on some cheap novels. There were painting on the walls, big windows, some carpets on the floor, and even a throne like chair on the other side of the room. It was not a surprise to see that the chair was occupied. Cologne was more surprised when she saw WHO was sitting there : a frail looking old man. But the huge power she felt in him told her all she needed to know, so she didn't let her guard down. He was the one, of that she was sure. When she started to walk toward him, he spoke. "I see that you finally gathered the courage to face me. Good. It will save me the pain to track all of you." "You wish!" She spat at him. "We'll destroy you and enjoy our freedom. Don't underestimate us!" "We shall see." Ma Yuan sat up and walked a little toward her. "We shall see who is underestimating who." The old man was coolly smirking at her like a cat that cornered a mouse. Slowly, Cologne flamed her aura and allowed it to grow past its bounds until she broke the first seal, her eyes' pupils turning green and her long jade green hair becoming a pale golden yellow, and standing upright defying gravity. Not even fazed, Ma Yuan started to follow her by powering up too. Knowing that her opponent was still holding back, she tried to surprise him and continued to increase her aura, going past the first seal and slowly but surely breaking the second one. The tyrant's eyes widened a little at her transformation, but he said nothing, letting her have this little advantage. The green haired warrior's body started to increase it's muscle masse. She grown half her height, going from her natural 6'4" to an astonishing 9'6", looking like a bulky giant and towering the old man, her skin got a little paler, her eyebrows disappeared, her hair lengthened and fell down past her hips. Finally ready, the Amazon matriarch started the fight, rushing at insane speed for a quick punch to test Ma Yuan's defense. The old man blocked her rather easily, proving that her seeming advantage in power level what not as great as she thought it was. Letting her fury get the better of herself, she thrown blow after blow at her opponent, intending to overpower him before he could counter attack. But her charge was met head on and each blow skillfully blocked or dodged. Smirking knowingly, Ma Yuan let the Amazon lose some stamina in her furious attack, staying on the defensive. Horrified to see that she was being played with so easily, Cologne understood that her actual power level was still not enough to win. Getting some space from her opponent, she started focusing under the vigilant eye of the patient old man. Her battle aura flared a light yellow, with a few lightning bolts dancing in it while the ground shook a little. "Kaioken!" She announced while thinking up about her situation. {Why is he letting me power up like this? Is he that confident in himself?} she thought seeing that her foe's smirk was still there, despite her aura getting bigger and bigger. "You're decided to take me seriously, it seems..." he taunted her. "And you are not, why?" "I know what I'm capable of. And I see nothing to fear in you, my dear." "We'll see!! Yaaa!!" she shout while charging anew. Once again, she pummeled him in hope to find a hole in his defense, but finding none usable. Gathering a little chi, she increased her speed and used the famous Amazon attack called... "Kachu Tenchin Amagouriken!!" She shouted while punching past the speed of sound. But all the result she got was each of her punches side stepped, deflected or merely blocked. "Nice technique... is that the best you can do ? I'm growing tired to play with you. So if you don't mind, I'll speed things up a little." His aura flared and increased until... he broke the second seal too and undergo the same transformation as she did, gaining half his size in height, catching up to her, eyes turning all red and his skin paling. "I'd say I'm sorry but... I'd lie. Bye!" was the last words she'd hear as he punched her in the jaw and send her flying, only to somewhat send a chi blast in the same movement to catch up with her just before she crashed on a wall. The shock made her to lose her control over her battle aura while she slide to the floor, losing the added power it provided her. She slowly crawled back to her feet while Ma Yuan quickly closed the gap between them. It was then that the Amazon Elite Group entered in the room, only to saw their Matriarch, the best Amazon warrior being beaten. "Do not interfere!" Cologne warned Ranma and the others. "He's more than you can take, you can't help me, you'd just get in the way." {He's more powerful than me... I have only one mean to win then...} she thought while a plan was forming in her mind. "Bakusai Tenketsu!!" she shouted, striking the ground with one extended finger, causing it to explode and expulse dirt everywhere, hiding her from the man for a short time. Gathering her remaining force, she called upon the power of the Soul of Ice et stated running around the old man in circles. "You know that's your last chance to defeat me, don't you? Then I'll finish you, I have others guest to entertain too, you see?" chuckled Ma Yuan, sensing her presence without having to see her. "HIRYU..." She was now closing on the old man running into a spiral. "...SHOTEN..." the stopped a couple feet from him and launched an uppercut, missing him from a few inches. "...Urk!" was all she could manage when the man planted his fist deep into her gut. "You were saying something?" he teased her. "...ha." she finished in a whisper, completing the move while the tornado took form and sucked both her and the tyrant. "Impressive technique, beautiful one... but vain against someone who can..." He told her while being sucked by the wind, just before disappearing, leaving her all alone to suffer the wrath of her own deadly technique. "...teleport, like me." He finished several feet away, slowly lowering himself back to the ground, watching the woman he fought being killed by her own tornado. Sighting, he turned toward the teens. "I hope you are not giving it a try. Not that you're not welcome to, but I'd prefer you to surrender. It'd be less painful that way... for you." He warned the group. "You killed Great-grandmother! I'll kill you!" shouted Shampoo, but she got caught by Ranma and Ryoga before she could try to carry out her threat. "Shampoo! Stop! You saw it yourself, you will only get killed if you attack him." Ranma told her, trying to get her to calm down. "Damn, he's much more powerful than what we thought. There is no way for us to beat him if even Cologne's technique didn't even faze him." Commented Ryoga. "It's good to see that you have more brain that your ex-leader." Ma Yuan told them. "You're showing a lot of potential, it'd be a shame to kill you. I got a deal for you." "What could you possibly want from us?" Akane asked. "Well. I suppose you won't be willing to join my army, so if you surrender now and swear to stop opposing me, I'll let you live. What do you say?" asked the old man, powering down to the first seal and letting his form shrank back to normal. The teen looked each others, not believing what they heard. "You're willing to let us go, just like that, even after we tried to kill you and all?" Ranma asked back. "Why not? It's not like you can do anything against me anyway. You fought for what you thought was right, and I like that. Now, I'm giving you the choice to go back with your lives or get killed uselessly in a fight you can't hope to win." Ma Yuan replied. "But if we give up now, what could be the meaning of all of today's deaths? They were counting on us to win this fight. Can we back down without betraying them?" asked Akane. "What good will it do if you die here, if you fail doing what you came here for, anyway?" Ma Yuan answered her. "He's right." Whispered Ranma, surprising everyone. "What did you just said, man?" Ryoga asked him. "YOU accepting defeat without a fight?" "Well, even 'I' know when I'm all over my head. Get real, guys. Even Cologne didn't scratch this guy, what can we hope to do? I, for one, am yielding." Ranma stated, looking at the ground in shame. "I didn't think I'd live to see the day where Ranma Saotome would yield." Ryoga said completely astonished. "Well, deal with it. It may not be what I want in the bottom of my heart, but we got no choice here." Ranma told him back. "So... Will you all be as wise as your friend here? I'm sensing some more amazons coming this way and I want this dealt with before they get there." The old man informed them. "So, guys? What are you doing? Akane, I order you to surrender. I promised your family you'll be fine, so I can't let you die on them." Ranma told her. "But... No, you are right. I'll yield too." Akane said. "Ranma, you'll own me one for this. But I yield too." Said Ryoga. "I must keep my people's spirit alive. I yield too. But this is not the end!" Shampoo warned Ma Yuan. "So it's settled." The old man affirmed smiling. "Now for these beautiful maiden..." he added when fifteen Amazon entered the room. "Here he is! Die!!" They all shouted at once while charging the old man. "Stop! I order you to back down!" tried to yell Shampoo, but the warriors didn't stop to hear her out. "This is sad for them, but I can't do anything less." Said Ma Yuan before getting into action. 60 seconds later, all the warriors were in the floor laying into a forming pool of their own blood, limbs bent in impossible angles. "You killed them!" screamed Shampoo while Ranma and Ryoga restrained her again. "Why? If you're so powerful, you could have rendered them unable to fight anymore!!" "That's the problem. I'm too much powerful to fight against weak fighters like them. I cannot make myself weak enough. Each of my blows are lethal." He informed them. "There must be a way to..." started Ranma, but he was interrupted by a window exploding. Everyone shielded their eyes from the glass. When they turned back to the window, they could see someone floating there, a blonde gaijin guy with short hair, wearing strange clothes like in the old China, several centuries ago. "Well, well... long time no see, Ma Yuan!" said the man. Frowning for the first time in the day, the old man said only one word. "Civa..." --- End or chapter 3. Next chapter : Ma Yuan/Civa, a fight between titans. --- Vampyr666 ICQ : #2971440 Email : Vampyr3@wanadoo.fr http://www.chez.com/vampyr666