Gaia's Awakening
---
" " are speaking
' ' are quotes
< > are thoughts
* * are sounds
---
Chapter 3
---

Amazon Village, last preparation before the final attack.

Two Amazon girl were chatting while they verified the weapons.

"Perfume, I'm a little worried for tomorrow. Lot's of us will die on this
battle." Said a girl with long cyan hair.

"You always worry too much, Lotion. You saw Shampoo and her friends' power,
and the Matriarch Cologne will be leading us." Perfume replied to her
friend.

"Yeah, but I heard there was another faction fighting the beetle army. Maybe
we could join force with them?"

"I don't know, last report I heard of, they were names the 'Chosen of Civa'
and seemed all insane somewhat. And Amazons don't need no men to battle for
them!"

"Maybe. But this battle is not for us only. We could use the help."

"It's too late to contact them anyway. We have better to take care of this
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 when it was only the elite group, lead
by Ranma. The Amazons couldn't be detected before they got to their
destination, and it added to the length of the travel.

It took them two whole weeks to get to Los Angeles.

Already having the plan of the city from the scouting done, they planned the
all-out attack. So each group took its place, Cologne leading 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 much more than what they had planed. But they got
the surprise, and better training for them.

All in all, it was a pure blood bath.

---

The Amazon Elite Group tore its way pretty easily in the depth of the
building. The only problem was to locate Ma Yuan's 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 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 being 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 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 power she sensed in him was enough for her to not
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 got 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 red and her long jade
green hair becoming a pale emerald. 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 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 eyes turned all red
while her skin and hair got more and more pale, nearly white.

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 green,
with a few lightning bolts dancing in it while the ground shook a little.

<Why is he letting me get stronger 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...

"Kachu Tenchin Amagouriken !!" She shouted while punching past the speed of
the sound. But all she got for result 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 her, 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 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..." the circles were closing on the old man. "...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
in 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 alone to suffer the wrath of her own 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?" Ranko 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.

"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... you are right. I yield too." Akane said.

"If Ranma yield, so do I." Ranko added.

"Ranma, you'll own me one for this. 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 in
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 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 her.

"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 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.
---

Author's notes :

Argh...
Two whole month without writing... somewhat I couldn't get the courage to
continues to write even if the story is planned up until the end...
Well, seeing that I could have done SO much better in the previous chapters,
I thought about rewriting it... but I think I'll finish the first arc of the
story, which will be done with next chapter. I'll see then if I have
increased my writing skills enough to start a rewrite or if I go on with the
story.

Well... I have my other fanfic to write too (Reincarnations)... I still need
to finish to translate the first chapter from french to english. It's about
50% done but it's taking MUCH more time for me to simply translate it than
to write it directly in english... ^_^;

Well... next chapters of Reincarnation might be easier to write since I'll
start to condense some parts of the canon manga. Maybe I'll be able to
finish the first arc one day. It's meant to be a long saga, each book being
a different xover...
Wait and see...

Vampyr666


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