A/N: Greetings, Patient Readers! This was supposed to be the last chapter, but it was getting pretty long, so the final chapter has been broken into two sections. Here’s Part 1!

Ranma at the top of the world

It didn’t take me too long to find the fortress.

This area of the Tibetan plateau, the ‘roof of the world’, was remote enough that anyone who built a fortress here didn’t have to worry that adventurous tourists might stumble across it. Without Akane’s coordinates, I would’ve had a tough time, too.Behind me, the Himalayas rose in awesome majesty like a line of young kings, tall and proud. In the southwest, I could make out Mount Kailas, the home of Shiva, the Destroyer.

I shivered slightly as I stood in the shadow of an overhanging snowy rock, assessing the fortress from what I could see of it. The stark contours of Zhang’s home spoilt the serene spirituality of this land. The guards making their rounds outside were useless little thugs, unworthy to be here. I wondered how Zhang had even discovered this place. I turned to my companion.

“It’s your fault we’re in this mess, pal,” I said. “If Akane hadn’t taken on the assignment, she’d be safe at home by now.”

“You can’t pin this on me, Mr. Saotome,” my companion replied with some asperity. Sir Blaine’s lined, aristocratic face was grey with fatigue and his English accent sharp with temper. The man had endured a lot before I’d rescued him. “Miss Tendo had a job to do. I didn’t pick her lifestyle for her.”

“Most clients don’t lead her on a chase across the entire Asian continent without explaining the situation to her,” I snapped. “The only reason I’m bringin’ you along is as soon as the diamond is in your hands, Akane’s job is over, and you can find your own way back home!”

Now I had to find her, and Mousse, that low-down sly…

Never mind that, I told myself. It’s time to go get Akane and that diamond and hope she hasn’t gotten in way over her head.

*****************

Akane in a jam

I know what you’re thinking…and yeah, maybe I was out of my depth a little, but hey, I was keeping my head above water…okay, enough of that metaphor.

“Akane, where’s Mousse?” Shampoo demanded, rubbing her toes before releasing her foot and looking around. “You said he was here.”

The long-haired Amazon looked like some kind of gypsy in her gaping pink, tunic and silky mane. She was even wearing a pair of large hoop earrings. Only her very short miniskirt took away from the image. In contrast, I was wearing jeans and a Tibetan-wool sweater, and gloves. I’d lost my wool cap in the dancing blades of doom. Shampoo looked like Mata Hari, fitting her role of slinky seductive spy. I looked like…James’ Bond’s disheveled nerd mechanic.

“Actually, I didn’t say he was here, precisely…I sort of lost him.” Abashed, I looked around the corridor myself. I didn’t particularly want to find Mousse. The gorgeous, green-eyed martial artist had suddenly developed a tendre for me and I didn’t know what to do about it. My guess was that maybe the strain of this case was getting to him, or, you know, he’d been smoking too much of that homebrewed opium or something.

Yeah, I was making jokes, but I was trying to keep it light because I was getting a strong feeling that I shouldn’t have climbed into that plane with Mousse so easily, because now I was starting to feel a little alone, and I’d never felt that way when I was working with Ranma.

Get a grip, I told myself sternly. You’ve been working alone for a long time now, and you’ve only been working together with Ranma for seven days!

Still, those seven days had shown me how great it could be to have a partner, someone to count on, someone to rag on, someone who you could trust your back to. Working the delivery business, I’d come across others of my kind. Some had partners, but most preferred to work alone, as I had. Until now, I’d thought it was the best way to be.

Shampoo moved off, and I ran after her, hissing, “Where are you going?!”

“To find Mousse,” she hissed back, still moving. “Why don’t you go find someone else’s partner to seduce!”

Oops. So Shampoo was aware of the sexual undercurrent between Mousse and me, but of course she lay all the blame for that at my door. Still, now that I’d found her, I wasn’t about to lose her that quickly. I ran after her, alert for trouble and thinking about Ranma still.

Just because I liked him as a partner didn’t mean that he’d be willing to continue to work with me. He was a bodyguard, and maybe that was the kind of job he preferred, lots and lots of rules, something the martial student in him understood. My job was a bit of a free-for-all.

I followed Shampoo reluctantly, trying to figure out how far I could trust her.

The hallway back was empty and we still hadn’t found Mousse. Shampoo was a few feet ahead of me and she turned to look back at me impatiently.

Shekuto stepped between us.

I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart froze in my chest for one long second, then stuttered and sped up into a super-fast rhythm of fear. Shekuto looked between me and Shampoo, who stared back at him in shock. She had just reached the end of our corridor, and could see down the corner.

“Akane Tendo and Xian Pu,” Shekuto drawled, his menacing six-foot frame outlined in forbidding black. The soft material of his ninja’s outfit especially framed his soccer-ball sized biceps and massive barrel-like chest. his legs were slim in comparison, I saw.

“How nice to have my two women together.” He smiled regretfully. “It looks like I’ll have to pick one of you to play with right now, and leave my ninjas to retrieve the other later…”

Shampoo bolted.

“Shampoo!” I gasped in indignation as the curvaceous agent’s curling locks whipped around the corner after her. My heartbeats increased in tempo. Sweat crawled down my back as I realized that for the first time, I was alone with Shekuto. The bastard was chuckling. And coming towards me.

********************

Mousse’s Dilemma

Mousse ducked behind a pillar to avoid yet another guard as he made his way down the huge stone steps into the basement of the fortress. Here was where Zhang’s weapons would be, he knew. Once he found them, he could legitimately call in his troops. He moved his hand to the tiny radio in the small of his back, letting it hover over the small unit. He’d already checked as many rooms on the first two floors as he could get away with. Finally, instinct had led him down here.

As he reached the end of the stairs, he worried about Shampoo and Akane. Had the short-haired beauty found his partner yet? Had he distracted her too much for her to stay sharp? His attempts at seduction had just been something fun to try, at first. But somewhere along the way, he’d found himself wanting her genuinely. It surprised him. He pondered the dilemma as he trod the damp stony corridor, dimly lit. The slender pillars and the shadows offered a variety of hiding places to anyone who cared to try an ambush, but Mousse’s senses told him the basement had just been recently vacated. He’d taken care of a lot of the guards, but he’d expected more down here.

There. Mousse stopped. On the left, huge double doors, barred and locked. This must be it. He felt it within his bones. Moving right up to the door, Mousse pulled a modified wire-cutter out of one shirt sleeve and deftly cut open the chains. The links made a loud, clinking sound as they reluctantly slid through the door handles and crashed to the ground. Mousse opened the doors, already knowing what he would see.

The room was lit with a single, small electric light, but that was enough to illuminate the rows and rows of boxes, racks of guns, and crates of precious merchandise. Mousse grinned with satisfaction and walked in to take a closer look. He ticked off items on his mental list. Yes, here was proof that Zhang was a smuggler.

Mousse quickly detached his little radio and contacted the soldier in charge of his team.

“I’ve found it,” he said. “Come in.”

The doors slammed shut behind him. He whirled around, seized with a premonition of disaster. But Shampoo stood in front of the doors, her hands behind her holding them shut. Dressed in a slinky low-cut top and a tight skirt, Shampoo was back in her alternate role of Puu. Mousse was so relieved to see her he almost didn’t notice.

“Shampoo!” he cried, walking forward swiftly to catch her arms. “You’re safe!”

“Of course I am, silly boy,” Shampoo purred, her eyes down-turned. “Who asked you to come rescue me? I would have escaped on my own.”

“How did you know…Akane! Where’s Akane?”

Shampoo brought her hands up and shoved him in the chest, knocking him back a few feet.

“Who cares?” she asked. “Akane, Akane, Akane! Everyone always wants to know where she is! She’s probably running around somewhere trying to save the world. Forget about Akane, Mousse!” Shampoo had been walking forward as she talked, and Mousse had backtracked until he hit the crates behind him. She moved in close enough that every slinky inch of her touched him from shoulders to knee. “Remember ME?”

Mousse could smell her soft, erotic fragrance- the one that was all Shampoo, earthy, spicy, sexy. Her weight was soft and full against his, pressing against him with sweet urgency. His hands came up without conscious thought, stroking her dark locks as they fell softly around him, blocking out the room, creating an illusion of silken privacy.

Shampoo slid her palms up her partner’s chest, until they linked behind his neck. She raised her face and began to drop soft, feathery kisses along his jawline, smiling inwardly when Mousse’s hand slid around her hip to squeeze her bottom with long, lean fingers. His other hand teased her ribs, slipping under the hem of her tunic and up and to cover one large breast.

She had such lavish breasts, Mousse thought faintly, as he often had before. He’d never denied Shampoo’s extravagant charms- the extra bounce to her bountiful breasts, the nip of her tiny waist that made her hips seem so much rounder and curvier, her lush bottom that he loved to knead and squeeze- when she let him, of course.

A thought stopped him.

“You know you’re just doing this because you’re senses are euphoric from escaping, don’t you?” he murmured.

Actually, I’m doing it to wipe Akane from your mind, Shampoo said silently. Aside from the obvious reasons, of course. She moaned in pleasure as Mousse’s hands caressed her just where she liked it. Unable to stand it much longer, she caught his braid and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him like she was trying to crawl down his throat. With her left hand, she quickly untied the laces if his trousers, and plunged her hand inside without invitation. Mousse jerked and gave a muffled exclamation, but didn’t protest as Shampoo drew him back into her embrace. She stroked him boldly, telling him without words how much she needed him. Still kissing her, he rucked up her skirt and slid into her in one jerky motion, trying to balance her and himself against the crate at the same time.

Shampoo let out a primal scream, and raised her legs to wrap around Mousse’s waist. She was locked to him now, riding him wildly. They rode the liquid wave together, Mousse’s arm clenched around Shampoo’s back.

After it was over, she slid numbly off of him. Quickly, almost embarrassedly, they straightened their clothes- the doors swung open.

“Hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time!” Shekuto, grinning, his captive hung over one shoulder, motioned to his guards. “Get them!”

***********

Akane’s Discovery

The first sensation I experienced was nausea. My head was spinning, and when I opened my eyes, bright light stabbed into my brain, making me wince. I felt oddly disoriented, and my body was swaying. I was being…held…by something. I woke up a little more, trying desperately to remember where I was and what I was doing there.

Shekuto.

I reared up, found myself pinned to the ninja’s shoulder, found my wrists and ankles bound tight. The last thing I remembered was fighting Shekuto, then his massive fist smashing into my left temple like a pile driver, and blackness after that. My ears were still ringing. Before I could try an escape stunt, he lifted me high and dumped me down hard enough to make my head go wobbly again. I blinked, my ears still ringing. My eye opened, and the image that hit the iris of my eye and was transmitted to my brain for explanation was not a friendly one.

We were in a chamber, a small hall. Zhang sat at a large table made of some heavy, dark wood, his hands clasped under his chin. He looked exactly as I remembered him, and even more remarkable, he looked as though he had just returned from the party I’d seen him at. His sloe-black eyes shone at me, and his immaculate goatee, looking as though it had been drawn carefully by an artist with an ink brush, framed his ivory smile. Dressed in a matte black suit with a Nehru collar and subtle black pearl button going down one side, for some reason Zhang reminded me that old villain from the Flash Gordon cartoons, Ming the Merciless. The comparison did not give me an iota of comfort.

“You have the worst timing!”

“I allow no one to play with my toys, Mousse!”

There was a screech next to me, and the sound of a ringing slap. I turned. A ninja stood over Shampoo, who lay in a heap of hair and sprawled limbs. Beside her, Mousse was trussed up like the goose he was. Well, at least we were all together. I chose to look on the bright side.

“Welcome to my parlour, Miss Tendo,” Ming said. I mean, Zhang. “Isn’t that what the spider said to the fly?”

“You read nursery rhymes?” I asked, and then wanted to bite my tongue. My head and side were hurting, and I suspected at least one broken rib.

“The fly, of course, refused the invitation,” Zhang continued, loftily ignoring my comment. “It appears that the common house-fly possesses greater intelligence than you, Miss Tendo.”

“It appears that you are a great deal uglier than any spider I ever saw,” I said, and almost before I felt Shekuto draw his foot back, I felt a red blossom of pain erupt in my ribs that sent my sprawling, coughing and choking on pain. Luckily, the thick Tibetan sweater took some of the punishment, less than I would have liked, but more than I expected. I lay there, coughing and choking and generally trying to look hurt worse than I was.

“Leave her alone!” I heard Mousse shout. “I’ve got proof that this fortress of yours is filled with arms, Zhang. You’re going to rot in jail for three lifetimes. And my people know where we are.”

“That may be,” Zhang said, frowning slightly. “But I can make such information disappear as though it never existed.”

I wanted to look at Mousse but didn’t dare. Had Zhang missed the fact that Mousse was talking about our soldiers outside? Had Mousse called them before he was captured?

“What do you want from us?” Mousse asked, obviously stalling. Well, it was obvious to me, anyway. I’ve spent many a lonely night in my apartment with Shampoo, my cat, and boxes of take-out ramen, watching all those Die Hard movies.

“I want the diamond, of course,” Zhang said as though I were not coughing my lungs out on the floor at his feet. “Where is it?”

Oh, yeah, I’d almost forgotten. In the fight with Shekuto, I’d dropped it into a knee pocket of his black army pants. In my experience, no one ever actually used those pockets. I was crossing my fingers that it was the last place they’d check.

“I did a thorough body search on Miss Tendo,” Shekuto was saying quietly. “The diamond was not in her possession.”

Yuck, a body search?! I wanted to gag. Imagining those large, lethal hands running over my body while I was unconscious was just too awful to imagine.

“Since we’ve been so friendly, maybe I should start calling you Akane now,” he said with a smirk, looking down at me lying like a crushed shrimp at his feet, his onyx eyes gleaming at me.

“And how about I just call you asshole?” I shot back, “now that we’re moving to first names?”

I groaned as he kicked me again.

“How did you know she had the diamond in the first place?” Mousse asked hurriedly, trying to stave off more hurt for me.

Shekuto smiled at this, and Zhang began to laugh.

“Oh, how delicious. Are you telling me you have not found out?” he asked in between chuckles. I felt a trickle of cold down in the region of my chest. Zhang chuckling was not a good sight.

“Didn’t you ever put it together? I’ve been chasing you ever since you got the diamond. How did I know? Only three people knew that you had the diamond. One was you. The other was…”

“Sir Blaine,” I whispered numbly.

************

Blaine and I walked silently down the stone passages, careful not to let our footsteps echo off the granite walls. The hallways were surprisingly empty of ninjas, though most had a nasty surprise or two waiting for the unwary or the clumsy. I pulled Blaine through without difficulty, and I hoped Akane had gotten through them, too. Well, she was more graceful now, I had to admit. Must be easier when she wasn’t always being compared to me, I thought, with a trace of my well-known arrogance.

“It’s rather intimidating here, I must say,” Blaine muttered, looking at the last trap we’d crossed. “This reminds me of something. I feel as though I should be carrying a bullwhip or something.”

“Like Indiana Jones?” I asked, amused. “Why don’t ya stick to your James Bond image?”

Blaine laughed. “Me? Surely you jest.”

“And what IS it you do, exactly?” I asked swiftly.

Blaine only grinned. “Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

I grunted, and turned my attention back to finding Akane. I was so close, I could feel it, and excitement thrummed in my blood at the thought of seeing her again. It was strange, but when I’d met her again for the first time nearly a week ago, my heart had been impenetrable. Eight years of learning to live without her had created barriers of stone around my heart. Now, though the stone walls surrounding my heart hadn’t yet fallen, I knew there were definitely a couple of cracks. Speaking of cracks…was that a shard of light coming from that hole in the wall?

I ran my hands along the stone brick wall, trying to find some entry point.

“Hey! What’s going on? Intruders!” A guard had rounded the corner, saw me, and yelled for his comrades.

“Not so fast, buddy,” I said.

I felt the cold nose of a gun nestled against my collar.

“Not so fast, Mr. Saotome,” said Blaine.

*************************

“Welcome to my room of pleasures, Miss Tendo,” Zhang said, smiling nastily through his goatee as he settled into a straight-backed steel chair with black, satin padding. The soft lighting reflected off his shiny black hair, making it look slick and oily.

I was too wise to reply. And, well hell, I’ll admit it. I was scared out of my woolen booties. We were back in the room I had climbed into from outside. I was strapped onto a thick wooden 6 foot by 3 foot frame with thick black leather straps that held my arms apart.. My ankles were locked into iron rings set further down. I was splayed like a trophy against the frame. I felt very, very vulnerable.

On the wall, Shampoo and Mousse weren’t faring much better. They were chained to the wall about a foot up from the ground, so that their limbs had to strain against gravity. It looked very uncomfortable.

“Well, it won’t be quite as pleasurable for you,” Zhang was saying.

“Why would Blaine betray me?” I cut in. “I was bringing the diamond to him, anyway.”

“I’m asking the questions here, my dear Ms. Tendo,” Zhang said, looking irritated. “I shall keep you and your friends here until you reveal the diamond’s location to me. Shekuto is waiting to play with you.” The villain smiled. “He’s got some…toys...he wants to share.”

Toys? Play? C’mon, what was with the James Bond dialogue?

I could feel mad giggles rising like champagne bubbles in my chest, and all my energy at the moment was going into stifling them, in case Zhang took offense and offed me too quickly.

I glanced over at Shekuto and all desire to giggle abruptly left me. The wide-shouldered ninja was standing next to another ninja holding a bucket of water and a table. On the table, various shiny instruments glinted on a black velvet nap. A horrible terror seized me , a feeling not unlike the one I get at my dentist’s office. Revulsion at the thought of those shiny instruments poking, pearling with blood, MY blood…made my hair curl.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Shekuto said, looking evilly handsome as he picked up an instrument with a hooked edge and drew closer. “So I shan’t say much. I shall simply begin. However, I’m hoping your screams will be the loudest of all.”

The ninjas standing around laughed, as if their creepy boss was actually funny. I certainly didn’t think so. Or maybe I was just prejudiced. Sue me.

“This is all your fault,” I glared at Mousse as Shekuto bent towards my foot. My eyes were trained on the tiny, sharp, shaaarp instrument he was bringing closer to my toe…Cold fear crawled down my back. “If you hadn’t stolen the diamond from me, I wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“How can you blame me?” Mousse asked, looking puzzled. I refused to look at him. He followed my gaze to the general direction of the torture table as he said, “You were the one who was careless with the diamond.”

“Me?” I asked, and felt a sharp pain on my small toe and screamed. “Damn you, Mousse! I should sell you out right now!”

“You’re too weak to be in this business!” Mousse snapped. “A little torture and you’re ready to spill?”

It felt like my leg was on fire. Shekuto had disappeared below my line of vision, but the tearing sensation on my foot and the disgusted expression on Shampoo’s face as she watched Shekuto stick his toys in me wasn’t comforting at all. I was stretching and pulling at my bonds, trying to escape the pain.

For a second, I tried to remember why I was keeping the diamond hidden. After all, Blaine was supposed to receive the diamond, and it turned out he was working with Zhang. Then why had Zhang’s goons been chasing me? Screw this. I wasn’t saying anything until someone explained it to me.

Shekuto moved his arm, the pain became agony, and I allowed myself to drift into unconsciousness, even as I heard Zhang make a sound of displeasure.

“Play with her later, Shekh, first I need…” 

***************

I was drowning. Sputtering, I woke up to see Shekuto holding a half-full bucket of water and watching me patiently. Shampoo was watching now with comprehension.

“I KNEW you couldn’t take a little torture!” said Mousse, sneering. “I don’t know why I trusted you…”

“How would YOU like to be tortured then?” I yelled through clenched teeth. Shampoo was staring at me, then at Mousse.

“What good would it do? You know Shampoo’s the one who…” Abruptly, Mousse shut up.

I could almost see Zhang’s interest perk up. He focused on Shampoo, who looked a bit fearful.

“Has the stone been hidden on you all along, my dear Puu?” he purred. Shekuto immediately moved forward and searched her, with no luck. He backhanded her in frustrated rage, and Shampoo fell limp against her bonds.

Zhang cursed.

“Fool! You don’t know your own strength! Wake her up!” he screamed.

Shekuto threw the rest of the contents of the bucket in Shampoo’s face.

On to Part II! The final Bit!