Terence Fergusson (taf@isla-mia.demon.co.uk)

Ranma /Metroid
"Point Of Extinction"

Part 1 : "A-chan"

Ranma  is copyright Rumiko Takahashi.  Metroid, Metroid 2, Super Metroid,
Samus Aran, etc. are all copyright Nintendo.  Any material used from either
sources are based on stuff that is not my work or my creation, and I take no
credit for it.  Thank you for not suing me.

However, this fanfic excepting those scenes, characters and other stuff that
belongs to the two aforementioned series, plus any other anime, manga or
general fiction, is mine.

Story notes:           /.../  designates thoughts...
                       _..._  designates stressed words...

Any other strange symbols _should_ be self-explanatory.

And now, the feature presentation...  ^_^
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  PROLOGUE

  The cavern shook with the explosions, debris falling from the ceiling as
the planet went through its death throes.
  The end of the cavern looked out upon a sparkling starlit night, now
partially obscured by clouds of sulphur which had erupted from the ground all
over the small world.
  The opening led into a small grassy crater, within which lay a single
yellow-coloured starship.  It was one of the few venues of escape from the
planet now.
  The bounty hunter, for that was what the figure emerging from the now
collapsing network of caves was, aimed for the starship.  In the arms of the
cracked and burned suit the bounty hunter was wearing, was a large egg.  It
was a great treasure, and would probably pick up a very large bounty.  For
inside was the last of an enigmatic, but deadly, race.
  Of course, the bounty hunter had been single-handedly responsible for a
large majority of the genocide.  The Galactic Council had paid the hunter
well to undertake this mission.  However, they had never said anything about
the planet self-destructing seconds after the last monster had been
eliminated.  Looking at the egg, the bounty hunter amended the thought: the
last but one monster.
  It was just as the hunter had reached the ship when it happened.  A large
draconian being soared over the crater's lip and descended upon the lone
figure, who just managed to evade being impaled on the dragon's razor-sharp
tail.
  Hovering in the air, the dragon looked down as the hunter came out of the
roll.  "We meet again, Samus," rasped the blood-red creature.
  "Too soon for me, Ridley," the hunter replied.  "Why couldn't you have
stayed dead?"
  The dragon laughed.  "I guess I could ask you the same question.  I hoped
you might make it out before the planet was destroyed.  It seems you have not
disappointed me."
  "Go to hell, Ridley."
  "On the contrary, Samus.  It is you who shall be heading there soon.  But
before I leave you to die, there is one thing I require."
  Samus held the egg closer, charging the energy weapon on the suit's arm
simultaneously.  "Never.  You're not going to use the Metroids like you did
last time."
  The dragon cocked his head.  "So it is a fight you want, Samus.
Unfortunately, I cannot oblige you this time.  The egg is far too delicate.
But, on the other hand..."  Without warning, the tail shot out once more,
ramming into the bounty hunter's chest cavity.  Samus fell back, the suit too
weak to completely absorb the blow.  The dragon easily swooped down to take
the egg as it fell from Samus's grasp.  "On the other hand, you are still
recovering from your own fight, Samus," mocked the dragon.
  Samus whispered a prayer and then raised the energy weapon to aim at
Ridley.  "I can't allow the Metroid's to fall into your hands again.  I'm
sorry," the hunter finished.
  "Sorry," Ridley replied, intrigued.  "What for?"
  "Not you," came Samus's heated reply, as the aim shifted from the dragon to
the egg.  There was a blast of fire and within seconds, the egg was gone.
  Ridley hovered there, shock on his draconian face.  Then his eyes narrowed
in anger.  "You... you..."  Screaming his rage, he swooped down on the
hunter, prepared to finish this once and for all.  Samus however, was low on
energy and out of explosive ammunition.  The hunter raised the energy weapon
once more, ready for one last act of defiance.
  The geyser of lava erupting from the ground easily separated the two
combatants.  Ridley soared into the air, screeching in fury from the burns he
had received from the molten rock.  "Damn you, Samus," came his final reply
before the space pirate launched himself into the sky, fleeing the planet.
  Samus ran to the ship, leaping onto the roof where the hatch was situated.
The hunter wasted no time in starting up systems and bypassing system checks
as the hatch closed behind.  Within seconds, the ship was lifting off from
the increasingly unstable ground, deftly manoeuvring between deadly lava
streams.  The main thrusters engaged, sending the small one-man vessel into
space, mere seconds before a wracking shockwave erupted from the planet as
it exploded in a spectacular fashion.  Everything went white...

  ...and then, hanging alone in space, was Samus' starship.
  The hunter smiled.  What Ridley hadn't known was that none of the suit's
weapons would have made a dent in the metroid egg.  The only thing Samus
could think of to save the race from slavery was to generate a displacement
field, using all of the suit's onboard systems.  It had completely totalled
the suit's energy matrix to do it.  It had been fortunate that the suit
hadn't seized up completely after that blast.
  The displacement field was strong enough to send the egg hurtling through
space, where it would rematerialise somewhere else.  Where that would be,
Samus had no idea.
  /But,/ the hunter thought as the ship made its way back home, /it might not
be such a bad idea to find out.  If the egg fell into the wrong hands, it
could be bad./  Samus winced as the memories of the past two hours drifted
back.  /Very bad./
  
  --**************--
  
  In a small wooded glade, on a blue-green planet which lies in an
unremarkable solar system on what we, as impartial observers, shall call the
western spiral arm of the galaxy, there is a brief flash.  The local fauna
witnessing this is momentarily startled, causing a small amount of panic as
they flee from the potential threat.
  When the flash dissipates, everything appears to be as it was.
  Except for a large red egg that lays half hidden under a tree, undisturbed.




                             Terence Fergusson
                          -- Student of Advanced Murphodynamics
                          -- Stranded in an Anime-free College