Chapter 10: Akane versus Shampoo
Akane leaped up from where she was kneeling within an arms length of Shampoo. Shampoo had seen Akane awaken, but couldn't change her target fast enough. Akane stepped inside the swing, grabbed the sword, and hip checked Shampoo. The Amazon was knocked away as Akane disarmed her. Shampoo spun away and snarled: "Kitchen-wrecker is like an elephant with those hips."
Akane's temper flared as usual at the insult. It was amazing – Shampoo could do so much damage to Akane's ego with a few casual words. "No!" Akane yelled at herself. "I cannot allow my temper to flare out of control. I need to be calm here, but I've always had a problem doing that with Shampoo. I need to release my anger safely!"
Akane stood back and pointed the blade at Shampoo. Then she let all her rage pour into the blade. The blade began to glow red, much to Shampoo's surprise. Akane remembered every insult Shampoo had ever said to her, every time Shampoo grabbed Ranma, every time Shampoo dismissed Akane out-of-hand. All that emotion poured up the blade turning it white hot. Shampoo could feel the intense heat and stepped back. The Amazon couldn't attack without coming near that blade, and Akane stood between her and Ranma. Off to the side, Akane saw Nodoka pick herself up from where Shampoo had thrown her and stare at Akane in astonishment.
"Amazing," Akane thought. "All that rage, and it cannot do the job. I guess it never could." She felt a calm center open up in her soul – the eye of the storm. "I still need to make my point. I guess I have to actually do this the right way." Akane released the last of her anger into the blade and then used her new concentration to tap into the electricity flowing through the room all around her. The electric lights dimmed and a buzzing was heard in the air. The electric heater shut off. She reached farther, dimming lights throughout the building. Akane was a bit amazed at how much power the circuits could handle, but this was the domain of another Fire Mage, so maybe she shouldn't have been. She concentrated everything on the tip of the blade. The blade seemed to flare and then the tip began to melt. Molten metal began to drip off the blade down onto the floor, sizzling and smoking the polished wooden planks. Akane used her power to stop any fires from breaking out around the metal, recycling the heat back into the blade. Shampoo's eyes became as big as dinner plates watching the blade melt like an icicle in summer. As the last of the blade melted, Akane held her hand out to Shampoo with the palm facing up, the remains the sword hilt lying in her hand. Shampoo watched as the last of the metal hilt became a molten puddle in Akane's hand and as the leather bindings became ash floating in the metal. Akane allowed the puddle to pour smoking onto the floor.
Shampoo was trembling as she switched her eyes from Akane's hand to look into Akane's eyes. Akane spoke in a clear dispassionate voice: "It's time to stop, Shampoo. It's all over. Ranma and I have grown so far beyond you, it's not funny. Please…Please sit down and tell us how to help Mousse."
Shampoo's eyes firmed up. Akane saw resignation there. What surprised Akane was that for the first time, she saw respect in Shampoo's eyes too. "No help for Mousse now, Akane. And there's no help for Shampoo either," Shampoo said. Akane was surprised at the proper use of her first name. Shampoo continued: "Why couldn't Akane be born Amazon? Shishen, Sister." With that Shampoo leaped sideways through the wall into the next room. (1)
Akane yelled "Shampoo! Stop!" even as she brought up her battle aura. She fired a Nova Blast through the hole Shampoo left and lit up the room beyond with a blinding light. She heard Shampoo curse, and then Akane heard the window in the next room explode outward as Shampoo leaped outside.
Akane ran to one of the windows in the room, noticing for the first time that it had been smashed in. As she looked out, she was caught by a Chi ball that Shampoo fired. The ball tossed Akane back into the room. Ryoga caught her before she hit the back wall. "Damn!" the Lost Boy shouted in surprise. "I didn't know Shampoo knew that trick!"
The electric lights came on full again and the electric buzz vanished from the air as Akane's hyper-concentration was broken. Shampoo jumped back into the room with a knife drawn, but before the Amazon could move towards Ranma, Akane shouted: "Thunder strike!" Akane had a full charge from having tapped into the building, and while the Chi ball had physically thrown Akane, it hadn't rattled her. There was a flash from Akane's hands and the thunder blast momentarily stunned everyone in the room except Shampoo, who was its focus – the Amazon was blown back out the window.
Akane jumped up from Ryoga's arms and ran toward the window firing another Nova Blast at the opening. The flash caught Shampoo full in the face as she was trying to jump up again, temporarily blinding her. As a result Shampoo didn't clear the window and struck the window sill with her stomach creating a solid "THUNK" sound and knocking the breath out of Shampoo. Shampoo tried to scramble into the room, but Akane yelled: "Mouko Takabasha!" The resulting red column of force caught Shampoo straight in the chest and blew her out over the neighboring houses. Akane shouted "Guard Ranma!" as she leaped out after Shampoo.
Kasumi stood wearing her Chaos Gi while surveying the battle field. Everyone had arrived just in time to see Akane turn the sword into a puddle and Shampoo's attempted attacks. Ranma was still on the bed undisturbed in his Spirit Quest. The window next to the wall had been blown inward by Shampoo's attack. Nodoka was sitting next to Ranma making sure he was all right without breaking the trance, although Kasumi was starting to wonder what *could* break the trance if the fight hadn't . Akari had joined Ryoga staring out the broken window. Soun was still shaking off the hilt strike to the head from Shampoo, but he seemed to be all right. Chie was looking at the remains of the sword.
"Can you see where they are? Kasumi demanded.
"No!" Ryoga shouted back. "I'm going to help Akane!" Ryoga yelled as he jumped out the window.
"How are you going to find her?" Kasumi shouted after him.
"He, Akane, and Ranma are linked," Akari yelled. "He always knows where they are. Unfortunately, he doesn't always know where he is! We'll be back." With that, she leaped after her fiancé. (2)
"Sasuke! Freeze!" Kasumi ordered. "Some of us need to stay with Ranma in case Shampoo doubles back!"
The little ninja stopped and nodded. "We need help. Let me make a phone call." With that, he pulled out his phone.
Nodoka shook herself and said: "I'm going downstairs to the use the phone. The Inspector needs to know what happened."
Kasumi concentrated on breathing for a few moments and then went to check on her father. As she noticed that he seemed to be somewhat concussed, Shizuka ran into the room still carrying the take-out she left to get. Shizuka took in the damage and then chimed out: "Sure, you get rid of me and then have the party! What the hell happened?" After Kasumi brought her up to speed, Shizuka said: "Maybe I should find Akane if Sasuke is calling in reinforcements?"
Chie looked surprised at Shizuka's question. "She's got Ryoga and Akari to help her. How much help do you think she needs?" the office manager said as she pointed at the remains of the sword.
Shampoo plowed into the street hard, creating a small crater. "That hurt!" she thought staggering up. "Akane melts my sword, blinds me twice, creates a flash of lightning, and then uses Ranma's Mouko Takabasha to blow me halfway across town. How much bloody power does she have?" In reality, Shampoo was only a few blocks away, but she felt like she had been thrown halfway across town.
"Are you ready to stop the nonsense, Shampoo?" Akane asked from behind her.
"Really?" Shampoo thought in exasperation. The Amazon whipped about and threw three exploding knives at Akane. The blue-black haired girl dodged two, but caught the third blade which immediately blew up.
"CRAP!" Akane yelled grabbing the hurt hand.
"Gotcha!" Shampoo shouted running at Akane. The exploding weapons caused more burns than shrapnel damage, but they usually did the job – Akane would be without that hand for the fight. Still, Shampoo needed to close the distance quickly, otherwise Akane would blow her apart with the long range weapons. Akane vanished as Shampoo was running toward her. "What the hell?!" Shampoo thought as she slowed. Shampoo stood in the street for a full thirty seconds, trying to figure out where Akane was when she felt the kick coming at her. She used her leg to block it, but felt the power in the strike. "Right, Akane is extremely strong too," Shampoo thought mentally rolling her eyes. "Closing with her is not always the best option either." She saw Akane had wrapped her hand in a bandage, but the hand wasn't nearly as damaged as it should have been. "What the - ?" Shampoo thought and then remembered the molten metal in Akane's hand. "Right," she groaned. "Kitchen-Wrecker is probably resistant to fire normally. This just gets better and better. I have to kill her now and get Ranma before he wakes up out of that trance."
Shampoo used a killer combination designed to attack the spinal column, but Akane blocked the leading fist and initial kick. Then the Japanese girl leaped high in the air over the follow-up kick and Shampoo had to protect her own throat quickly from Akane's counter kick – otherwise Shampoo's windpipe would have been crushed. "Damn it!" Shampoo thought. "I don't have time for this! I need to end this now!" Shampoo removed the restraints she normally placed on herself. Her limbs began to blur with the speed. Every motion sounded like a whip snapping and every strike would shatter stone. The Amazon was sure Akane had no chance against her in a death match.
But Akane just responded in kind. The young woman's speed increased to easily rival Shampoo's. Every move Shampoo made was matched and countered. Indeed, the Japanese girl eyes burned brighter and brighter with an inner light. Akane didn't just respond to Shampoo's attacks – she often started new volleys, often putting Shampoo on the defensive. Akane mixed and matched fighting styles just as Ranma did, confusing Shampoo and shaking her up. "She's never shown this potential before!" Shampoo thought. "What the hell is going on?" Shampoo tried an eye-gouge only to have Akane stop it with a sweeping one-handed block. Akane then attempted a headbutt, but Shampoo spun away.
"A headbutt? Damn, that almost worked! She's compensating for the damaged hand. This is taking too long!" Shampoo thoughts continued. "I'm bruising and battering her as she's forced to block me – but no more that she's doing to me! I need to change the game! Goodbye, Akane – this is going to hurt me in many ways, but you won't feel a thing. I'm sorry though – you could have become so much more!" Shampoo purposely over-extended an attack, leaving her left side unguarded. Akane's fist flew in to shatter the Amazon's ribs, but Shampoo was counting on that – she would heal eventually. Meanwhile, a knife appeared in Shampoo's hands and she ran it directly towards Akane's throat.
At least, that was the plan. And it looked like it was going to work, but Akane never carried through on the strike. Instead, the Anything Goes Martial Artist pulled her head back so the knife missed her throat. Akane actually fell on the ground, but not before she got a clean palm strike on Shampoo's knee – the first clean unblocked strike of the fight. Shampoo felt her knee almost shatter and her leg go numb. She fell sideways on top of Akane, but she wasn't facing her opponent. However, Akane was facing her, and Shampoo heard Akane shout: "Roasting Chestnuts!" Shampoo felt three ribs snap in rapid succession before she could get away from Akane.
The two women rolled apart and sprung to their feet. "You'd never make that mistake, Shampoo," Akane huffed at her.
Shampoo produced a second knife in her other hand. "Not bad, Akane. But Shampoo is armed and Akane is not. Shampoo sorry to kill you though."
"AKANE!" Ryoga yelled out.
Akane snatched the thick steel rod out of the air that Ryoga threw. It was as long as she was tall – a stone mason's tool of some sort that had had its blade snapped off. The Japanese girl looked grimly at the knives in Shampoo's hands and the rod – now a staff – began to glow red as the street lights dimmed a little. "I like my odds, Shampoo," Akane told her enemy.
"Crap," Shampoo thought as round two began. Now Shampoo had to use her weapons to keep the rod away from her – she could feel the heat emanating from the steel. Akane was at a disadvantage because it took concentration to maintain the heat and she only had partial use of one hand, but Shampoo couldn't use anything but the knives to counter the steel or she would suffer a severe burn. As it was, it was a wonder Shampoo's clothes didn't burst into flame. "Great. I could really use some water about now," the Amazon thought, "if it wasn't for the obvious problem. And, of course, the knives are getting hot too." She sighed internally. She had to get rid of the glowing rod – it was definitely evening the odds in Akane's favor. But, it was going to cost Shampoo. "Hopefully, I can keep one of the knives," the Amazon thought.
Shampoo locked one knife hilt around the rod and slid the knife down towards Akane's hand. She also made an elbow strike at Akane's face expecting Akane to dodge it. But Akane shifted into it instead, taking the blow on the side of the head instead of on the jaw and maintaining control of the steel staff. Shampoo scored a hit, but Akane used her leg to bang the rod into Shampoo's knee – the same knee Akane scored a hit on earlier. Shampoo was off-balance due to Akane leaning in to take the hit, and the positioning had robbed Shampoo's blow of some of its force. The heat seared through the leggings Shampoo was wearing.
A muffled screamed escaped from Shampoo. Akane struck again and the bar slammed into Shampoo's hip. Shampoo's clothing protected her from most of the heat, but not the force of the strike. The rod came into contact with Shampoo's arms causing more pain. Shampoo forced herself to focus on entangling the rod with the other knife hilt, but her hand accidentally banged the rod causing her to suck air through her teeth. Despite the pain, Shampoo fell backwards, flipping Akane over and away from her. She managed to wretch the bar away but lost one of the knives. Akane managed to control her fall and rolled upright.
Shampoo continued to ignore the pain and ran at Akane, but Akane slashed at her – with the other knife. Shampoo backed off and circled Akane looking for an opening. Akane had a massive bruise on the side of her face, but her eyes were untouched. The knife was in Akane's off-hand due to the bandage around the other. Shampoo was worse off, but her mental concentration held off the pain for now. The two women circled each other and Akane looked to be in no hurry. "She waiting for something," Shampoo thought.
Suddenly, Akane made a slashing gesture at her own bandaged hand, and the wrapping fell off. Akane flexed the hand and switched the knife over to it. "Great. She heals as fast as Ranma does too," Shampoo groaned internally.
"I still like my odds," Akane repeated.
Off in the distance, Shampoo heard sirens. She also became conscious of people watching from their homes. "The police are coming here. That's why she is stalling. I've lost," Shampoo thought. "Even if I kill her, I'll take so much damage doing it that I'll never get to Ranma – somehow, someway she has become that good. Never mind that Ryoga is in the shadows watching. The only reason he hasn't entered the fight directly is that Akane will kill him if he does. So my options are Shishen, which Akane will not give me before the police get here with their damn tasers, or to make a break for it and try something else."
"Another day, Sister!" Shampoo yelled out, and then threw a flash bomb at her feet. Akane answered with another Nova Burst, but Shampoo was not looking at her. The Amazon used the excess light to locate Ryoga, and then ran off in a different direction.
Police cars pulled up encircling Akane. She lobbed the knife away and sat down heavily on the ground. One of the officers approached Akane with his hand on his gun, but he did not draw it. "Ms. Tendo?" the officer called out. Akane nodded her head. Another officer picked up the knife. "Do you have any other weapons on you?" the first man asked. Akane shook her head.
"The knife is not hers," Ryoga called out. "She took it off the Amazon Shampoo."
"Are there any other witnesses to that?" the officer asked.
"Me," Akari called out. "Shampoo had two knives. Akane used an iron bar to defend herself but lost it in the fight. She managed to grab one of the knives as she lost the bar though."
"Any other witnesses?" the officer asked. Three people called out from the crowd and confirmed Ryoga's and Akari's story. Another person led an officer away to retrieve the rod. One of the officers (a female who knew Akane's past) came over and checked Akane for weapons. When the officer was done, she allowed Akane to sit up again. The first officer told Akane to stay put while they gathered statements and evidence. Ryoga and Akari stayed nearby, but out of the way.
Finally, the first officer motioned for Akane to stand and she did. "All right, you're in the clear. Thank you for your cooperation," he said. "There's already a warrant out for Ms. Shampoo. I don't see any knife cuts on you, so I guess you can just go home." The officer never noticed that Akane was hiding her right palm from his inspection. "You may want to have that bruise looked at though."
Akane just nodded her head. "We will take her to the Ono Clinic right now," Akari said. The officer just nodded and let them go.
Once they were out of sight, Akane motioned for them to stop and then spit out a mouthful of blood. "Damn, that bitch hits hard!" she said.
"Let me see," Akari insisted. After a look under a street light, she said: "You sliced up the inside of your cheek pretty good, but I don't think you'll need stitches."
"I had help," Akane muttered. "My hand is a mess too. I only stopped the bleeding and patched it enough so it works – it still hurts a lot."
"Yeah, well Shampoo's going to be feeling it as well when the battle fury wears off," Ryoga told her. "I know I heard at least two ribs snap and you gave her some pretty impressive burns. Honestly, I didn't think she was that tough."
"Trust me, she is," Akane answered.
"You did really well though," Akari offered.
Akane smiled briefly. "It's funny. Many times I've dreamed about pounding Shampoo, but when I finally get the chance, there was no anger or fury about it. I just did it because I needed to protect Ranma."
"I think that comes from being a true warrior," Ryoga said with a raised eyebrow.
"I think it comes from being an adult," Akari shot back. A concerned looks flashed across her face. "Honey, it just occurred to me that we are letting you lead. How do you know where the clinic is?"
Ryoga pointed down the street. "You mean the place that is lit up like a Christmas tree?"
Shampoo stared at the clinic in despair. There were cops and ninjas everywhere. The two broken windows were heavily guarded. There were police cruisers parked in the backyard as well as on the front sidewalk. There were also various martial artists mixed in here and there. Shampoo was sure she recognized Waitress-Boy on the roof in his fighting silks. She hunkered down in her hiding spot and listened to the men and women talking quietly.
From the gossip, she gathered that Mousse and Cologne were in the hospital, but Cologne wasn't waking up and Mousse was in a bad way. Doctor Tofu was with Mousse trying to stop the bleeding, but Shampoo knew that was impossible as long as Ranma was alive. Meanwhile, they kept administering blood to the boy. No one knew why Cologne would not wake up, but Shampoo knew the Elder would be conscious by midnight and back to herself in a few days.
Shampoo watched as Akane, Ryoga, and Akari came into view. Despite the beating Shampoo had given Akane and the massive bruise on her face, Akane walked up to the clinic without support. People didn't speak to Akane, but just nodded or smiled and then stepped aside. "A warrior's welcome," Shampoo thought. "Unfortunately, it is appropriate. Things would have been easier if it wasn't." Shampoo snorted as embellished versions of the fight were described by those standing outside after Akane had gone in, but she did have to admit to the conclusion: Akane had fought her to a draw. "You did well, Sister, but please forgive me if I don't congratulate you," Shampoo said in the silence of her mind.
After half-an hour, she saw Inspector Ojima come outside and lean against the corner of the building. Sergeant Imia soon appeared next to him. "Did you understand any of that Inspector?" the Sergeant asked.
"Yes, I did. The short and the quick of it is Ranma's out of danger. The spirit trapped inside of him can't touch him anymore. It's just a matter of time until it is dead," the Inspector answered. Shampoo closed her eyes in misery. The Inspector continued: "The big mystery is what the hell is it? Ranma trying to find out before it's lost to him."
"Why is it still there at all if it can't touch him?" Imia asked.
"It's being held there by something," the Inspector shrugged. "Damned if I know what it is…"
Shampoo sighed. She knew exactly what holding it there – the damned (in more ways than one) knife. The spirit was bound by the knife until the spirit exhausted itself, and the knife was indestructible. It could not be broken and there wasn't a furnace hot enough to destroy it. "Nothing can destroy…" Shampoo started silently and then stopped. The image of a melted sword came back to her. "Is that really possible? How powerful is Akane?" Shampoo thought. She continued to grapple with the new idea. "If the original demon was still in the blade, she couldn't do it, but it's not! I need to get that knife!" she decided.
A/N: Footnotes:
(1) "Shishen" is an Amazon word introduced in Chapter 7 of "The Date – The Flip-Side". The word literally means "Die well in battle." It was what comrades said to each other before the final charge – the maneuver they knew they wouldn't win, but they we determined to take as many of the enemy with them as they could. Apparently, you can also say it to an enemy you respect, but the understanding is one of you will not be around at the end of the battle. There may be more to the concept as well – but we will have to wait and see.
(2) Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga became spiritually linked as the result of their actions in "The Destruction of Ranma Saotome – Ignition". Before that, Ranma and Ryoga were already linked as we found out in "Brothers".
A/N: Next up - The Spirit