Hyakurengumo: A Spider in Nerima
A Ranma ½ / Spider-man fusion
Chapter 25: Duck, Duck, Mousse?
The world had an unbelievably brightness in Akane's eyes the next morning. It still amazed her that simply saying those three little words could change a person's perspective on life. It amazed her that Ranma had uttered them. She was even more amazed she'd responded in kind. She was amazed, but she wasn't surprised. She'd known for a long time that she loved Ranma Saotome. Even before Jusendo, she'd known. Back then it made her mad that her heart was captured by such a boorish baka -- he was undeniably a real jerk -- and at the same time ...
Ranma Saotome was nothing like what she'd once envisioned for a husband -- nothing like Dr. Tofu at all. He was brash, prideful, arrogant, impulsive, compulsive when it came to martial arts, and these were not plusses in Akane Tendo's book of virtues in a potential mate. Except maybe the martial arts part. But there was something about him that she found - oh, what was the word she was hunting for? Enchanting ... charming ... enticing ... alluring ... irresistible? She couldn't quite pin it down. She hated it, but she couldn't deny it. And now ...
"Yep, in spite of all the things that are rude and crude about him, underneath he's just a shy little boy who's irresistibly charming," Akane mused as she got ready for the day.
She'd risen early and joined her eldest sister in the kitchen for an impromptu culinary training session.
"Kasumi, up to doing a little breakfast training this morning?" Akane asked as she stepped into the kitchen, where the older girl was puttering about in preparation.
"Sure, how about fried eggs?" Kasumi replied as she pulled the carton out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter next to the stovetop.
Turning toward her sister, Kasumi Tendo could tell immediately something was different. There was a sparkle of almost uncontainable happiness in Akane's eyes.
"Imoutosan is something different today?" Kasumi asked with a grin.
The change of expression on Akane's face almost made her sister stumble.
"Wha ... what do you mean?" Akane stammered. A rosy glow leapt onto her cheeks.
Kasumi had to quickly dig in a drawer for an apron and act as if she was having a sneezing fit to hold her laughter in check. When she finally composed herself she straightened up and handed her sister the garment.
"Oh, nothing, you just seem ... very happy this morning. Here, you'd better put this over your school clothes."
"Is it that obvious?"
"Um, huh," Kasumi nodded. "What happened imoutosan?"
"Don't you dare tell Daddy," Akane began. She stopped and checked the doorway to make sure no one else was coming before whispering, "He told me he loves me!"
"Ran ..." Akane's hand over her mouth silenced Kasumi's wide-eyed response. Akane was nodding violently.
"Shhhh. You've got to promise you wont tell anyone!" Akane hissed with glee in her voice.
Kasumi raised her right hand, all fingers curled up except her pinkie. "Pinkie swear?"
Akane stepped back and spat into the palm of her hand. "Spit shake and pinkie swear."
With a nod, Kasumi spit into her own palm and the pair clasped hands. Breaking the hold, they hooked little fingers together and in unison proclaimed. "I so swear."
"But you've got to tell me all about it when you get home from school today," Kasumi finished.
"Now let's get started on those eggs."
§☼§☼§
Despite the late night, Ranma felt like an eagle effortlessly riding the winds above Mount Fuji Monday morning. His heart was soaring from the night before.
His morning spar with his father seemed little more than a mild warm up.
When Kasumi signaled breakfast, Ranma finessed Genma into the koi pond and evaded the older man's last ditch effort to grapple and make them both suffer the Jusenkyo transformation.
"Pops is so predictable," Ranma laughed as he touched down on the terrace. Turning toward the pond he was slapped in the face by a wall of water and a pair of koi. As the water trailed away, seeking the pool again, the fish flopped desperately at a soaking redhead's feet.
"Overconfident," Genma signed as he crawled out of the pool.
"Just once I'd like to finish the morning dry," Ranma muttered as Kasumi slid back the shoji door to set out a kettle of warm water and a pair of towels before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Moments later Ranma set to his breakfast with gusto.
However about three bites into the fried eggs, his pace slowed dramatically, his crewing becoming slow and laborious. After a hard swallow, he looked around toward the kitchen door.
"Akane! Are you in there?" he managed to croak.
A small "eep" and the sound of something hitting the floor confirmed Ranma's suspicions.
"Kasumi, are you in there too?"
"Yes, Ranma. We were trying to get some more training in ..."
"Uh, well ... uh, the eggs ..."
"Are a little over done. We know," Kasumi's cheery voice floated through the door as she brought out a second plate of eggs. "Try these," she said, placing them on the table. Akane appeared in the doorway, head down, twisting a kitchen towel almost in two.
"Are you sure that's all that's wro..., uh different about them," the young martial artist wheezed.
"Yes Ranma. Quit carrying on. Akane ate some herself before we served them. She knows they're tough and ..."
"And what?"
"And the two of you need to finish your breakfast before you're late for school," Kasumi finished with a snap. "These eggs are fine," the eldest Tendo daughter said as she pointed to the fresh plate of eggs, turned sharply and disappeared into the kitchen.
Ranma was stunned. Kasumi had been short with him. Kasumi was never short with anyone. His mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before Akane seated herself and began to fill her own bowl with breakfast.
"Sorry about the eggs Ranma. I'll do better next time," Akane whispered before digging into the new plate of eggs.
"No, I'm sorry 'Kane. They weren't that bad, just not up to what I'm used to from Kasumi. I just didn't think about you trying to get some training in before school. Actually, they were real close to the way I used to make 'em when Pop first started teaching me to cook on our training trip," Ranma replied as he filled his bowl from the fresh plate.
After a tentative first bite, Ranma relaxed and dug in. As he shoveled the last bite of breakfast into his maw he suddenly stopped and swallowed hard.
"Akane, who cooked these eggs?"
"I did."
"Akane ..."
A pair of near zombies chose that moment to shuffle into the room and take their places at the breakfast table. Soun Tendo was a bit more aware than his middle daughter, but both began to fill their bowls after grunting muted "ohayos" at Ranma and Akane.
"Ranma, will you get my books while I take our plates to the kitchen?" Akane said as she rose to her feet.
"Uh, sure. I'll meet you out front," the young man responded. Suddenly he paused. "Hey, do you want some help?"
"No. I've got this. See you out front," Akane said, flashing him a bright smile as she hustled the dishes through the kitchen door.
Out of Ranma's sight, Kasumi grabbed an armful of the dishes from her sister before sticking her head out the kitchen door. Ranma was gathering up her sister's school books along with his own.
Turning back, her eyes sparkled as she watched her little sister place the remaining dishes in the sink.
Akane let out a long sigh as she put down the last of her load. Kasumi was at her side and putting down her own dishes in a flash.
"You did it, imoutosan. A little rough on the first go, but you got it right the second time," Kasumi whispered. The two were in each other's arms, jumping up and down with joy a second later. Their little Dance of Joy was over almost as soon as it began as Kasumi pointed Akane after her fiance'''.
"Go on. You don't want to be late for school and the two of you have a lot to talk about."
"Kasumi, I love you," Akane squeaked.
"I love you too," the elder sister said, raising her hand. One high-five later, Akane Tendo was sprinting to catch up with Ranma.
Back in the dining hall, the explosion of giddy happiness coming from the kitchen jerked the curtains of Nabiki's clouded consciousness wide open.
"So, she's told Kasumi," Nabiki thought.
"What in the world has gotten into them," Soun wondered aloud.
§☼§☼§
Ranma was loitering at the gate when Akane burst out the front entrance of the Tendo compound. Stepping back inside the gate he grabbed her and spun her in a dizzying pirouette. "Hey tomboy, what's your hurry?" he growled playfully.
"There was some baka who needed a bashing I was trying to catch," she giggled in reply as he settled her on her feet.
Ranma stopped, hands resting gently on her waist. "It still seems like a dream," he said, looking into her eyes. "Did I really do what I think I did last night?"
"Um, hum. You did."
"Good. I meant every word, but ..."
"But? You'd better not give me a but," Akane couldn't believe her ears.
"Slow down! Slow down! Give me a chance to finish, Ok. I was going to tell you the eggs were great. I could eat those the rest of my life. I just hope that wont be the only thing on the menu."
"Why you..."
Ranma diffused Akane's outburst with a quick hug. "Come on we don't want to be late," he said, grabbing her hand and hustling out the gate.
The couple sped along the street silently for a few minutes.
"Akane, get ready to jump on three," Ranma said suddenly.
As the two approached the doorway of Inez Fujigama, Ranma began his count, "Ichi, ni ... san!"
Still hand-in-hand the duo spring high on Ranma's mark. As they sailed overhead, Fujigama-san stepped out of her doorway and tossed her morning ladle into the street.
"Good jump, Akane. How 'bout we add a somersault tomorrow as part of training," Ranma grinned as they landed and continued their race toward the high school.
"Training?"
"Yeah, since we're going to join the schools, we ought to be pretty well matched in ability don't you think? I mean I do expect you to instruct you know."
"Uh, Ranma, I really hadn't thought that far down the road, yet. I'm still enjoying last night," Akane said in measured breaths as they jogged along.
"Well, maybe that is rushing it a little. What were you thinking?"
"I was wondering about what we're going to tell them at school. I mean after last night, things aren't the same as they have been for the last three years. If we waltz in and announce, 'Hey everybody, we finally admitted we're in love ... ' there'll be a freaking riot."
"I've been thinking about it too and ... well, why do we have to tell anyone anything?" Ranma asked.
"You mean act like nothing's changed? Fights and all?"
"No, that's not what I mean, Akane. I don't think I could do that now anyway," Ranma replied. "I didn't know what kind of burden not telling you how I felt was. Now that I've got that weight off my back I can't just act like nothing's changed. Well, I might for a little while, but ..." Ranma looked around, checking out for unwanted listeners. "I'm trying to break those old habits that made you hammer me all the time and ... and I'm ... well I don't think it'd be a good idea to start treatin' you like that again, even if it would be an act."
Akane smiled. Damn, the boy was just too sweet underneath all that bravado his father taught him to put on.
"I understand, but don't you think they might get just a little suspicious if we don't have our normal fight or two, or three, each week? I don't mean carry on like we can't stand each others' guts. We're over that and since we're upperclassmen now I don't think it will be a problem. And besides, I think everybody's already noticed that we're getting along better lately. Everybody's used to us being 'engaged,' for goodness sake -- except Kuno. Jeez, what are we going to do about him? He'll have a riot all by himself," she laughed.
"Kuno. We are going to have to deal with that nutball -- and his sister -- in a more permanent way aren't we?" Ranma groaned as he loped along.
"Yeah. Somehow we've got to make them face the truth about you -- and us." Akane said.
A goofy grin split Ranma's face. "Heh, it just dawned on me what we're doin' here. We're plotting strategy to sort out our affairs."
"That's right," the grin spread to Akane. "And we're doing it together."
"Yeah, that's another thing," Ranma started off again. "How do you want to handle the 'engagement' now. I mean we are going to get married, but when do you think we ought to do it. I still don't want your dad and my parents getting all excited and trying to rush us up again."
"I don't either," Akane replied. "Let's just keep quiet about it 'til after graduation, Ok? If we don't draw attention, maybe we can hide it in plain sight. And ... we'll talk about training and joining the schools and all that ... other stuff later. Ok?"
"Sounds Ok to me," Ranma replied as they approached the gates of Furinkan High.
§☼§☼§
Furinkan High was ablaze with multiple versions of what happened at Ueno Park when survivors, both student and instructors arrived Monday morning. The actual events of the field trip were almost unbelievable to begin with. When the frenetic enthusiasm of a teenaged rumor mill latched on to certain portions of the tale, believability flew out the window, even for those who'd been there.
"Come on, Ichiro. Tell us who you saw when you woke up! And what you saw!"
Normally the president of the Chem Club would have loved to tell a juicy tale about seeing any of the girls on the field trip in any state of near nudity. However, under the pressure for such a story from his fellow students who didn't go on the trip, he couldn't remember laying eyes on even one of the girls from Furinkan.
He shuddered when the one image he couldn't forget burst to the foreground of his consciousness. Ichiro didn't realize it, but he would talk about the overweight obasan he'd seen hobbling nude toward a public restroom on his deathbed years later.
"No. No. Noooo!" he moaned into his hands until his fellow perverts finally left him alone.
§☼§☼§
For Ben Reilly coming up with a believable explanation for his altered appearance proved impossible. "I'm going to give'em the truth, but only as much as I have too," the American muttered to himself as he climbed the steps to the side entrance commonly used by the faculty.
Mrs. Nakamura the secretary looked up from the mail as Reilly breezed past her desk on his way to the teachers' mail drops.
"Sir, may I help you?" she began as Reilly started rifling through his drop.
"Nope, I'm cool, Nakamura-san," Reilly replied casually as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
"But..." Nakamura's voice faded as Reilly turned, flashed her a smile and disappeared through the door headed for his classroom.
The westerner moved quickly, keeping his head down and acting as though nothing was amiss. Most of the students paid him no attention as he wove his way down the halls, but every so often he noticed a quizzical look flit across a face as he passed.
About half his pupils were already in the room when Reilly arrived. All eyes swung his way as he entered. The split between "I told you so" smirks and "Oh, my god" face-faults was about 30/70.
"I told you, Hiroshi," Diasuke gloated. "Pay up!"
A wordless Hiroshi stoically dug in his pocket and handed over the wager. Diasuke was thumbing through the bills when Yuka walked up and put out her palm. "Ok, fork it over," she said.
"Huh?"
"You know Nabiki still gets her cut of all wagering on campus," the girl replied.
"She's gone and you're bluffing," Diasuke said, but a quiver of doubt was evident in his voice, and a vein pulsed noticeably in his forehead.
"Ok, have it your way, but don't forget what happened to Gomai."
"Gomai?"
"Yeah. Remember the embarrassing situation he had last term? He didn't want to pay his cut either," Yuka said.
"You mean ... ?"
"Yep."
"Here!" Diasuke peeled off several bills and thrust them into the girl's hand.
"Smart boy," she said as she smiled and took her place.
The episode wasn't missed by Reilly.
"Hmmm. I think I may have to look a little more closely into Nabiki's affairs," he thought. "That looked and sounded a little too much like blackmail, intimidation at the very least."
The final student slipped into his seat as the tardy bell sounded. Ben Reilly rose from his chair and circled his desk before taking a casual seat on its corner.
"I hope you all had a better weekend than I did," he began, an ironic smile playing on the corners of his mouth. "I'm sure you've heard some of the stories about what happened at the park. As you can see, some of them are true, but don't believe everything you hear. I'm really surprised my hair isn't white to match the apparent age of my face," Reilly laughed.
"What I remember was traumatic, but I don't really remember much about what happened after things went crazy there, except waking up ..." Reilly suddenly stopped as his face began to glow with a bright red blush. "Well, I wont go into that. I think you've heard that story already," he finished sheepishly. He wanted them all to think he too was a victim of the spider-drone induced disrobing. Several of the students turned slightly green as the mental image Reilly alluded at played across their mind's eye. Several of the girls blushed.
"Anyway, despite my appearance, I feel fine and the doctors say I should be back to normal in a week or so. So in spite of the weekend's excitement we're staying on schedule with our study of the marvelous mysteries of chemistry. Open your books to ..."
§☼§☼§
Hikaru Gosunkugi couldn't keep his attention on the lecture Reilly was presenting. Thoughts of what happened over the weekend consumed his mind, and he wasn't thinking about the happenings at Ueno Park. To the spindly upperclassman, his whole perception of reality was altered by the events of the last two days.
"How could I be so blind?" he wondered. "I wasted so much time running after the same prize that everyone else was after when the true treasure was right under my nose.
"For two years I chased the wrong one for me. Feh! Despite my best efforts, the paper dolls of command, the one-punch war suit, everything, Akane never really noticed me. Sure she talked to me a couple of times, but it never meant anything to her. I'll bet she can't even name the class I'm in, but Nabiki ... Nabiki knew all about me, and she talked to me -- really talked to me at the market. And she's a graduate! She knows who I am and ... way more about me than I ever imagined." A shudder ran down Gosunkugi's spine as he remembered the deal he'd cut with the middle Tendo daughter. He'd almost had to give his latest magic gizmo to her.
A devious smirk played across his mouth. Two years of experience worked well toward furthering his newest plan. In the end he'd remembered to not seem too eager to make the deal and she'd bit, taking home the special set of cameras and DVD recorder.
"Yeah. A give-away would have been way too obvious," he thought to himself. "Two years ago I would have bungled that. I would have been too desperate to get that stuff into Akane's room. This way I'll get to see all I want of Akane -- views I've only dreamed about ... Funny, now I'm not really interested in Akane anymore. An older woman is much more exciting, and she actually took an interest in me. And to top it all off, in just a little while I'll get to see all I want of ... of everything at the Tendo house."
Ah, the marriage of technology and magic, Gosunkugi continued his internal monologue. It was truly unbelievable what people would think of to use enchantments on.
"What luck, to find a DVD recorder with a replication and remote control spell on it," he chuckled as he panned the view of the inside of the Tendo dojo with a sweep of his mouse. He was disappointed by Nabiki's site selection for her three cameras: the roof of the house above Akane's room, the terrace overlooking the koi pond and finally the interior of the dojo training hall. However, he soon realized the middle Tendo sister was trying to get shots of the Tendo's tedious boarder and those areas provided the most fertile ground for a three-camera arrangement.
"Curse you, Ranma Saotome. You truly are a fly in the ointment of my love," the sallow youth muttered. "But now you are an afterthought. You may have the breathtakingly cute Akane, but I, I shall have the subtly seductive beauty of her older sister. Nabiki Tendo, you will be mine!"
As Reilly droned on, Gosunkugi rehearsed his original plan for the supernaturally enhanced bit of gadgetry to himself. Initially he'd planned to set the cameras up at Furinkan High. The special enchantment on the device meant he didn't have to sneak into the girls' locker room to get an interior view. All he had to do was see some point through the door. After that, it was only a matter of time and patience before he had a view of whatever he wanted.
He'd considered himself fortunate to come across the surveillance set in the clearance bin of his favorite magic shop. The lovelies of Furinkan High, including Akane were his first thought, even before he learned of the enchanted extras. Then he ran into Nabiki and a whole new idea sprang full-grown into his imagination.
When the shopkeeper told him of the enchantment added to the device Gosunkugi snapped it up. He couldn't believe something so nefarious was in the clearance bin. He simply forgot to ask the all-important question when dealing with magic of any kind: What's the catch?
Now with the initial three cameras in place, he could turn anything within sight of those three into mystical cameras simply by double-clicking on the object visible in an open window on his computer's desktop and selecting the eye-shaped icon from the pop-up menu. Three days after a mystical camera came "on-line," it could be used to tap a new camera within its view. It was just a matter of time before the whole Tendo residence was in full view on Gosunkugi's computer -- the roof, the terrace, the dojo, the garden and pool, the dining hall, the stairs, the bedrooms, and the furo. Ah, yes, Gosunkugi was itching to get the Tendo furo on-line.
§☼§☼§
At lunch, Ben Reilly tapped Ranma on the shoulder as the young man was shoveling down his bento.
"I need to talk with you right after school," Reilly whispered.
"Huh? Uh, sure. What's up?" Ranma said, puzzled. Usually Reilly didn't talk to him at school, waiting until their training session later that evening.
"I need to know everything you can tell me about Shampoo, Cologne and the Amazons," came Reilly's terse reply.
The thought of Shampoo sent a chill down Ranma's back, but it also ignited a smoldering anger when he remembered the Amazon's recent attack on Akane.
"What's up?" Ranma asked again.
Reilly looked down into his young teacher's eyes. Drawing a deep breath, Reilly finally said. "It looks as though Cologne has given up on trying to hitch you and Shampoo. And lucky me, I'm the new bridegroom-elect."
Ranma eyes got as big as saucers. "Wha, what the hell?"
"Look it's too complicated to discuss here. That's why I want to see you right after the final bell. I'm trying to solve three people's problems: yours, mine, and Shampoo's, and I need more information," Reilly replied.
"If I can pull this off, I may change my name to Mary Sue," Reilly muttered to himself as he turned and walked back toward the instructors' table.
Moments later Akane came through the dining hall doorway with a bento on her tray. She located Ranma with a quick survey of the room and was soon seated by his side.
"Any trouble so far?" she asked, noting the quizzical look roaming freely across Ranma's face.
"None on that subject, but something weird just happened.," Ranma replied.
"Weird by normal standards or weird by Nerima standards," Akane laughed.
"Weird by Nerima standards, I guess. I think we just caught a break," Ranma said. Lowering his voice he whispered, "Sorting out affairs with Shampoo may not be as complicated as we thought. Apparently Cologne wants to marry Shampoo to Reilly-san now!"
"What?" The look on Akane's face broadcast her disbelief like a flashing sign.
"I don't know what's going on, but I've got to tell Reilly-san everything I know about Shampoo, Cologne and the Amazons after school. Heh, you ought to come along and fill whatever gaps I may leave. He said something about solving our problem along with his and Shampoo's."
All Akane could do was nod. Soon the glassy eyed couple were automatically eating their bentos and wondering what the hell had happened.
§☼§☼§
"So that's what this was for," Ben Reilly said as he pulled a small bottle labeled "411" out of his desk and placed it before the still incredulous pair. The American had just finished his tale of how he'd ended up with a 'date' with Shampoo.
"Yep, they were going to use the Xi Fa Xiang Gao on you Reilly-san," Ranma nodded. "I wouldn't trust 'em as far as I could throw them."
A glare from Akane made Ranma reassess the amount of trust he would extend to the Amazons. "Uh, no, that's too much. I wouldn't trust them at all," he sputtered.
"Might of pulled it off except for the ol' spider sense," Reilly mused.
"Ok, from what you've told me, I'm dealing with a society that trades heavily in magics, potions, lies, manipulation and martial arts of all kinds, believing firmly in the superiority of women," the westerner continued.
"Uh, you left out the part about being boneheadedly obedient to outdated tribal law, but other than that, if you're going to sum it up, that sounds about right," Akane nodded.
"I never heard this stuff about tribal expulsion or execution before," Ranma said. "But it kinda explains some of the schemes they've tried."
"That's no excuse for attempted murder," Akane gritted.
"No, it's not. Akane's right," Reilly agreed. "We've got to figure out some way to end this stupid mess. I don't want to marry Shampoo any more than you do Ranma, but unless we stop this, they'll just keep trying to bring you or me, or both of us into their tribe. It'll never stop."
Akane snapped her fingers. "We need to talk to Mousse. He knows more about their stupid tribal law than we do and he wants to marry Shampoo. I'm sure he'll help."
§☼§☼§
As the trio approached the Neko Hanten, Ben Reilly's danger detecting spider sense began to buzz. At first it was a mild tingle, but as they drew closer the intensity escalated with every step.
"Something's going on up ahead," Reilly warned Ranma and Akane.
"Yeah, I've got a real weird feeling about this," Ranma agreed.
"Me too," echoed Akane.
"Both of you be on guard," came the American's reply.
"Let's go around back. Mousse is usually in the kitchen," Akane said. "Maybe we can get his attention without Shampoo and Cologne knowing we're here."
"It's worth a try," Reilly agreed as they approached the entrance to the alleyway that ran behind the restaurant.
"Bu, but there's usually ca, ca, cats back there," Ranma stammered, coming to a halt.
"Don't worry, I'll go in first and shoo them away," Akane smiled brightly. "You know, if we're going to talk about training me to be closer to your skill level, Ranma, we ought to try to do something about this stupid cat phobia of yours. We don't want our dojo to be known as the 'Scaredy Cat -- make that Scared of Cats -- School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," she giggled.
"Hey, it's not my fault. If that stupid old man of mine had read the manual ..."
"But he didn't and you've got to deal with it sooner or later, Ranma," Akane said gently.
She shuddered at the thought of the "training" Genma put his son through. That "training" produced a hysteric phobia of felines in Ranma and gave him his ultimate fighting technique -- the Nekoken. However, while Ranma was virtually indefeatable in the Nekoken, he was also completely out of control, believing himself to be a cat fighting for its life.
"Our dojo?" Reilly asked quizzically.
"Way to go, tomboy," Ranma smirked as Akane slapped both hands over her mouth.
"I, I, I didn't mean to..." Akane wailed in obvious distress. Suddenly she reached out and dragged both men into the alleyway.
"Reilly-san, you've got to promise not to tell until ..." she began to plead, but the grin growing on Reilly's face stopped her up cold.
Looking at Ranma, the westerner stuck out his hand. "Let me be the first to congratulate you. You told her right? And from the sound of things I was right."
"Yeah, I told her," Ranma beamed back, "and she says she feels the same way 'bout me."
"Wha, what's going on here," Akane stammered as she looked back and forth between the two men.
"Well, let's just say you owe Reilly-san a big 'Thank You' for last night. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have told you how I feel last night," Ranma said. "He jerked the slack out of my chain about being a real man."
"I, I ... " Akane paused long enough for a deep breath before bowing deeply to Reilly. "Thank you for straightening this baka out Reilly-san," she said. Then she straightened to look into Reilly's beaming face and the impact of the American's actions caught up with her. A second later she had Reilly in bear hug and was sobbing, "Domo Arigato, Domo Arigato, Domo Arigato."
"Mr. Roboto," Reilly wheezed as he pried the girl's arms from around his waist.
"You're welcome, Akane," he said, catching his breath, "and don't worry, I wont say a word about it until you two tell me it's Ok. Now let's see what's going on at the Neko Hanten that's making my spider sense buzz and see if we can talk to Mousse."
"Right," Ranma said as he started off down the alley.
He was back seconds later. "There's ca, ca, cats down there!" he pointed wildly.
"You're right Akane," Reilly laughed, "something's got to be done about that. Come on."
With Reilly and Akane in the lead, the trio set off down the alley toward the back of the Neko Hanten.
§☼§☼§
The cacophony of caterwauling cats grew as Reilly, Akane and Ranma proceeded down the alley. Akane tried to shoo the scavenging felines away as they approached. The stubborn ones, who refused to be run off their territory, were promptly tacked down by a spurt of webbing, producing the unusual midafternoon racket.
The cats' cries had Ranma on edge, but he managed to control himself, when he saw the furry critters couldn't get to him thanks to Reilly's spray adhesive.
As they neared the backdoor of the Cat Cafe, they thought fortune had smiled.
The screen door of the restaurant banged open and Mousse stepped out, lugging a garbage can filled to the brim with table bussings and other spoiled food stuffs. The myopic martial artist's glasses were well down his nose when Akane warily stepped up and hissed, "Mousse! You got a moment?"
"What? Who's there," the young man yelped as he deposited the can in the pick up station. Turning quickly in the direction of the voice calling his name, Mousse found himself facing an outline that reminded him of a three-headed monster.
"Mousse, it's us," Akane began again. "We need to talk to you. It's important."
"I hear you Akane Tendo," Mousse addressed the three-headed being playing on the edge of focus in front of him. His hands disappeared into the sleeves of his robe, readying a defense in case this apparition turned out to really be a three-headed monster. Monsters are devious that way, he thought.
"Mousse, you knucklehead, push up your glasses," a noticeably agitated version of Ranma Saotome's voice sliced through the noise of increasingly aggravated felines filling the alley.
"It may be another ploy by Mao Mo Lin, the Cat Demon, to get my beloved Shampoo," Mousse thought as he cautiously reached up to adjust his glasses.
As the lenses settled into their proper spot on the bridge of his nose, the three-headed monster resolved itself into the figures of Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome and the gaijin chemistry teacher, Ben Reilly.
"You will die," were the last intelligible words Akane remembered before the alley exploded into mayhem.
As the young Chinaman's hand ascended toward his glasses, Ben Reilly's spider sense kicked into overdrive, sounding one of the strongest alerts he'd ever experienced.
As the words left his mouth, Mousse sprang toward the trio, sleeves coming up. Reilly instinctively moved to shove the two youths on his left out of danger but his push swept through empty space. Spinning he leapt high to avoid a double handful of sherikan stars whizzing through the spot he'd just occupied.
Mousse was shouting in the Amazon's odd dialect -- a strange amalgam of Tibetan and mangled Mandarin. It was all unintelligible to Reilly, but he guessed the gist of the jealous frustration in Mousse's voice.
Landing on the roof of the cafe, Reilly snatched his remaining webshooter from around his ankle, slapping it into place on his wrist. His danger sense squawked again and he ducked below a viciously spiked mace on the end of a chain.
"Crap, this is not what I had in mind," Reilly thought, as he bounded to the top of a nearby light pole. Mousse was glowing with an iridescent aura as he tracked the object of his hatred through coke-bottle glasses.
"You will not escape me, especially not now," Mousse jabbered to himself, since no one else in the alleyway understood his native language. He launched a pair of grapples on chains at the American. The attack forced his new rival to leap to the roof of a building on the opposite side of the alley. Mousse released the chains, leaving them hanging limply from the top of the pole.
"Ok, Reilly, you came to this country to learn to fight. Use what you've learned," the westerner chided himself for his instinctive return to reactive fighting. Before Mousse had a chance to launch another attack, Reilly was in his face, aiming a spider-powered cuff at the side of the Amazon's head. Mousse's hand snapped up, deflecting Reilly's blow by a hair's breadth.
Back down the alley, Akane and Ranma watched as the iridescent glow surrounding Mousse seemed to flare slightly as he and Reilly appeared to exchange a volley of close-quarter blows. The fight began to drift back down the alleyway as the duo struck and parried, bouncing off the low walls and stunted trees that interrupted the skyline from time to time. Neither combatant seemed able to land a solid blow.
"I don't get it," Ranma puzzled. "Ben-san should have taken Mousse out in half a second, but I've never seen Mousse manifest a battle aura like that either. Come on, Akane. I don't want to miss this."
As the pair raced off down the alley in pursuit of the battling pair, four wizened gray heads bobbed approvingly in the doorway to the Neko Hanten.
"Yes, let us see how this new marriage candidate fares against the meager skills taught to the men of our village," an aged, though still melodious voice whispered. "We follow. Cologne, you and Shampoo come too."
"Yes, Elder Tonic," a subdued Cologne replied.
§☼§☼§
After their initial attacks, Mousse and Reilly settled into gauging the abilities of their opponent. After the first round of their battle the two faced each other in the center of the alleyway, webbing encased cats yowling on all sides. Mousse found the American was always several steps ahead of every attack he launched and never presented an opening for the multiple hidden weapons he held reserved for close in fighting. The westerner was unbelievably agile and arguably one of the quickest opponents Mousse had ever faced.
Reilly was looking to end the fight quickly with a simple knock out of the Chinaman. At first he pulled his strikes for fear of injuring Mousse, but he soon found the shimmering iridescent aura enveloping the Amazonian youth was acting as a very affective shield to his blows. No matter how much power or speed he put into his strikes, kicks or punches, the blows seemed to slide off his young assailant like water off a duck's back.
"This is getting me nowhere. Kicks and punches aren't worth spit if you can't make contact. I'm gonna gum up his works," Reilly muttered as he ducked under another barrage of projectiles erupting from Mousse's sleeves. "Doesn't he ever run out?"
Crouching, Reilly fired a burst of impact webbing at the still advancing Chinaman. But instead of bursting into flowers of constrictive webbing, binding his opponent's arms to his side, the small spheres stopped inches from Mousse, embedded in his enveloping battle aura. Mousse reached up and harvested the small spheres from the aura.
Rolling them in his fingers, a light seemed to play in his eyes, "Ah, very ingenious. I may be able to make use of these," he said as the sphere's disappeared inside his robe.
A spray of webbing shrouded Mousse from view a moment later. Reilly thought he might have gained the upper hand as he cocooned the seemingly untouchable martial artist. But almost as soon as he finished webbing up his foe, the webbing began to slide down the aura to puddle harmlessly at Mousse's feet.
"R-R-Reilly-san, his glasses. He's b-b-blind w-w-without th-them," Ranma's quavering voice came from a rooftop to Reilly's right. Glancing toward the voice, Reilly saw Ranma crouching on the edge of the parapet above a wall festooned with mewling feline cocoons. Akane stood behind him, hands on his shoulders.
"This is between the American and myself!" Mousse bellowed. "No! You are next!. I will have no one stand between me and Shampoo ever again!" Hooked chains began to flip repeatedly from his sleeves. Each grapple plucking a web cocooned cat from the walls of the alley. Reilly was momentarily dumbfounded as he watched the cats disappear into Mousse's sleeves. Recovering himself, Reilly tried to make the most of Mousse's cat harvesting.
Spying an open excavation behind Mousse on his left, Reilly feinted right before jumping directly over the Amazon's head. As he passed overhead, the American launched a snap kick at the side of his attacker's head. As his foot met the shimmering shield, the force of the blow altered Reilly's direction as it slid off harmlessly.
"I've got find some way through that Teflon aura of his," Reilly thought.
Below him Mousse was trying to get a bead on his rival. He spun, tracking the American's leap, then bobbing to evade the foot lashing at the side of his head.
Landing in a crouch on the lip of the open hole, half filled with muddy water, Reilly launched himself in an almost horizontal dive at the feet of his antagonist. Curling into a ball, he flipped to come at Mousse feet first. What Reilly intended as a two-footed kick at Mousse's midsection, turned into a scissor hold on the young Chinaman's knees as the Teflon battle aura protected Mousse again. Reilly twisted his body hard. A smile of satisfaction crossed the American's lips as he felt his opponent begin to topple toward the hard packed dirt of the alleyway. Reilly noticed as he twisted, his legs seemed to sink slowly through Mousse's battle aura until he was in actual contact with his foe. As he did, his spider sense spiked a bit from the now almost constant buzz of battle. A flash of insight hit Reilly between the eyes.
"Now I got you," the westerner thought, but the urging of his spider sense made him release his opponent and spring away a split second later. A wicked barb protruded from Mousse's robe as the elbow strike he aimed at Reilly's legs missed. Matching barbs extended upwards from Mousse's knee caps, their points missing Reilly's legs by hairs' breadths.
"Oh man, he's got some sort of hidden weapon at every joint on his body," Reilly realized as the knee and elbow barbs retracted back inside Mousse's now filthy robes.
Reilly began a feverish dance around the maddened Mandarin. He repeatedly darted in close, feigning various attacks, while testing the aura's defensive properties. Mousse found himself on the defense. Reilly's new tactic had him spinning like a dervish, spraying weapons from his inexhaustible cache in all directions.
"The young Mousse shows some talents we have not taught him," the Elder Tonic mused from her perch on the rooftop opposite Ranma and Akane. "However, the foreigner will end this soon."
Three gray heads nodded in unison at their leader's assessment of the battle. Cologne remained motionless and silent beside her fellow council members.
"How so? Reilly-san not able to touch Mousse," Shampoo objected as she stood behind the line of elders.
"Observe carefully, young one," Elder Tonic replied. "The foreigner has discerned how to penetrate the shield young Mousse's battle aura is generating."
As if at her command, Reilly launched another attack, ducking and weaving between the now haphazardly deployed weapons coming from Mousse's sleeves. The American's body seemed to be moving at high speed, but as he closed with her tribesman, his hand reached out in what seemed slow motion compared to the rest of his body. A fluid motion pierced the iridescent aura surrounding Mousse's head and Reilly's hand held Mousse's glasses as the gaijin sprang away.
"Yield Mousse," Reilly barked as the suddenly blind martial artist froze. "I didn't come here to fight you. I came here for your help!" The American was stuck to the wall just below Ranma and Akane.
"Help? Why would I help you? You stand between me and my love!" Mousse shouted in the direction of the voice. He moved the hands hidden deep within his robe.
"Give it up Mousse," Ranma smirked. "Reilly-san has your new trick figured out, and that crowd of crones over there knows it too."
"Damn you, Ranma. If you hadn't come along, Shampoo would be mine!" Mousse screamed.
The Chinese Amazonian warrior's hands flew up, aimed at the location of Ranma's voice. A pair of nets erupted from his sleeves, arcing over Ranma and Akane's head. Entangled in the netting were yowling lumps of frantic felines and several small gray spheres. As Mousse's attack settled over the pair, those spheres scattered throughout the net began to burst, wrapping Akane and Ranma together with the mass of frightened cats Mousse had harvested from the walls of the alley.
Ben Reilly launched his final attack a split second too late to prevent Mousse's strike at his former rival. Leaping from the wall he landed within striking range. Bringing his leg up in a slow deliberate motion, Reilly pressed slowly through Mousse's shielding aura and finally released a spider-powered snap kick that lifted the Amazon off his feet and sailed him across the alleyway to land in the open excavation half filled with tepid water.
Muddy water erupted from the depression, but Mousse didn't rise in response. An addled white duck thrashed in what remained of the hole's muddy water.
"Indeed, the American is a worthy candidate for bridegroom," Elder Tonic's voice cut the momentary lull. Shampoo hung her head and Cologne nodded. It couldn't have worked out better if she'd planned it.
Overhead the sounds of a frantic struggle erupted on the rooftop behind Reilly.
"Get'em off! Get'em off! Get'em off!" Ranma shrieked from inside a tangled mass of netting, impact webbing and cats.
"Indeed a much better candidate than the former bridegroom," Tonic muttered as she watched the thrashing lump of netting, webbing and cats across the alley.
Reilly sprang to the rooftop at the sound of his instructor's distress. "Try to calm down. The webbing will dissolve in about an hour," the American said.
"An hour?" Akane groaned from inside the yowling trap. "That could be a problem."
"H-hour?" a small voice shuddered.
Before Reilly could respond, a noise from the alley drew his attention. Bits of metal were whizzing through the air, bouncing off walls, trees and every other nonmetallic thing in the alley. Portions of metal roofing began to peel off buildings on either side of the alleyway. Stepping to the edge of the roof, Reilly watched as the bits of metal flew toward the muddy white duck still sitting in the excavation.
The duck was rapidly encased in the metallic debris, which began to grow and transform before the stunned American's eyes. With his sensei's hysteria growing behind him, Ben Reilly watched a giant metal duck rise to look out over the alley rooftops.
(EoC25r2)
Hope you
enjoy this chapter. Sorry to see the End of Chapter Review Responses
disappear, but the rules have changed. I'll try to get out replies
using the new system. Keep those reviews coming: PLEASE!