Chapter Twenty-One
A battle cry of "Ha!" came from Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome in unison.
But it didn't seem to faze the female Amazon Chinese martial artist, and Shampoo attacked them mercilessly.
Soun was the first to fall.
But all Shampoo wanted to do was get the thin, long-haired man out of the way for her real target. She didn't want to hurt him, just incapacitate him for which she did exactly that.
She had originally decided to go after Ranma, but then these two declared their intentions and she was forced to alter her plans.
But these two were only a minor nuisance, even Ranma's father was no match for her. The old man, despite built like a bear with muscle, was a weakling to her skill and power and swiftness.
How on earth did Ranma get so strong with this man as his martial arts teacher was beyond her.
Genma Saotome was putting up more of a fight than Soun Tendo, who now lay unconscious on the ground, hit across the side of the head with one of Shampoo's bonbari, her weapon of choice. She had two.
They stemmed from Amazon tradition. They looked like two beach balls on sticks, but they were hard and light and versatile to use. And Shampoo used them as if they were an appendage to her own body, whacking swiftly at Genma Saotome's body.
Genma collapsed to one knee weakened. But apparently the man had an ace up his sleeve, or rather in his Gi.
The man pulled out a flask of water and poured it over himself activating his curse. He turned from human into a large and menacing looking panda bear that rose at least five feet higher than Shampoo.
She took a couple of steps back to take in his entire height. He towered over her.
He bared his fangs and extended his sharp claws.
Genma, rejuvenated with the change, swiped hard and fast with those claws at the Amazon warrior.
He growled a protest at her defense, which was proving useless against him at the moment. She blocked his blows with her bonbari.
He attacked her just like she did him, mercilessly.
She seemed to block attack after attack, yet it pushed her back.
But was it merely a ploy? The Amazon was much smarter and savvy than this, Genma thought.
And then it came.
Hunger pains? Genma's stomach growled louder than his bear growl. It was thunderous!
He folded over, holding his stomach. He growled something at her, reaching out with a paw, relented in his aggressiveness.
He always had a weakness for food, and with all the activity recently, he had forgotten to eat lunch.
A wooden sign popped up: "Feed me!" It said.
The Amazon stood flabbergasted, her eyes wide with surprise and shock. She blinked a couple of times, as if what she was seeing was some sort of joke.
But an opportunity had presented itself, and with a light tap to his head with one of her bonbari, as if that would do it, Genma Saotome dropped unconscious, his head landed face first in the dirt.
"Pop!" Ranma cried, as he saw his father defeated.
Shampoo turned to Ranma at the sound of his voice.
But her great-grandmother, Cologne suddenly leapt in between them, as Ranma readied himself.
"I'll handle this, son-in-law!" Cologne said, holding a hand up. "Stop this child! Fight this demon that infests you!" she said to Shampoo.
But Shampoo ignored Cologne's heeding words and attacked her.
Cologne pushed Ranma out of the way with her walking stick, as if pressing the matter that she wanted to fight Shampoo alone.
Cologne swung her walking stick to stop each blow from Shampoo's bonbari. But she couldn't believe how fast Shampoo had become under the influence of the demon, and she could barely keep up.
She knew Shampoo was stronger than this mentally. All Amazon women went through grueling mental exercises to strengthen their wills. And yet, it appeared the mentality of the demon was just as strong as hers.
Cologne could sense a powerful demon spirit within Shampoo, one she had never felt before.
But that momentary lapse from combat cause her. And Cologne screamed as an attack got through.
Shampoo pressed on with continued quick strikes. Hard and fast, breaching Cologne's defenses. Defenses built up through 4,000 years of Chinese history fighting techniques.
Soon realizing that she had taught her great-grandchild too well, and because she was family, or perhaps underestimating the demons tenacity, or maybe age may have finally caught up to her - with all her determination and unending strength - Cologne fell.
She was tossed back like a rag doll after one of Shampoo's bonbari hit her square on. And she landed, skidding across the ground, making a long path.
She tried to get up.
Cologne saw tears in Shampoo's eyes, streaming down her cheeks.
"Poor child," Cologne muttered.
Shampoo was merely an observer in her own body. Those tears were her way of trying to reach out.
"I'm listening, my child!" Cologne said.
Ranma ran over to her, and despite the pain he felt in his stomach, he knelt down beside her.
"Ranma, please help Shampoo," Cologne said. "She needs you."
"I will," he said.
"Ranma, tis you I now kill, for master!" were the last words Cologne heard before she blacked out, tears of sadness forming in her own eyes.
Shampoo turned to Ranma.
"Wait!" he said, putting up a hand. He didn't want to fight her like this, but if he had to - he had to be ready. He got to his feet.
It was then he noticed Ukyo standing near-by, and his heart sank. Two of them, now.
He shook his head. He would have to fight them both, and in his condition, he didn't know if he could win.
But as he looked at Ukyo, she just seemed to be standing there, staring at him, her eyes narrowed.
He held his stomach, the blood continued to flow from the wound Nabiki had inflicted with the pen, the marriage license still plastered to his chest. His entire hand was red now.
Why won't this wound heal? He felt a little dizzy, but he straightened; wouldn't let the weakness show. Then he remembered a little medical tidbit about tissues in the stomach.
He had seen this medical show on television awhile back. There was nothing else on and he was too tired to do anything else. So he watched the problem.
It talked about how the stomach was one of the most sensitive areas of the body to get injured and the most painful. Something about more muscle tissue than anywhere else in the body, and if damaged, the tissue would rip the mid-section like rice paper, shredding with each movement until repaired or it repaired itself. But the glue from the marriage license kept pulling the tissue away from the wound keeping it open.
That's what the sensation he was feeling - like his stomach was ripping from the inside. And he had yanked out the pen quickly, which caused even more damage. Like stabbing someone, twisting the blade so the wound won't heal.
The demon inside Nabiki knew exactly what it was doing when it did this to him!
Damn! If he lost anymore blood, he'd black out!
The okonomiyaki cook held her giant spatula above her head, her weapon of choice. It was also a cooking tool she carried it everywhere.
But as she stood there, Ranma saw fight in Ukyo's eyes. No, not fight - but struggle. She was fighting the urge to attack him, to obey the demon that possessed her body. Unlike Shampoo. Or was it what he wanted to see, hoping for?
Ukyo was a strong woman. She had to be, to come back from a devastating betrayal that Ranma's father did to her and her father's business. Stealing it, as he later came to know.
But Ranma knew Ukyo was a survivor. But could she really survive this?
Could he?
To be continued...