Changes 4:
Truths and Consequences
by Jess Dougherty
*********************************************************
Disclaimer: By all rights by law, Characters in this story belong
to Rumiko Takashi and their receptive companies. Please do not sue as
I am a student with source of income or any wealth. The story however
is something I had floating around in my head since Mousse is one of
my favorite Ranma 1/2 characters.
***********************************************************************
The fight had started not long ago, but two hours had already
passed and Nabiki didn't like this. Normally under the same
circumstances she bet everything on Ranma to win, but things were
different now. Mousse had changed.
He was no longer the annoying duck-boy she had come to get used to
and know very well from a prospective point of view. He had become
something more and that bothered her. Every resource she once counted
on could come up with nothing now. Every piece of collected data and
knowledge was worthless now.
Sure, she had made a great bundle with the young girls at the high
school, now that a new 'hunk' had arrived but it was worth nothing.
Nothing if she didn't have knowledge of the man to sell with the
picture. A picture was a profile, but with no knowledge it was
literally nothing. Her once carefully calculated equations on making a
profit had been literally thrown out the window.
***
Mousse's blade struck where Ranma had been standing and when Ranma
went to throw an Amaguriken attack, he saw it coming. Mousse pulled
out a rather large pot from within his sleeves and covered himself.
Each hit only hit the covering but left Mousse alone. Ranma, as anyone
could see, was getting pisted. And anger usually left a fighter
vulnerable. Less focused.
He jumped back, using the same sword and a twin as catapults,
stabbed into the ground and leapt away. The swords were left there as
he flew back, to everyone's' astonishment. Mousse was depleting his
weapon reserves everywhere. A couple of shuriken embedded here and
there, along with spears, swords, chains, maces, mallets, etc. The
only thing he seemed to still have were wrist chains on his wrists and
who knows what little if anything at all in his sleeves.
The fight had been tremdeous, as street signs were left bent,
pulled out and embedded almost everywhere. Cars were either destroyed
or left damaged to the point that maybe even insurance agents wouldn't
believe some people's claims tomorrow. Trees were stabbed, punch
marked, and broken. And the list kept going.
Mousse came in for a floor foot sweep and Ranma avoided by jumping
up, and that's where the unpredictable factor came in. By the look on
Ranma's face, he could tell that he thought that he had run out of
weapons. For the past thirty minutes he had resorted to fighting
hand to hand style and he kept back, making Ranma cocky and
overconfident.
That was his mistake. His pride.
Mousse threw about twenty of his feathers, each striking at a
pressure point in his body but a few missing. Ranma fell to one knee
as five feathers stuck to his chest. Another few in his right arm,
left wrist and thigh. That gave Mousse enough time and he pulled out
his last weapon. His fathers' gift, the oak staff.
Ranma was pulling out or actually bunching out the darts in his
shoulder and allowing his arm to know be able to move. Missing the
shoulder of the other arm gave him that advantage but the end was
near. There would be only one attack Ranma would most likely use
since he had already tried the Mouko Takabisha, Kenshin Amaguriken and
the Hiryu Shoten Ha. The last, he had countered and broken the spiral
from being completed. Live with an Amazon and learn about the counter-
attacks to those techniques.
Giving Ranma enough time, Mousse concentrated and started to glow
again in an eerie aura. But it began to change as he concentrated,
he had learned to two ways to use his family's main attack.
Considering he was still learning how to do the Ryuken Ha but he had
discovered another way.
The words repeated themselves over and over in his head as he
concentrated on his chi to build from the energy around him. He had
learned that an energy attack can come out of ki, inner energy, or
chi, outer energy. Right now he was using chi as he concentrated on
using everybody's emotional energy. He was being engulfed in a mixed
energy, finally staying into a whitish color. He kept concentrating as
he knew he would need the speed in enhanced reflexes in a little while.
_Mouuuu.. kuuu... Kennnn... _
Then the energy no longer engulfed him but became an outline over
him. Ranma finished pulling the last feather out of his thigh and
looked at Mousse.
***
"Ok, duck-boy, I'll give you credit. Your training for this fight
actually is paying off for a change but now you got me really into
this fight. And Ranma Saotome, don't lose."
Mousse stood there concentrating but let a little confusion rise to
his face. "My fight? Since was this my fight? Your the one who came to
challenge me."
"Yeah, but that's why you were training wasn't it. To try and beat
me."
Mousse gave a small sad chuckle at what had just been revealed to
him. The reason they were fighting today was for a stupid call on
behalf of misleading information. No doubt via Nabiki Corps. He moved
his head from side to side as he got out the fighting stance he had
been in. The energy gone form him.
"Ranma I wasn't doing it to challenge you. I just wanted to retrain
myself and get back into shape. After all, not all of us have a
martial artist father or someone like Ryoga to train with all day. I
had to do with what I had. Like it or not, you were in no part
attached to it."
Ranma had confused look on his face too, and let go of the fighting
stance he had been in. "You mean it was just you training and only
that? For nothing?"
Mousse nodded. Ranma laughed and shook his head too.
_Hmm. Maybe Ranma isn't such a dense guy after all._ Thought Mousse.
Then Ranma stopped laughing and went back into fighting stance as
he looked at Mousse with less anger intensity in his eyes. But still
an even greater intensity of competitiveness in them. Mousse knew that
look well. He had it every time he and Ryoga fought, and especially
every challenge that came along.
"Ok Mousse, I understand what you were doing but you've got my
attention now. You've never be able to hold your own this far before
and I wanna see how good you've gotten." His eyes glinted with passion
for the fight to continue.
Mousse looked at him and it was too in his own blood and eyes.
Seeing that he now stood toe to toe with him, he too wanted to see if
he could do it too. Beat the unbeatable Ranma Saotome that is. At that
moment, he understood why Ranma, now, almost seemed to go off looking
for fights. The test he was going through now was a real rush.
The crowd looked on to the now stopped combatants with a look of
confusion. It only got worse when the two started talking to each
other rather than fight. When the two started to get back into
formation to fight, the excitement rose back to unbearable levels.
Everybody looked on as Ranma leapt at his opponent again and
screamed "Kachuu Teshin Amaguriken." And his arms went flying into a
tornado of whirls and blurs to which Mousse responded with equal
speed. Training with heavy weighted objects on himself, like all his
weapons in his cloths had made him fast. Disposing of all his weapons
allowed him to show that as the bo staff in his hand became a blur
with itself and blocked all of Ranma's punches. Then Ranma made a
miscalculation and missed.
He went ramming fist first past Mousse, unfortunately losing his
momentum in that moment. He could've gotten it back in a split-second,
but that; was a split-second too late.
Mousse had his left arm coaxed up with his right holding the bo and
steadying it to his attack. To which he struck.
It hit Ranma in the head, directly where Akane always hit him with
her mallet. The only spot on his hard head that would have an
installed weakness too.
He went out like a light.
The crowd gasped as those who bet on Ranma started to cry.
Shampoo was shocked.
Cologne just looked on with a calm and serene face. Almost as
though she had expected the fight to end this way?
*****
Akane looked on in worry at her fiancée mostly because when she
looked Mousse she saw something different in him. She was really
worried that something bad might happen. But the worry subdued a bit
when she heard what he and Mousse talked about. But when they got back
into a stance, she felt a little bit better cause now it was rivalry.
Not how Ranma was treating it at first, a fight to the death deal.
And the fight started.
Then almost as quick as lighting hit, it was over. She winced at
the sound Mousse's bo made when it collided with her fiancée's head.
Her last thought as she turned her head away was... _That's gotta
hurt!_
* * *
Ryoga looked at the battle and almost smiled at what he saw, Ranma
was actually gonna get his for once. It was something of a sight to
behold, until he realized it wasn't him who was doing it.
"Damn."
* * *
Nabiki almost wanted to cry at the thought of losing money to a
fight she couldn't predict the outcome. And the way this one was
turning out, it seemed that it would end that way indeed.
"Damn. There goes a hellva profit."
* * *
Soun and Genma, in panda form, looked on at what was transpiring.
They had gotten word by a running pedestrian about the fight and
wanted to see why so many would go see a fight that everybody knew
Ranma would win. When they saw Mousse, they knew why.
"He's going to lose isn't he old friend?"
[Look on the Muu-boy's eyes] He flipped the sign again. [Says it
all. Determination.] He flipped yet again. [It BURNS in him, greatly.]
"Yes, I can see that well, Saotome."
* * *
Ukyou looked at Ranma and looked at Mousse. Then the fight started
and she winced, the fight was over.
"Damn, never saw that coming did you Ran-chan?"
*****
"AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Shampoo woke up in a cold sweat as
she looked around and realized she was in her room. The curtains were
closed and her door was closed. On her bed she sat with her arms
stretched out in front of her as her head hung low. Her pink silk
Chinese pajamas clinged to her figure in a rather formfitting way.
"Ah, Shampoo only have bad dream. For a moment there Shampoo
thought she saw stupid Mousse defeat Airen." Shampoo started to calm
down when her door opened and there in the light of the hall and in
silhouette form, stood Cologne. Her face was etched with worry as she
looked on toward her great-granddaughter.
{What is Xian, are you ok?}
"Huh? Oh is you great-grandmother. No nothing wrong, Shampoo just
have nightmare is all. Thought for a moment that saw Mousse defeat
Arien in hand to hand combat. Silly huh?"
Shampoo would've laughed if not for the fact that her grandmother
just stood there and didn't laugh. For a moment all was silent and
little bit by little bit, Shampoo started to get really uncomfortable
at all the silence. Then Cologne spoke.
"Great granddaughter, it was no dream. Mousse did defeat son-in-law
yesterday. You fainted afterwards because you could not believe what
had happened. I asked Mousse to bring you in after the fight and then
told him to go see that young doctor Tofu, the same one that the
Tendos' took Ranma too."
"Ugh... ugh... ugh..." Shampoo was speechless at what had been
revealed to her. Thoughts ran rampant in her head as it came crashing
down hard that Mousse was new her new fiancée.
"NOOO!!! Great-grandmother, please tell Shampoo you joking. Tell
Shampoo that Mousse did not defeat Arien?!?!" Shampoo asked now at
great-grandmother's feet as she pleaded. "Please?"
Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter with a deep scowl on her
face and then, without warning, slapped her.
Shampoo went flying toward the other wall and banged against it
hard, then slid down it. Getting back up, she grabbed her red cheek
and looked at Cologne with tears.
"Why you do that Great-grandmother?"
Still with an angry scowl on her face, Cologne spoke. {Because Muu
Zhuu is not your fiancée.}
"What?!?!?!?!"
"Foolish child, do you not remember what Mousse asked of me before
the match with son-in-law?"
Shampoo looked down and tried to recall what she EXACTLY had heard
and then gasped.
^FLASHBACK^
{Honored Elder. I have a request to ask of you before I fight your
future son-in-law. I wish to...}
{You can marry Xian Pu if you win.}
{What?}
{WHAT?!?!?!} Came the reply of a very angry Shampoo from behind
them. But before she could say anything, Mousse continued.
For a brief moment, Mousse smiled a small smile at the irony of
what was happening. His past actions and recent revelation had finally
gotten him what he always wanted. Khun Lon had finally acknowledged
him as suitable material for a husband for her great-granddaughter so
he let out a small chuckle. The old Amazon looked at him, as did
Shampoo. then he spoke.
{That is not what I wish to request of you Honored Elder.}
{What?!?!} Now it was Cologne's turn to be amazed at what had just
happened. Her approval had finally been give and Mousse had NOT
accepted it.
{What I wish to ask of you is that this contest NOT be acknowledged
as a fight for Xian's hand. I wish for this to be a simple contest
between martial artists of skill. That is what I ask.}
^END OF FLASHBACK^
Shampoo sat there on the floor shocked to remember that Mousse had
asked such a thing. For as far she could remember, Mousse had always
sought her hand in marriage and now, that it was at hand, he refused
it. Not to mention the fact that if he could defeat Ranma...
"No... Mousse hold back all this time?!?"
***
Mousse broomed the floors quietly as he remembered the fight that
had happened not too long ago. He could still see the rage in the
young Amazon's eyes known as Shampoo. At the time when the elder had
told him that he could have her hand in marriage if he won. But most
of all, he remembered her shocked expression as he turned her great-
grandmother down. His own expression changed as he frowned at the
memory of that moment.
Truth be told, he wasn't so sure of his own emotions at the moment
when he recalled those events. His posture changed from one of rest
and deep thought to an anxious form as his mind raced with thoughts.
His face contorted with frustration at the events over the past few
days.
_I thought I had all of this covered and well thought out. I would
train and get myself back in shape. Make my peace with Xian and Khun
Lon, then leave back home. Reopen the old dojo back home and train
other Amazon's in the ways of the Hidden Weapons Arts. Now..._ He just
leaned further into his broom as he leaned on it and continued to
think out the new events.
_Now,... now it seems like everything I thought I knew wasn't even
what I thought I knew. Shampoo almost looked like she was saddened at
the thought of me turning down the chance to marry her. But her eyes,
they almost burned with hate at the actual fact that I could marry
her._
Throwing the broom down he growled in frustration as he threw his
hands and arms up in the air. His mind screaming his unspoken question
as he couldn't stand it anymore. _Kami! I JUST DON"T UNDERSTAND WOMEN
AT ALL!!!!!! They are the stronger gender and yet that means they
should be easier to understand. Yet there are times they seems as weak
and as fragile as us men, damn it, I wish I knew the answer to all
this!!!!!_
At the moment he felt as though he was being watched, so he turned
around quickly. Part of him expecting an attack from Ranma, even if
the fight had just been a few days ago. Instead, who he saw was not a
fighting frenzied teenage martial artist, but a glaring Chinese Amazon
female. He stared from where he stood, his dark green coming face to
face with her light violet eyes. Both pairs speaking volumes with
unspoken words.
So, he turned around and continued sweeping as though nothing ever
happened at all, nothing at all. Shampoo on the other hand, had much
to say as she quietly spoke out her question.
{Did you always hold back when we fought?}
Mousse stopped what he was doing, and without even turning around,
he answered her. {You know the answer.}
Shampoo looked down at the floor and thought over the times that
she remembered him fighting. All the fights where he held his own
ground against Ranma, Ryoga, the occasional Super martial artist
villain that crossed their paths, etc. Some of the opponents she had
no chance against at, unless she trained hard, and yet, he... always
held his ground. On a few occasions he even beat those who beat her
easily.
The answer to her own question, she knew it, she just didn't want
to believe it. At least, not then. She was the champion of her female
generation and the women were always the better fighters of the
village. They were the superior gender, always had been and will be,
it was always like that way since she had been taught from childhood.
Yet he was always beat her.
Looking back up to the rigid posture of the standing male Amazon
she knew as Muu Zhuu. He was right, she knew the answer to her own
question, though, the question now was why?
{Why?}
Mousse stood as he was, a faint glow about him as he continued to
speak and answer her. {Why? Simply because you would not be able to
handle the true capacity of what I can do.}
At this very statement, Shampoo's meager demeanor changed as she
became enraged by his underestimating her skills. She let go of the
blanket around her and launched in a flying dragon kick, to which she
missed. As she landed and tried to attack again, she stopped as she
felt the cold feel of metal at her throat. Looking down, she saw that
Mousse was hold one of his katana's at her throat as he held her left
arm behind her back. He had attacked so quickly, she hadn't even felt
him behind her.
{You see.} He simply spoke as though it were no more simpler than
explaining that the sky was blue and water was wet. He said it with no
passion but just the simplicity of the words.
And she did, she realized that Mousse had been holding back every
time they fought. She could almost feel like she wanted to cry at that
moment. Anybody would, to suddenly realize that after years of working
hard, believing what you believe and then have it all thrown in your
face. To achieve so great after working so hard only to have what is
considered the weak, proven stronger than you. She soon became enraged
and attacked again as she got herself free.
Mousse leapt into the air and landed away from her some five feet
as turned around and glared at him. Looking at her with his emerald
grey eyes, he reached into his black robes and pulled out two
boundaries, her special choice for weapons. Throwing them into the
air, they spun as they flew at her, only to be caught by her slender
hands.
Testing the weight of her weapons, Shampoo discarded the blanket
that covered her and took on a stance. Mousse simply stood his ground
and looked at her with a stone cold mask of emotionless features. He
simply nodded to her and accepted her challenge of skill as he simply
budged an inch and let his arms rest at his sides.
Shampoo smiled in triumph as she thought she would now get a chance
to use her full force on him. No more holding it all back and in check
as he had accepted the challenge and she would win. Her face turned to
disappointment and fury as the bo he used earlier to defeat Ranma,
appeared out of nowhere. It now stood in the path of her cranial head
strike, a definite knockout blow.
She flew back in a graceful leap and skidded to a halt some three
feet away. _Damn! Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought._ Her
thoughts were interrupted as Mousse spoke to her.
{Xian Pu, let us take this out to somewhere where we can fight at
the full extent of our abilities.} He turned around and began
sprinting to the kitchen and out the back door. She looked at him in
fury and followed, making it in time to catch his shadow and the tail
of his robes as he leapt to the rooftop. She followed too.
Catching a glimpse of his retreating form, she took to the
remaining rooftops, in hot-purist of her opponent.
***
After about nearly twenty minutes of jumping from rooftops, to the
open space trees of the Japanese forests and soon stopped. As she
landed and took her balance on the ground, she noticed that they were
in a clearing in the middle of nowhere. The obvious remains of
shattered rocks and fallen tree branches told her where she was
though. This was his personal training grounds.
Mousse stood some ten feet away from her, his back to her and
long folds of his black robes, which were much in the same fashion as
his old white ones, flapping in the wind. He turned to her and stood
glaring at her with a look in his eyes that nearly made her wanna
cower before him.
_Snap out of it Xian Pu, you are the female warrior of the
Amazons,..._ she stood her ground and glared back at him. _He is only
a male,_ "...a wannabe fighter." The last part coming in a whisper as
she talked to herself.
Mousse stood there and then bowed before her in respects from one
martial artist to another. Then from within his robes he removed to
billy clubs and made maneuvers with them. High arcs followed by low
spinning swings and swats. He finished and took on a stance that
looked much like a kung fu crane stance. His right leg held up inward
to his bottom thigh.
Then they both flew at each other in great speed and collided.
The sounds of hard hits echoed through the surrounding forest, as
his clubs clashed with the metal coat of her bondari. The round metal
cloth covered ball on top it coming always inches from his head. She
made a move for a low dragon tail leg sweep as she went down on her
left leg and extended her right. Mousse jumped into the air and hiked
both legs and then swung away as two chains flew out of his sleeve
just as her right bondari missed where his knees would've been.
Mousse fell to the ground and rolled back up to one knee and then
ran at her again as he dropped the clubs and took out two sais. The
side of each fork blade catching the coming down sticks and balls of
pain. This time he made an inward leg kick to her stomach but missed.
Though it cost the female Amazon one of her weapons. From no where
she took out a long dagger, about five inches in length. The handle of
pure ivory in the shape of dragon.
Mousse managed to counter it and knew things would be getting
serious pretty soon if he let her anger get the better of her. She was
good, much better than he had really expected. After all, it had been
a while since he's seen her go all out.
_So, she has kept up practice. And here I thought living in Japan
had made her soft._ He smiled inwardly at that moment, as he knew that
she would make a great leader someday. His own inner anger leaving him
in that moment for a while. Only to come back but held back with
tempered will and control. A weapon is what he was, and it must always
remain biased. Or as it is always said, in a manner of speaking,
'weapons don't hurt people, people hurt people.'
Sheathing his sais, he let loose an odd range of chains to which
Shampoo avoided and got closer to her target. Then when she was about
some ten feet away, five feathers flew from his right arm as his left
threw out two wooden daggers to confuse her.
Shampoo avoided and dodged three feathers as her dagger and bondari
took care of the wooden blades. But her right knee got hit by the
missing feather and caused her whole knee and lower leg to lose
feeling. She fell toward her left leg for support. _Damn, should've
gotten that last one. I HAVE to be faster!_
Shampoo prepared herself as Mousse came walking to her and threw
her dagger at him. A Chinese star flew from his left sleeve and
deflected blade. She threw her remaining bondari at him and he knocked
out of the sky with dagger of his own.
When he was close enough, Shampoo smiled and launched herself at
him with her good knee and yelled a battle cry. "Kashuu Tenshin
Amaguriken."
Mousse was at first shocked as he felt a hundred or so punches hit
him all over his upper body. _Damn, she is Khun Lon's granddaughter,...
should've expected this from her._ So, before the hundred and fiftieth
punch hit in that spit second, he started blocking with his own new
found speed. The shock of Shampoo's face was priceless as she now
realized he was countering her attack.
Breaking off her attack, she leapt into the air, allowing her body
to be overtaken by gravity as she flipped through the air. Reaching a
momentum of four somersaults, she landed and skidded briefly from the
force of her own retreat. Coming to a stop, she looked at Mousse with
a look of shock. A look, that Mousse smiled a knowing and almost cruel
like smile. (Think of cruel like smirk, think of... a Vegiita type of
smile.)
{You assumed too much Xian Pu, if you thought I'd be no match.
Remember my fight with Ranma a few days ago, he thought the same as
you did now. I have surprises of my own.} Then with the last word he
sped off blazing in a barge of a dark grey aura. His speed on his legs
increased as a cloud of dust gushed from behind him and then only to
reappear no more than an inch in front of her.
She was startled at first but reacted quickly and thrust a strike
out and managed to catch him off guard. Managing to connect a hit at
him in the left shoulder. Though he leapt again into the air and cried
a battle cry.
{Air-Razor Blizzard!} A barrage of tens of hundreds of feathers
flew from the confines of his sleeves and came at her with a fierce
speed. Shampoo cursed under her breath and leapt out of the way and
cried in pain as she fell off to the left. Her leg burning with pain
as three feathers caught her in the knee, calf and ankle. Looking to
where she had been, she could only see about five other feathers in
the ground.
A questioning look came over her face as she looked at Mousse as
he threw a pair of grapple balls. Both spinning in the air and
twisting around her upper body and arms, causing her to fall to the
ground. With one of her legs out of commission and her upper body
useless, she knew she had been defeated.
A mask of indifference fell upon Mousse's face as he walked over
to Shampoo slowly. His hair a mess but untangling itself from the soft
blowing winds. Cuts showing through his robe, on its sleeves and
where legs were. One or two actual gashes on the front of his chest,
bleeding profusely. As well as a few deep bruises around his face and
arms, were clearly visible as he got closer to Shampoo and was
slightly impressed. Usually he would've fallen at less.
When he was a few inches from her, he crouched to his knees and
looked at her directly at her anger-filled eyes. He stood there for a
few minutes, his dark-green eyes, boring into her soft purple ones.
Then he spoke.
"Do you wanna know why I did all this Shampoo?" He said with a
slight case of unease, sounding like his old self and yet still cold.
His question totally took her off her train of hateful thoughts as
she did wonder, deep down, why this all happened. She shook her head
slowly, up and down in a nod.
He signed and looked down, a clear expression of pain in his face
and eyes at that moment. But only for that moment, and then looked
back up to the sky with the same expression he had on before.
{I got tired.}
Shampoo looked at him with a strange and confused look as she
said, "What kinda of answer Mousse talking about?"
Mousse continued to look at the sky as he ignored her response as
though she had not been there. {I got tired of all the craziness that
living here in Nerima has brought us Xian Pu. It took us away from the
normal, or at least somewhat normal life of our village. Not just
that,} He looked back down at his own two hands and stared at them
sternly and said, {It has changed us too much.}
Shampoo taken aback with the answer was about to speak but Mousse
continued. {I guess I didn't wanna know how much living here was
getting to me and think that all I really needed was to be around you.
But even that got tiring to me, but I still hoped that it'd be enough.}
He looked at her again and then crouched down to face her face to
face, their eyes meeting. It was her first time in a while sine she
had truly seen him, his inner soul. And it spoke volumes to her as
they stared. {Do you remember that time I awoke with blood in my eyes,
Xian?}
She nodded, and he continued.
{That.... that was my wake up call Xian Pu. My own consciousness
was finally telling me what my heart wouldn't let my mind recognize.
It was then, I knew........ things had to start to change. The cycle
of madness that was started here, had to end. For once, peace had to
come to all of us. We've been through far more than most people our
own age should go through. More than any person of any age should go
through.} He cast his gaze to the right and to the ground with pain
apparent on his face.
{But I guess that's the life of a warrior.} He added the last part
in a whisper, to himself.
He looked back to her with an intensity in his eyes, more so than
she had remembered seeing in his eyes once. More than that one moment
when he first arrived in Nerima to fight Ranma. The time when he first
kidnapped Akane Tendo, and threatened her with the waters of from the
Spring of Drowned Duck.
{Ranma nearly lost Akane when he faced Saffron, and from what we
know, he showed a glimpse of his true power. So, Xian Pu..... you
should know well within your heart.... that they should not be parted.
Should you have succeeded, he would've retaliate with enough force to
destroy you and our entire village.} Walking over to stand directly
over her as he looked her dead in the eyes, he continued speaking.
{That is the.... ONLY... reason why I faced you to end his engagement
to you.}
The shocked expression on her face told him all he needed to know,
she understood. She would fight against it, the truth; after all, it
was natural. He continued, {You would've brought death to the Amazon
way of life and the Amazons' themselves. Had you finished with your
obsessed quest for his favor in victory.}
Getting closer until he was now very much upon her, he spoke a
little more seriously and quietly.
"Oh.... and Shampoo......"
She looked up at him as he raised his left arm up with his oak
staff still in his arm. Most its raise half was in the air as he said,
"Remember..... if I were an enemy,..... this would be a killing blow
and not a knock out." He took on a dead calm expression and said, "You
are defeated again. Train harder when you wake up."
***
Everything started out as a blur as Shampoo began to regain some
sense back into the world of the living. It seemed as though she had
been waking up like this more often than she had really ever wanted
too. Trying to get up with both her arms only seemed to aggravate her
body as a sharp pain shot through her body.
"Owww." She shook her head slightly and started to open her
eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light of the afternoon. The
very same sunlight now pouring in from her bedroom window.
{Try not to move Xian Pu. You received quite a punishment from the
the fight you were recently in.} Came the voice of the aged, old,
Amazon Matriarch and great-grandmother of Shampoo. It sounding to her
left, from the far corner, covered in shadow.
{Ayiah, Muu Zhuu hit harder than I gave him credit for. Did you
get the number of the wagon he threw at me?} Asked a rather pained and
injured young Amazon. Only to have her eyes snap open at the true
consideration of her actions. MOUSSE... HAD... BEATEN... HER. Shampoo
turned around toward her grandmother.
"Great-grandmother, where Mousse now?"
Cologne looked down and knew what her granddaughter was thinking,
again it seemed that the girl had not listened. Like the last time,
she was assuming that she was now married to Mousse.
_Hmph. Sometimes I wonder if she had preferred to marry him than
Ranma. But...... with whats' happened lately, I wonder if I'm not to
wrong on that idea? Its a shame of what I'll have to tell her though._
{Xian, I'm sorry to tell you this,.... but Muu Zhuu is no longer
here, at the cafe.}
Shampoo paled slightly at what that might mean, but managed to
regain back her control on her emotions. Rather than jump to
conclusions, she decided to understand what was going on; for once in
her life. Rather shakily at first, Shampoo spoke.
"Great-grandmother,...... where Mousse, if Mousse not in cafe?"
Cologne turned around to face her great-granddaughter in the face
as she looked her directly in the eyes. She was going to hate having
to tell her this, but the boy had made his desicion and stuck to it.
She smiled inwardly as she personally thought to herself. _I can
respect him for that, not many, be they male or female would've stood
up to me like that. That and not lose their nerve, that is. That boy
reminds me a lot of my old, late brother-in-law._
{Xian, you may not like what I am about to tell you, but the boy
had decided some time ago, that he would be leaving for a while.}
Spoke the elder and ancestor of Shampoo.
"What Great-grandmother mean?"
"The bo... young male and I had quite a conversation after he
brought you back from your imprompt due fight. He was carrying you
over his shoulders while you had a rather large sized bump on your
head. Seeing how he fought Ranma, I knew he had won fairly."
Shampoo became a bit flustered at the prospect that her great-grand
mother was taking her defeat so.... calmly. _What happened to the
great-grandmother and Elder Khun Lon that I knew?_
"What you mean Great-grandmother and stupid Duck boy had talk?"
[WHACK] "OOOWWWWWW!!!!!"
"Do not call him a boy Shampoo, because he is no longer such a
being. He has changed much in these past few days, more than people
who should have had done so by now. All that I know of that live
around here, but won't mention any names."
"Ok Honored Elder." Spoke a very embarrassed, humble and downcasted
Shampoo.
"As I was saying, he and I had a long talk about what has been
going on and I gave him permission to do what he requested to do."
Shampoo still looking down, but curiosity getting the better of
her, she asked. "What Mousse ask to let do?"
Cologne stood there on her staff and spoke. "He is gone from the
Nekohanten to go back home and talk to his mother and father."
"What?!?!?!"
The old respected woman continued. "Afterwards he is to become an
outsider by his choice until he feels he either feels or wants to
return back to the village."
Shampoo's eyes increased from the size of dinner plates to the
size of car tires as she screamed out her answer. "WHAT!?!??!?!!?!?"
To be continued...
Truths and Consequences
by Jess Dougherty
*********************************************************
Disclaimer: By all rights by law, Characters in this story belong
to Rumiko Takashi and their receptive companies. Please do not sue as
I am a student with source of income or any wealth. The story however
is something I had floating around in my head since Mousse is one of
my favorite Ranma 1/2 characters.
***********************************************************************
The fight had started not long ago, but two hours had already
passed and Nabiki didn't like this. Normally under the same
circumstances she bet everything on Ranma to win, but things were
different now. Mousse had changed.
He was no longer the annoying duck-boy she had come to get used to
and know very well from a prospective point of view. He had become
something more and that bothered her. Every resource she once counted
on could come up with nothing now. Every piece of collected data and
knowledge was worthless now.
Sure, she had made a great bundle with the young girls at the high
school, now that a new 'hunk' had arrived but it was worth nothing.
Nothing if she didn't have knowledge of the man to sell with the
picture. A picture was a profile, but with no knowledge it was
literally nothing. Her once carefully calculated equations on making a
profit had been literally thrown out the window.
***
Mousse's blade struck where Ranma had been standing and when Ranma
went to throw an Amaguriken attack, he saw it coming. Mousse pulled
out a rather large pot from within his sleeves and covered himself.
Each hit only hit the covering but left Mousse alone. Ranma, as anyone
could see, was getting pisted. And anger usually left a fighter
vulnerable. Less focused.
He jumped back, using the same sword and a twin as catapults,
stabbed into the ground and leapt away. The swords were left there as
he flew back, to everyone's' astonishment. Mousse was depleting his
weapon reserves everywhere. A couple of shuriken embedded here and
there, along with spears, swords, chains, maces, mallets, etc. The
only thing he seemed to still have were wrist chains on his wrists and
who knows what little if anything at all in his sleeves.
The fight had been tremdeous, as street signs were left bent,
pulled out and embedded almost everywhere. Cars were either destroyed
or left damaged to the point that maybe even insurance agents wouldn't
believe some people's claims tomorrow. Trees were stabbed, punch
marked, and broken. And the list kept going.
Mousse came in for a floor foot sweep and Ranma avoided by jumping
up, and that's where the unpredictable factor came in. By the look on
Ranma's face, he could tell that he thought that he had run out of
weapons. For the past thirty minutes he had resorted to fighting
hand to hand style and he kept back, making Ranma cocky and
overconfident.
That was his mistake. His pride.
Mousse threw about twenty of his feathers, each striking at a
pressure point in his body but a few missing. Ranma fell to one knee
as five feathers stuck to his chest. Another few in his right arm,
left wrist and thigh. That gave Mousse enough time and he pulled out
his last weapon. His fathers' gift, the oak staff.
Ranma was pulling out or actually bunching out the darts in his
shoulder and allowing his arm to know be able to move. Missing the
shoulder of the other arm gave him that advantage but the end was
near. There would be only one attack Ranma would most likely use
since he had already tried the Mouko Takabisha, Kenshin Amaguriken and
the Hiryu Shoten Ha. The last, he had countered and broken the spiral
from being completed. Live with an Amazon and learn about the counter-
attacks to those techniques.
Giving Ranma enough time, Mousse concentrated and started to glow
again in an eerie aura. But it began to change as he concentrated,
he had learned to two ways to use his family's main attack.
Considering he was still learning how to do the Ryuken Ha but he had
discovered another way.
The words repeated themselves over and over in his head as he
concentrated on his chi to build from the energy around him. He had
learned that an energy attack can come out of ki, inner energy, or
chi, outer energy. Right now he was using chi as he concentrated on
using everybody's emotional energy. He was being engulfed in a mixed
energy, finally staying into a whitish color. He kept concentrating as
he knew he would need the speed in enhanced reflexes in a little while.
_Mouuuu.. kuuu... Kennnn... _
Then the energy no longer engulfed him but became an outline over
him. Ranma finished pulling the last feather out of his thigh and
looked at Mousse.
***
"Ok, duck-boy, I'll give you credit. Your training for this fight
actually is paying off for a change but now you got me really into
this fight. And Ranma Saotome, don't lose."
Mousse stood there concentrating but let a little confusion rise to
his face. "My fight? Since was this my fight? Your the one who came to
challenge me."
"Yeah, but that's why you were training wasn't it. To try and beat
me."
Mousse gave a small sad chuckle at what had just been revealed to
him. The reason they were fighting today was for a stupid call on
behalf of misleading information. No doubt via Nabiki Corps. He moved
his head from side to side as he got out the fighting stance he had
been in. The energy gone form him.
"Ranma I wasn't doing it to challenge you. I just wanted to retrain
myself and get back into shape. After all, not all of us have a
martial artist father or someone like Ryoga to train with all day. I
had to do with what I had. Like it or not, you were in no part
attached to it."
Ranma had confused look on his face too, and let go of the fighting
stance he had been in. "You mean it was just you training and only
that? For nothing?"
Mousse nodded. Ranma laughed and shook his head too.
_Hmm. Maybe Ranma isn't such a dense guy after all._ Thought Mousse.
Then Ranma stopped laughing and went back into fighting stance as
he looked at Mousse with less anger intensity in his eyes. But still
an even greater intensity of competitiveness in them. Mousse knew that
look well. He had it every time he and Ryoga fought, and especially
every challenge that came along.
"Ok Mousse, I understand what you were doing but you've got my
attention now. You've never be able to hold your own this far before
and I wanna see how good you've gotten." His eyes glinted with passion
for the fight to continue.
Mousse looked at him and it was too in his own blood and eyes.
Seeing that he now stood toe to toe with him, he too wanted to see if
he could do it too. Beat the unbeatable Ranma Saotome that is. At that
moment, he understood why Ranma, now, almost seemed to go off looking
for fights. The test he was going through now was a real rush.
The crowd looked on to the now stopped combatants with a look of
confusion. It only got worse when the two started talking to each
other rather than fight. When the two started to get back into
formation to fight, the excitement rose back to unbearable levels.
Everybody looked on as Ranma leapt at his opponent again and
screamed "Kachuu Teshin Amaguriken." And his arms went flying into a
tornado of whirls and blurs to which Mousse responded with equal
speed. Training with heavy weighted objects on himself, like all his
weapons in his cloths had made him fast. Disposing of all his weapons
allowed him to show that as the bo staff in his hand became a blur
with itself and blocked all of Ranma's punches. Then Ranma made a
miscalculation and missed.
He went ramming fist first past Mousse, unfortunately losing his
momentum in that moment. He could've gotten it back in a split-second,
but that; was a split-second too late.
Mousse had his left arm coaxed up with his right holding the bo and
steadying it to his attack. To which he struck.
It hit Ranma in the head, directly where Akane always hit him with
her mallet. The only spot on his hard head that would have an
installed weakness too.
He went out like a light.
The crowd gasped as those who bet on Ranma started to cry.
Shampoo was shocked.
Cologne just looked on with a calm and serene face. Almost as
though she had expected the fight to end this way?
*****
Akane looked on in worry at her fiancée mostly because when she
looked Mousse she saw something different in him. She was really
worried that something bad might happen. But the worry subdued a bit
when she heard what he and Mousse talked about. But when they got back
into a stance, she felt a little bit better cause now it was rivalry.
Not how Ranma was treating it at first, a fight to the death deal.
And the fight started.
Then almost as quick as lighting hit, it was over. She winced at
the sound Mousse's bo made when it collided with her fiancée's head.
Her last thought as she turned her head away was... _That's gotta
hurt!_
* * *
Ryoga looked at the battle and almost smiled at what he saw, Ranma
was actually gonna get his for once. It was something of a sight to
behold, until he realized it wasn't him who was doing it.
"Damn."
* * *
Nabiki almost wanted to cry at the thought of losing money to a
fight she couldn't predict the outcome. And the way this one was
turning out, it seemed that it would end that way indeed.
"Damn. There goes a hellva profit."
* * *
Soun and Genma, in panda form, looked on at what was transpiring.
They had gotten word by a running pedestrian about the fight and
wanted to see why so many would go see a fight that everybody knew
Ranma would win. When they saw Mousse, they knew why.
"He's going to lose isn't he old friend?"
[Look on the Muu-boy's eyes] He flipped the sign again. [Says it
all. Determination.] He flipped yet again. [It BURNS in him, greatly.]
"Yes, I can see that well, Saotome."
* * *
Ukyou looked at Ranma and looked at Mousse. Then the fight started
and she winced, the fight was over.
"Damn, never saw that coming did you Ran-chan?"
*****
"AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Shampoo woke up in a cold sweat as
she looked around and realized she was in her room. The curtains were
closed and her door was closed. On her bed she sat with her arms
stretched out in front of her as her head hung low. Her pink silk
Chinese pajamas clinged to her figure in a rather formfitting way.
"Ah, Shampoo only have bad dream. For a moment there Shampoo
thought she saw stupid Mousse defeat Airen." Shampoo started to calm
down when her door opened and there in the light of the hall and in
silhouette form, stood Cologne. Her face was etched with worry as she
looked on toward her great-granddaughter.
{What is Xian, are you ok?}
"Huh? Oh is you great-grandmother. No nothing wrong, Shampoo just
have nightmare is all. Thought for a moment that saw Mousse defeat
Arien in hand to hand combat. Silly huh?"
Shampoo would've laughed if not for the fact that her grandmother
just stood there and didn't laugh. For a moment all was silent and
little bit by little bit, Shampoo started to get really uncomfortable
at all the silence. Then Cologne spoke.
"Great granddaughter, it was no dream. Mousse did defeat son-in-law
yesterday. You fainted afterwards because you could not believe what
had happened. I asked Mousse to bring you in after the fight and then
told him to go see that young doctor Tofu, the same one that the
Tendos' took Ranma too."
"Ugh... ugh... ugh..." Shampoo was speechless at what had been
revealed to her. Thoughts ran rampant in her head as it came crashing
down hard that Mousse was new her new fiancée.
"NOOO!!! Great-grandmother, please tell Shampoo you joking. Tell
Shampoo that Mousse did not defeat Arien?!?!" Shampoo asked now at
great-grandmother's feet as she pleaded. "Please?"
Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter with a deep scowl on her
face and then, without warning, slapped her.
Shampoo went flying toward the other wall and banged against it
hard, then slid down it. Getting back up, she grabbed her red cheek
and looked at Cologne with tears.
"Why you do that Great-grandmother?"
Still with an angry scowl on her face, Cologne spoke. {Because Muu
Zhuu is not your fiancée.}
"What?!?!?!?!"
"Foolish child, do you not remember what Mousse asked of me before
the match with son-in-law?"
Shampoo looked down and tried to recall what she EXACTLY had heard
and then gasped.
^FLASHBACK^
{Honored Elder. I have a request to ask of you before I fight your
future son-in-law. I wish to...}
{You can marry Xian Pu if you win.}
{What?}
{WHAT?!?!?!} Came the reply of a very angry Shampoo from behind
them. But before she could say anything, Mousse continued.
For a brief moment, Mousse smiled a small smile at the irony of
what was happening. His past actions and recent revelation had finally
gotten him what he always wanted. Khun Lon had finally acknowledged
him as suitable material for a husband for her great-granddaughter so
he let out a small chuckle. The old Amazon looked at him, as did
Shampoo. then he spoke.
{That is not what I wish to request of you Honored Elder.}
{What?!?!} Now it was Cologne's turn to be amazed at what had just
happened. Her approval had finally been give and Mousse had NOT
accepted it.
{What I wish to ask of you is that this contest NOT be acknowledged
as a fight for Xian's hand. I wish for this to be a simple contest
between martial artists of skill. That is what I ask.}
^END OF FLASHBACK^
Shampoo sat there on the floor shocked to remember that Mousse had
asked such a thing. For as far she could remember, Mousse had always
sought her hand in marriage and now, that it was at hand, he refused
it. Not to mention the fact that if he could defeat Ranma...
"No... Mousse hold back all this time?!?"
***
Mousse broomed the floors quietly as he remembered the fight that
had happened not too long ago. He could still see the rage in the
young Amazon's eyes known as Shampoo. At the time when the elder had
told him that he could have her hand in marriage if he won. But most
of all, he remembered her shocked expression as he turned her great-
grandmother down. His own expression changed as he frowned at the
memory of that moment.
Truth be told, he wasn't so sure of his own emotions at the moment
when he recalled those events. His posture changed from one of rest
and deep thought to an anxious form as his mind raced with thoughts.
His face contorted with frustration at the events over the past few
days.
_I thought I had all of this covered and well thought out. I would
train and get myself back in shape. Make my peace with Xian and Khun
Lon, then leave back home. Reopen the old dojo back home and train
other Amazon's in the ways of the Hidden Weapons Arts. Now..._ He just
leaned further into his broom as he leaned on it and continued to
think out the new events.
_Now,... now it seems like everything I thought I knew wasn't even
what I thought I knew. Shampoo almost looked like she was saddened at
the thought of me turning down the chance to marry her. But her eyes,
they almost burned with hate at the actual fact that I could marry
her._
Throwing the broom down he growled in frustration as he threw his
hands and arms up in the air. His mind screaming his unspoken question
as he couldn't stand it anymore. _Kami! I JUST DON"T UNDERSTAND WOMEN
AT ALL!!!!!! They are the stronger gender and yet that means they
should be easier to understand. Yet there are times they seems as weak
and as fragile as us men, damn it, I wish I knew the answer to all
this!!!!!_
At the moment he felt as though he was being watched, so he turned
around quickly. Part of him expecting an attack from Ranma, even if
the fight had just been a few days ago. Instead, who he saw was not a
fighting frenzied teenage martial artist, but a glaring Chinese Amazon
female. He stared from where he stood, his dark green coming face to
face with her light violet eyes. Both pairs speaking volumes with
unspoken words.
So, he turned around and continued sweeping as though nothing ever
happened at all, nothing at all. Shampoo on the other hand, had much
to say as she quietly spoke out her question.
{Did you always hold back when we fought?}
Mousse stopped what he was doing, and without even turning around,
he answered her. {You know the answer.}
Shampoo looked down at the floor and thought over the times that
she remembered him fighting. All the fights where he held his own
ground against Ranma, Ryoga, the occasional Super martial artist
villain that crossed their paths, etc. Some of the opponents she had
no chance against at, unless she trained hard, and yet, he... always
held his ground. On a few occasions he even beat those who beat her
easily.
The answer to her own question, she knew it, she just didn't want
to believe it. At least, not then. She was the champion of her female
generation and the women were always the better fighters of the
village. They were the superior gender, always had been and will be,
it was always like that way since she had been taught from childhood.
Yet he was always beat her.
Looking back up to the rigid posture of the standing male Amazon
she knew as Muu Zhuu. He was right, she knew the answer to her own
question, though, the question now was why?
{Why?}
Mousse stood as he was, a faint glow about him as he continued to
speak and answer her. {Why? Simply because you would not be able to
handle the true capacity of what I can do.}
At this very statement, Shampoo's meager demeanor changed as she
became enraged by his underestimating her skills. She let go of the
blanket around her and launched in a flying dragon kick, to which she
missed. As she landed and tried to attack again, she stopped as she
felt the cold feel of metal at her throat. Looking down, she saw that
Mousse was hold one of his katana's at her throat as he held her left
arm behind her back. He had attacked so quickly, she hadn't even felt
him behind her.
{You see.} He simply spoke as though it were no more simpler than
explaining that the sky was blue and water was wet. He said it with no
passion but just the simplicity of the words.
And she did, she realized that Mousse had been holding back every
time they fought. She could almost feel like she wanted to cry at that
moment. Anybody would, to suddenly realize that after years of working
hard, believing what you believe and then have it all thrown in your
face. To achieve so great after working so hard only to have what is
considered the weak, proven stronger than you. She soon became enraged
and attacked again as she got herself free.
Mousse leapt into the air and landed away from her some five feet
as turned around and glared at him. Looking at her with his emerald
grey eyes, he reached into his black robes and pulled out two
boundaries, her special choice for weapons. Throwing them into the
air, they spun as they flew at her, only to be caught by her slender
hands.
Testing the weight of her weapons, Shampoo discarded the blanket
that covered her and took on a stance. Mousse simply stood his ground
and looked at her with a stone cold mask of emotionless features. He
simply nodded to her and accepted her challenge of skill as he simply
budged an inch and let his arms rest at his sides.
Shampoo smiled in triumph as she thought she would now get a chance
to use her full force on him. No more holding it all back and in check
as he had accepted the challenge and she would win. Her face turned to
disappointment and fury as the bo he used earlier to defeat Ranma,
appeared out of nowhere. It now stood in the path of her cranial head
strike, a definite knockout blow.
She flew back in a graceful leap and skidded to a halt some three
feet away. _Damn! Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought._ Her
thoughts were interrupted as Mousse spoke to her.
{Xian Pu, let us take this out to somewhere where we can fight at
the full extent of our abilities.} He turned around and began
sprinting to the kitchen and out the back door. She looked at him in
fury and followed, making it in time to catch his shadow and the tail
of his robes as he leapt to the rooftop. She followed too.
Catching a glimpse of his retreating form, she took to the
remaining rooftops, in hot-purist of her opponent.
***
After about nearly twenty minutes of jumping from rooftops, to the
open space trees of the Japanese forests and soon stopped. As she
landed and took her balance on the ground, she noticed that they were
in a clearing in the middle of nowhere. The obvious remains of
shattered rocks and fallen tree branches told her where she was
though. This was his personal training grounds.
Mousse stood some ten feet away from her, his back to her and
long folds of his black robes, which were much in the same fashion as
his old white ones, flapping in the wind. He turned to her and stood
glaring at her with a look in his eyes that nearly made her wanna
cower before him.
_Snap out of it Xian Pu, you are the female warrior of the
Amazons,..._ she stood her ground and glared back at him. _He is only
a male,_ "...a wannabe fighter." The last part coming in a whisper as
she talked to herself.
Mousse stood there and then bowed before her in respects from one
martial artist to another. Then from within his robes he removed to
billy clubs and made maneuvers with them. High arcs followed by low
spinning swings and swats. He finished and took on a stance that
looked much like a kung fu crane stance. His right leg held up inward
to his bottom thigh.
Then they both flew at each other in great speed and collided.
The sounds of hard hits echoed through the surrounding forest, as
his clubs clashed with the metal coat of her bondari. The round metal
cloth covered ball on top it coming always inches from his head. She
made a move for a low dragon tail leg sweep as she went down on her
left leg and extended her right. Mousse jumped into the air and hiked
both legs and then swung away as two chains flew out of his sleeve
just as her right bondari missed where his knees would've been.
Mousse fell to the ground and rolled back up to one knee and then
ran at her again as he dropped the clubs and took out two sais. The
side of each fork blade catching the coming down sticks and balls of
pain. This time he made an inward leg kick to her stomach but missed.
Though it cost the female Amazon one of her weapons. From no where
she took out a long dagger, about five inches in length. The handle of
pure ivory in the shape of dragon.
Mousse managed to counter it and knew things would be getting
serious pretty soon if he let her anger get the better of her. She was
good, much better than he had really expected. After all, it had been
a while since he's seen her go all out.
_So, she has kept up practice. And here I thought living in Japan
had made her soft._ He smiled inwardly at that moment, as he knew that
she would make a great leader someday. His own inner anger leaving him
in that moment for a while. Only to come back but held back with
tempered will and control. A weapon is what he was, and it must always
remain biased. Or as it is always said, in a manner of speaking,
'weapons don't hurt people, people hurt people.'
Sheathing his sais, he let loose an odd range of chains to which
Shampoo avoided and got closer to her target. Then when she was about
some ten feet away, five feathers flew from his right arm as his left
threw out two wooden daggers to confuse her.
Shampoo avoided and dodged three feathers as her dagger and bondari
took care of the wooden blades. But her right knee got hit by the
missing feather and caused her whole knee and lower leg to lose
feeling. She fell toward her left leg for support. _Damn, should've
gotten that last one. I HAVE to be faster!_
Shampoo prepared herself as Mousse came walking to her and threw
her dagger at him. A Chinese star flew from his left sleeve and
deflected blade. She threw her remaining bondari at him and he knocked
out of the sky with dagger of his own.
When he was close enough, Shampoo smiled and launched herself at
him with her good knee and yelled a battle cry. "Kashuu Tenshin
Amaguriken."
Mousse was at first shocked as he felt a hundred or so punches hit
him all over his upper body. _Damn, she is Khun Lon's granddaughter,...
should've expected this from her._ So, before the hundred and fiftieth
punch hit in that spit second, he started blocking with his own new
found speed. The shock of Shampoo's face was priceless as she now
realized he was countering her attack.
Breaking off her attack, she leapt into the air, allowing her body
to be overtaken by gravity as she flipped through the air. Reaching a
momentum of four somersaults, she landed and skidded briefly from the
force of her own retreat. Coming to a stop, she looked at Mousse with
a look of shock. A look, that Mousse smiled a knowing and almost cruel
like smile. (Think of cruel like smirk, think of... a Vegiita type of
smile.)
{You assumed too much Xian Pu, if you thought I'd be no match.
Remember my fight with Ranma a few days ago, he thought the same as
you did now. I have surprises of my own.} Then with the last word he
sped off blazing in a barge of a dark grey aura. His speed on his legs
increased as a cloud of dust gushed from behind him and then only to
reappear no more than an inch in front of her.
She was startled at first but reacted quickly and thrust a strike
out and managed to catch him off guard. Managing to connect a hit at
him in the left shoulder. Though he leapt again into the air and cried
a battle cry.
{Air-Razor Blizzard!} A barrage of tens of hundreds of feathers
flew from the confines of his sleeves and came at her with a fierce
speed. Shampoo cursed under her breath and leapt out of the way and
cried in pain as she fell off to the left. Her leg burning with pain
as three feathers caught her in the knee, calf and ankle. Looking to
where she had been, she could only see about five other feathers in
the ground.
A questioning look came over her face as she looked at Mousse as
he threw a pair of grapple balls. Both spinning in the air and
twisting around her upper body and arms, causing her to fall to the
ground. With one of her legs out of commission and her upper body
useless, she knew she had been defeated.
A mask of indifference fell upon Mousse's face as he walked over
to Shampoo slowly. His hair a mess but untangling itself from the soft
blowing winds. Cuts showing through his robe, on its sleeves and
where legs were. One or two actual gashes on the front of his chest,
bleeding profusely. As well as a few deep bruises around his face and
arms, were clearly visible as he got closer to Shampoo and was
slightly impressed. Usually he would've fallen at less.
When he was a few inches from her, he crouched to his knees and
looked at her directly at her anger-filled eyes. He stood there for a
few minutes, his dark-green eyes, boring into her soft purple ones.
Then he spoke.
"Do you wanna know why I did all this Shampoo?" He said with a
slight case of unease, sounding like his old self and yet still cold.
His question totally took her off her train of hateful thoughts as
she did wonder, deep down, why this all happened. She shook her head
slowly, up and down in a nod.
He signed and looked down, a clear expression of pain in his face
and eyes at that moment. But only for that moment, and then looked
back up to the sky with the same expression he had on before.
{I got tired.}
Shampoo looked at him with a strange and confused look as she
said, "What kinda of answer Mousse talking about?"
Mousse continued to look at the sky as he ignored her response as
though she had not been there. {I got tired of all the craziness that
living here in Nerima has brought us Xian Pu. It took us away from the
normal, or at least somewhat normal life of our village. Not just
that,} He looked back down at his own two hands and stared at them
sternly and said, {It has changed us too much.}
Shampoo taken aback with the answer was about to speak but Mousse
continued. {I guess I didn't wanna know how much living here was
getting to me and think that all I really needed was to be around you.
But even that got tiring to me, but I still hoped that it'd be enough.}
He looked at her again and then crouched down to face her face to
face, their eyes meeting. It was her first time in a while sine she
had truly seen him, his inner soul. And it spoke volumes to her as
they stared. {Do you remember that time I awoke with blood in my eyes,
Xian?}
She nodded, and he continued.
{That.... that was my wake up call Xian Pu. My own consciousness
was finally telling me what my heart wouldn't let my mind recognize.
It was then, I knew........ things had to start to change. The cycle
of madness that was started here, had to end. For once, peace had to
come to all of us. We've been through far more than most people our
own age should go through. More than any person of any age should go
through.} He cast his gaze to the right and to the ground with pain
apparent on his face.
{But I guess that's the life of a warrior.} He added the last part
in a whisper, to himself.
He looked back to her with an intensity in his eyes, more so than
she had remembered seeing in his eyes once. More than that one moment
when he first arrived in Nerima to fight Ranma. The time when he first
kidnapped Akane Tendo, and threatened her with the waters of from the
Spring of Drowned Duck.
{Ranma nearly lost Akane when he faced Saffron, and from what we
know, he showed a glimpse of his true power. So, Xian Pu..... you
should know well within your heart.... that they should not be parted.
Should you have succeeded, he would've retaliate with enough force to
destroy you and our entire village.} Walking over to stand directly
over her as he looked her dead in the eyes, he continued speaking.
{That is the.... ONLY... reason why I faced you to end his engagement
to you.}
The shocked expression on her face told him all he needed to know,
she understood. She would fight against it, the truth; after all, it
was natural. He continued, {You would've brought death to the Amazon
way of life and the Amazons' themselves. Had you finished with your
obsessed quest for his favor in victory.}
Getting closer until he was now very much upon her, he spoke a
little more seriously and quietly.
"Oh.... and Shampoo......"
She looked up at him as he raised his left arm up with his oak
staff still in his arm. Most its raise half was in the air as he said,
"Remember..... if I were an enemy,..... this would be a killing blow
and not a knock out." He took on a dead calm expression and said, "You
are defeated again. Train harder when you wake up."
***
Everything started out as a blur as Shampoo began to regain some
sense back into the world of the living. It seemed as though she had
been waking up like this more often than she had really ever wanted
too. Trying to get up with both her arms only seemed to aggravate her
body as a sharp pain shot through her body.
"Owww." She shook her head slightly and started to open her
eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light of the afternoon. The
very same sunlight now pouring in from her bedroom window.
{Try not to move Xian Pu. You received quite a punishment from the
the fight you were recently in.} Came the voice of the aged, old,
Amazon Matriarch and great-grandmother of Shampoo. It sounding to her
left, from the far corner, covered in shadow.
{Ayiah, Muu Zhuu hit harder than I gave him credit for. Did you
get the number of the wagon he threw at me?} Asked a rather pained and
injured young Amazon. Only to have her eyes snap open at the true
consideration of her actions. MOUSSE... HAD... BEATEN... HER. Shampoo
turned around toward her grandmother.
"Great-grandmother, where Mousse now?"
Cologne looked down and knew what her granddaughter was thinking,
again it seemed that the girl had not listened. Like the last time,
she was assuming that she was now married to Mousse.
_Hmph. Sometimes I wonder if she had preferred to marry him than
Ranma. But...... with whats' happened lately, I wonder if I'm not to
wrong on that idea? Its a shame of what I'll have to tell her though._
{Xian, I'm sorry to tell you this,.... but Muu Zhuu is no longer
here, at the cafe.}
Shampoo paled slightly at what that might mean, but managed to
regain back her control on her emotions. Rather than jump to
conclusions, she decided to understand what was going on; for once in
her life. Rather shakily at first, Shampoo spoke.
"Great-grandmother,...... where Mousse, if Mousse not in cafe?"
Cologne turned around to face her great-granddaughter in the face
as she looked her directly in the eyes. She was going to hate having
to tell her this, but the boy had made his desicion and stuck to it.
She smiled inwardly as she personally thought to herself. _I can
respect him for that, not many, be they male or female would've stood
up to me like that. That and not lose their nerve, that is. That boy
reminds me a lot of my old, late brother-in-law._
{Xian, you may not like what I am about to tell you, but the boy
had decided some time ago, that he would be leaving for a while.}
Spoke the elder and ancestor of Shampoo.
"What Great-grandmother mean?"
"The bo... young male and I had quite a conversation after he
brought you back from your imprompt due fight. He was carrying you
over his shoulders while you had a rather large sized bump on your
head. Seeing how he fought Ranma, I knew he had won fairly."
Shampoo became a bit flustered at the prospect that her great-grand
mother was taking her defeat so.... calmly. _What happened to the
great-grandmother and Elder Khun Lon that I knew?_
"What you mean Great-grandmother and stupid Duck boy had talk?"
[WHACK] "OOOWWWWWW!!!!!"
"Do not call him a boy Shampoo, because he is no longer such a
being. He has changed much in these past few days, more than people
who should have had done so by now. All that I know of that live
around here, but won't mention any names."
"Ok Honored Elder." Spoke a very embarrassed, humble and downcasted
Shampoo.
"As I was saying, he and I had a long talk about what has been
going on and I gave him permission to do what he requested to do."
Shampoo still looking down, but curiosity getting the better of
her, she asked. "What Mousse ask to let do?"
Cologne stood there on her staff and spoke. "He is gone from the
Nekohanten to go back home and talk to his mother and father."
"What?!?!?!"
The old respected woman continued. "Afterwards he is to become an
outsider by his choice until he feels he either feels or wants to
return back to the village."
Shampoo's eyes increased from the size of dinner plates to the
size of car tires as she screamed out her answer. "WHAT!?!??!?!!?!?"
To be continued...