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Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances
Chapter 9
Nabiki slowly gained consciousness and yawned.
"What a crazy nightmare..." she muttered to herself. Then she
opened her eyes and groaned. Her room was a mess, with yen notes and
clothes scattered around. "It wasn't a dream." For a few seconds, Nabiki
was at a loss of what to do or think.
She shivered, still feeling the cold wind brushing her skin.
Then it clicked.
"That's it, ninja boy's gonna die," she growled, standing up.
She grabbed her toiletries and headed to the bathroom. She had a lot to
do today and she wanted to get an early start. Her mind was fully awake
now, and began to feed her several ideas.
A hungry grin appeared on her face. "And he's going to die in
the worst possible way."
"LinLin! Sister! Come quick!"
The young Amazon female answered and bounded up the stairs to
her sister's call. Throwing open the door to Shampoo's room, she beheld
RanRan applying a cold wash rag to Shampoo's forehead.
"What happen to sister, Shampoo?" LinLin asked, worridly
The purple-haired girl was lying on her futon with a flushed
face. Her eyes were closed and she was moaning and turning her head from
side to side.
"Not know," RanRan answered. "Just find her like this, this
morning. Shampoo was out all last night again."
The twin girls stopped as Shampoo emitted a high-pitched yowl.
"Don't understand, Shampoo not cat now," said RanRan.
"Curse do something we not know about?" her sister asked.
Before RanRan could reply, Mousse burst through the doorway,
fear and worry etched on his face. "Shampoo! What's wrong with her!?"
LinLin took the opportunity to bash him on the head with her
polearm. "Keep quiet! This not for you. We take care of Shampoo. You
take care of kitchen."
"But..."
"Sister right," RanRan agreed. "We-"
She was cut off as Shampoo bolted awake and hissed. She leapt
out of bed and warily regarded the three. Her expression was a mix of
fright, curiosity, and something else that her three observers couldn't
identify.
"Shampoo?" Mousse ventured.
She hissed at him and hers eyes turned fierce. LinLin bonked
Mousse again as RanRan slowly approached the strangely acting Amazon.
"Sister, what wrong?" asked.
The response she got was not what she expected. Shampoo swiped
her hand at RanRan to back her up, then glanced rapidly around the room.
After seemingly coming to a decision, she dashed out of her room, right
through the closed window.
"SHAMPOO!" Mousse cried, running to the broken window along with
the twins. "What's happening to her!?"
"Her eyes," RanRan said, her voice containing not a little
amount of quavering. "They not look human."
LinLin nodded. "Know what you mean, sister. Almost seem...
feral. Is Shampoo's body, but not Shampoo's mind."
Mousse produced a small container from his robes. "That's it!
I'm going after her."
"No!" came the twins command.
"We go after her," LinLin continued. "You stay here!"
Mousse's final restraint snapped. "Dammit! Forget your stupid
Amazon pride for once! You can't do this alone. If you'd asked for help
in the first place, we could have helped her before it came to this!"
With that, he unscrewd the lid and dumped the water over his
head. His robed promptly fell to the ground, leaving a duck in their
place. After giving the twins a contemptuous quack, he took to the air,
chasing after his beloved.
The two young Amazon girls watched him go.
"Maybe he right?" LinLin admitted after a moment.
"Maybe," her sister answered.
The two girls looked to each other, nodded, and dashed outside.
After closing the restaurant, of course.
Ranma walked home from school in silence, a bit depressed. Not
that he'd admit it, but he was worried about Ryoga and Akari. Both had
disappeared after Akari's match. Inwardly he hoped those two would get
together and stay together. They seemed to be good for each other. She
knew and accepted his curse, and loved him anyway.
There was one other issue that had him on edge. Akane had asked
him to help stop Hinako from working her charms on her father. His
mother had interrupted his first attempt, and had told him in no
uncertain terms to NOT interfere. And then she wanted him to be a
daughter as well as a son!
He sighed. he asked himself. I can't
talk to Akane about this. She wants me to stop Hinako's attempts, and
momma wants me to stay out of it. He sighed again, a little louder this
time. He was more than on edge. He needed a release.
There's an old saying: Be careful what you wish for, because
you just might get it. In this case, Ranma got it.
"Saotome Ranma, I challenge you!"
"And I'll take that one, and maybe that one as well," Nabiki
said, pointing at two new dresses.
"Very good," the sales lady replied. "I'll wrap them up for you.
Anything else?"
"No, that should be it." Nabiki grinned and added, "For now."
The sales lady began to ring up the purchases. "And how will
you be paying for this?'
Nabiki's grin grew wider and handed the lady a piece of paper.
"Charge everything to this account..."
Ranma eyed the youth standing several yards away. "Who're you?"
The man grinned. "Call me Sukebe. I've heard you're one of the
best martial artists around here. Though, after my past few fights, I
wonder if that means anything." He exaggerated a yawn. "The others were
hardly a challenge."
A notion popped into Ranma's seldom used brain and he pointed
accusingly. "You're the one who beat up on Hiroshi, Daisuke, and Kuno!?"
Sukebe laughed. "Ah yes, the martial artist wanna-bees and
bokken boy. They almost put up a fight. Though I'll have to admit that
bandanna boy gave me a good run, he fell as easy as the rest."
Ranma blinked. "You can't tell me you're the one who beat
Ryoga?"
Sukebe merely nodded and examined the nails on his hand.
"Hell with that!" The past few days events had found their
release and Ranma assumed an attack stance. "I don't know what you did
to Ryoga, but you beat up those that couldn't defend themselves. If you
wanna see what a real martial artist can do, then I accept your
challenge!"
Sukebe mirrored him. "Excellent!"
For a few seconds, the two martial artists studied each other,
then Ranma lost patience and attacked, leading off with a jump kick that
Sukebe artfully dodged and countered with elbow to Ranma's back side.
Ranma recovered quickly and flipped away.
"Lucky shot, " he commented. "I was a bit sloppy, so don't
expect to get another."
Sukebe motioned with his finger. "Come try me."
Ranma led off again and the two martial artists collided in a
flurry of attacks.
Mousse-duck continued to fly through the sky as he followed his
beloved. It wasn't easy, since Shampoo was moving with a speed and
agility that he hadn't known she possessed. In fact, the only reasons he
could keep up with her, was the fact that she was somewhat impeded by
obstacles, such as buildings, while his flight was through the empty
sky.
He watched as she jumped from rooftop to treetop, not letting
either really slow her down. What caused him the most distress, was the fact that
she sometimes ran on two legs, sometimes on four.
Eventually, he followed her into Nerima park, as she pushed or
avoided the various pedestrians that happened to be in her path. She
disappeared into the forested section, and Mousse lost sight of her in
the trees. He circled a bit, while waiting to see which side of the
forest she would exit, but she never did.
Quacking questionably to himself, Mousse descended into the
trees.
The two martial artists parted from their latest melee brawl,
and Ranma grinned. He had only taken a single hit that time, and he had
just about all of this guy's moves figured out. While Sukebe wasn't as
strong as Ranma, he did possess an unnatural agility in close range
combat. His skills were highly trained, but Ranma knew he had the edge.
"It ain't gonna be long now!" Ranma taunted.
"What makes you think that?" Sukebe huffed. I haven't had an
opponent like this for a long time. Maybe I'll fight with him some more
before I unveil my secret technique. After all, he won't last long
afterward once I do.
"'Cause I got ya all figured out," he replied easily.
Sukebe frowned. "Let's see."
He flew foreword again, bringing his right fist up from waist
level to strike at Ranma's face, only his target leaned out of the way.
He then felt an impact in his stomach. Gritting his teeth, Sukebe lanced
out with his other fist, only to have it similiarly dodged. Whipping up
his left foot, Sukebe aimed for the face once again. Ranma simply caught
it his hand, made a "uh-uh' gesture with his finger, then fell back.
Before Sukebe knew what Ranma was doing, a pair of feet
impacted his jaw and sent him flying. He landed on his back with a
*whump*, the wind temporarily knocked out of him.
"It's over, and you lost," Ranma said evenly. "Just give up."
Akane sighed as she walked home from school. She wished Ranma
had waited for her so they could've walked home together. A lazy smile
appeared on her face at that thought. Lately it seemed, she desired to
spend as much time with him as she could. She was a woman in love and it
felt wonderful.
she thought at
last.
A noise interrupted her thoughts, something that sounded
incredibly familiar.
She picked up her pace, running down the street and turning a
corner as she headed in the direction the sounds were coming from.
That's where she found him.
"Ranma!" she called. He was standing over another boy, and it
was apparent they had been fighting.
Ranma turned to her. "Akane! It's all right. This is the guy
that beat up on Kuno and the others." He chuckled. "He really ain't that
tough."
Akane relaxed, then tensed when she noticed the guy on the
ground start to move. "Ranma, look out!"
"Huh?"
Sukebe swept his foot out and tripped Ranma up, sending the
overconfident martial artist to the ground. Ranma landed on his hands,
however, and flipped away while Sukebe kippup'ed to his feet.
"So you still wanna go for it, eh?" Ranma asked, grinning.
His opponent didn't bother to responding. Instead, the couple
watched as Sukebe dropped to all fours.
"Please do not interfer, miss."
Akane turned to find... "Sasuke?"
"My name is Denoki!" the little man yelled while jumping up and
down. "It's Denoki! Denoki! I am not Sasuke!"
Akane blinked. "I'm sorry." She turned back to the
confrontation where Ranma was warily observing his opponent, who was now
walking on hands and legs. "What is he doing?"
"He is finally using his best technique," Denoki replied. "He
came up with it all by himself, due to an unfortunate accident in a
supposedly legendary training ground."
Akane blinked again. "Don't tell me... Jusenkyo?"
"How did you know?" Denoki asked, confused. "Anyway, it's a
dreaded technique he calls the Nezumiken.
Akane found herself blinking yet again. "Nezumiken? The rat
fist?"
Sure enough, Sukebe was rapidly moving around the empty lot on
all fours and... squeaking? Ranma, growing frustrated at his opponent's
unusual behavior, jumped forward to attack. Sukebe dodged the kick
easily.
"What the...!?" he exclaimed, surprised by the quick maneuver.
He tried to rebound off the ground and attack again when a pair of feet
struck him in the back and sent him face foreward into the dirt.
Regaining his feet, Ranma warily regard his advesary.
"He calls it the Nezumiken, Ranma!" Akane called from the
sidelines. "And he's been to Jusenkyo!"
Ranma thought to himself. He flipped over to a
nearby garden hose and turned it on, aiming the cold water spray toward
his opponent, but Sukebe dodged and jumped out of range.
"You fool!" he yelled, standing back on two feet. "I am no
longer cursed, so that will not work!"
Ranma dropped the hose. "You cured? How'd you do it?!"
Sukebe smiled evilly. "If you really want to know, I met a man
awhile back who purged the curse from my body. But I don't know where he
is now." He brought his hands up and crouched. "Now, back to business,
shall we?"
Sukebe sprung and kicked Ranma in the stomach. Then he
continued to move rapidly around the lot, ramming Ranma's backside
whenever he got the chance. On one particular knockdown, Sukebe sped
over to a light pole. After the quick pass, the light pole fell over and
beaned Ranma.
Akane
wondered. "Ranma!"
"At last I have him!" Sukebe said, straightening.
"Not... yet!" Ranma returned, pushing the pole off his head and
standing up.
"How can you stand up after that!?" Sukebe demanded.
Ranma chuckled. "After bein' pounded on by Akane, that was
nothin'."
Sukebe growled, then dropped back onto his hands and feet.
Mousse landed on a tree branch and looked around for any signs
of Shampoo, but detected none. Mousse thought.
He jumped down to ground level and walked along.
A faint sense of movement was his only warning, but it wasn't
enough. Something hit and sent him tumbling along the ground, his
glasses falling away from his face. Before he could recover, two clawed
hands seized and lifted him up.
While the world presented itself as a blur to his eyes, the
rest of his senses were active. He could definitely feel short claws on
the hands that held him, hands with fur. There was also rumbling sound,
almost like a low growling. What he sensed next was the hot breath on
his face, and for some reason felt like he was going to be dinner.
Then his eyes focused in on a pair of eyes looking back at him.
Blue eyes. Eyes that he had memorized since he had first met her.
Shampoo. But there was a slightly different look to these eyes that
scared him, for they didn't seem to recognize him. Then they changed,
and he was thrown to the floor.
By the time he pulled another pair of glasses out of his wings
and put them on, all he saw was something with purple hair disappear
into the brush.
Ranma barely managed to dodge another attack by the speedy
Sukebe. Then he had to jump to avoid the collapse of another light pole.
I can't touch him, he's too quick.
He landed near a brick pile and proceeded to pick them up and
toss them at his approaching advesary, but Sukebe merely chewed them to
pieces. The rat-like boy then rammed Ranma against another wall.
The pig-tailed martial artist huffed. He grimaced and inwardly
shivered at the thought, but decided he had no choice; Sukebe was too
fast.
As he slid off the wall and onto his feet, he glanced around
the area, but didn't see what he was looking for. Barely dodging another
pass by his opponent, he decided to try another tactic.
He took a deep breath, then removed the controls on his fear.
Akane was watching the fight with her own fear growing inside
her. Ever since Sukebe had resorted to using this `Nezumiken', it seemed
Ranma was outmatched. Then she blinked her eyes in puzzlement as her
fiance's movements changed.
No longer were they the moves of a martial artist, but like
someone running and hiding from a scary attacker. Ranma seemed to be
trying to avoid Sukebe's attacks by running from them, and his face
showed more fear than should be there. Her brow furrowed.
Then it hit her.
She looked around the lot
and frowned. She gasped as Ranma blocked an
attack and struck back with a speed only his best technique could
produce.
He then promptly lost it and Sukebe sent him into a pair of
trashcans with another ram/kick. When Ranma didn't get up, Sukebe
laughed in triumph.
"Take that! I am the greatest martial artist! I-"
His premature vicotry speech was cut short by a high-pitched
yowling. All eyes turned toward the trashcan pile where movement could
be detected. Ranma slowly stood up, then dropped to all fours.
Akane's breath caught. On his back, was a black and white cat,
who was apparently digging it's claws into Ranma's back. He snarled and
batted the cat away.
she wondered.
"Master!" the little man called to her right.
Akane glanced over to where the other martial artist was
crouched in fear, seemingly still in his Nezumiken state. With a howl,
Ranma launched himself at the other boy, invisible ki claws shredding
the ground where Sukebe once was.
She watched as the new battle unfolded, but it seemed to be
more of a chase than a fight. Nekoken pursued Nezumiken with a
vengeance, while the latter was desperately trying to escape the former.
Various objects were chewed through and shredded, leaving the lot
looking like a tornado had blown in.
Without warning, Sukebe darted from the enclosed arena and
bolted into the street, squeaking in terror. Ranma was hot on his trail
and the chase sped down the road. Akane and Denoki called after their
charges, even as they took off running after them.
Ranma finally caught up to his prey in an alley and knocked him
into a wall, shredding the rat-like boy's clothing in the process.
Sukebe squeaked/squealed/screamed in fear as Ranma raised another paw
and prepared to finish him.
"Ranma!" Akane called. "Don't do it! Here kitty, kitty!"
Ranma stopped snarling and looked up, then bounded over to her
her, rubbing against her legs. Akane, remembering what happened the last
time Ranma went into the Nekoken on their date, froze and hoped he
wouldn't repeat the embarrassing actions. To her relief, he didn't.
Sukebe stirred and stood up on all fours, squeaking
questionably. Ranma looked up and yowled menacingly, preparing to strike
again. Sukebe lost it again and took off running down the street.
Akane grabbed ahold of Ranma's shirt collar. "No Ranma! Let him
go. You've won."
Ranma looked up and mewed at her in confusion, but her hand now
petting his hair convinced him to stay.
"Master! Come baaaaaaaaack!"
The two teens looked up to see Denoki disappear into the
distance, chasing after his terror-filled sensei.
"How was your day, Kenji-kun?" Ukyo asked.
It was his official day off, and he had spent it jogging around
the town to see all the sites. It was something that he had neglected to
do ever since he began to live here, and he had found himself wanting to
know a little about the town.
"Enlightening," he answered after a few moments. "This is
actually a pretty nice town. Most of the people I met were friendly, and
with the exception of the minor disturbance in the park, it was pretty
quiet."
Ukyo continued to make okonomiyaki, but raised an eyebrow.
"Quiet?" She supposed it was for the most part. "What happened in the
park?"
Kenji took a seat by the grill. "I don't know. Some people were
saying something about a girl and a monster, but when I checked, there
was nothing there."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," she replied while flipping
him his dinner.
He caught the japanese pizza/pancake on a plate and set it
down, then continued to stare at it. Ukyo looked up, expecting him to be
digging in, but instead doing nothing at all.
"Alright, what happened?" she asked, stopping her cooking. When
he didn't respond, Ukyo went around the grill to sit beside him. "I can
tell something's bothering you. If you don't tell me, I'll beat it out
of ya."
Kenji almost smiled at that. "I went to withdraw some money at
an ATM before coming over here. According to that, my account is down by
200,000 yen."
"What have you been buyin'!?" Ukyo asked, shocked.
"It wasn't me!" Kenji protested loudly. "Somebody bought a bunch
of stuff with my account!"
Ukyo flinched back. "Ouch! Do you know who?"
Kenji nodded. "Only one person I can think of. She got me good
this time."
The chef sighed. "Nabiki. And knowing her, there's probably no
real evidence that points to her?" He nodded weakly. "I swear Kenji-kun,
you've gotta give this up. You aren't going to win."
He look up and stared at her. "So you don't think I can beat
her!?"
"That's exactly what I'm sayin'."
"Fine then! I'll show you! I'll show everyone! I'll prove no
mere girl can stand up to Soyokaze Kenji! HAHAHAHA-" *CLANG* "Ouch!
Hey!"
"Sorry," Ukyo said while removing her battle spatula from his
head. "Now shut up and eat."
Kenji rubbed the goose egg sized lump on his head and glared at
the back of the chef as she went back to the grill. Though he did `shut
up and eat.' He also thought about how to get Nabiki back. Someway to
make her as unhappy as he was now.
Then he recalled a conversation he had awhile ago and smiled.
Akane sighed as she petted her nekofied fiance's hair. She looked up.
She pushed her iinzauke off her lap when her legs began to
protest. Ranma meowed his discontentment. "Oh, be quiet you. I can't
stay like that for long before my legs fall asleep. Come on, let's get
you home."
Ranma meowed at her, then trotted by her side as they left for
the dojo. It soon became obvious that, with all the chasing and running
around, they had ended up actually very close to the Tendo dojo. It was
only a few minutes walk, and then they were home.
Akane had to laugh as Ranma bounded into the house, then turned
to meow after her, almost as if he was telling her to hurry up. "I'm
coming, I'm coming," Akane replied.
Ranma disappeared into the house, and Akane found him curled up
on some cushions in the living room. He was practically asleep already,
as he lifted his head lazily to gaze at her upon her entrance into the
room. Then he layed his head back down and went to sleep.
"Well, I was gonna splash some water on you to snap you out of
it," she said softly. "But it looks like you really wore yourself out
today. I think I'll just let you sleep it off." She plopped down next to
him and turned the TV on, keeping the volume low.
That's when it happened.
Without warning, something burst through the wall, sending wood
fragments everywhere. Akane rolled away from it and Ranma stood up,
hissing. A spilt second later, he went flying and hit his head against a
wall. Then, the thing burst through another wall and was gone.
Akane stood up. "What in the world was that!?" She wasn't even
able to get a good glimpse of it, since it moved so fast. It did seem
vaguely human, but other than that she just didn't know. Then she saw
her fiance. "Ranma!"
She ran over to his prone form and rolled him onto his back,
but was relived to see him still breathing. He was just out cold from
hitting his head. The next thing she knew, something white flew into the
dojo and impacted her side. She `oofed', then grabbed the duck by the
neck.
"Mousse!?" she exclaimed. "What in the world is going on?" The
duck quacked wildly at her, and tried to get away. "You're not getting
away until you tell me what's going on!" He stopped and looked up her,
quacking once. "Oh right, hot water."
As she stood up, Mousse produced a robe and kettle from his
feathers and turned himself back to normal.
"Okay Mousse, explain. What was that?"
Akane was shocked at the fearful and worried expression he
wore, and he tried several times to speak. At last, with tears forming
in his eyes, he said three words.
"It was Shampoo."
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances
Chapter 9
Nabiki slowly gained consciousness and yawned.
"What a crazy nightmare..." she muttered to herself. Then she
opened her eyes and groaned. Her room was a mess, with yen notes and
clothes scattered around. "It wasn't a dream." For a few seconds, Nabiki
was at a loss of what to do or think.
She shivered, still feeling the cold wind brushing her skin.
Then it clicked.
"That's it, ninja boy's gonna die," she growled, standing up.
She grabbed her toiletries and headed to the bathroom. She had a lot to
do today and she wanted to get an early start. Her mind was fully awake
now, and began to feed her several ideas.
A hungry grin appeared on her face. "And he's going to die in
the worst possible way."
"LinLin! Sister! Come quick!"
The young Amazon female answered and bounded up the stairs to
her sister's call. Throwing open the door to Shampoo's room, she beheld
RanRan applying a cold wash rag to Shampoo's forehead.
"What happen to sister, Shampoo?" LinLin asked, worridly
The purple-haired girl was lying on her futon with a flushed
face. Her eyes were closed and she was moaning and turning her head from
side to side.
"Not know," RanRan answered. "Just find her like this, this
morning. Shampoo was out all last night again."
The twin girls stopped as Shampoo emitted a high-pitched yowl.
"Don't understand, Shampoo not cat now," said RanRan.
"Curse do something we not know about?" her sister asked.
Before RanRan could reply, Mousse burst through the doorway,
fear and worry etched on his face. "Shampoo! What's wrong with her!?"
LinLin took the opportunity to bash him on the head with her
polearm. "Keep quiet! This not for you. We take care of Shampoo. You
take care of kitchen."
"But..."
"Sister right," RanRan agreed. "We-"
She was cut off as Shampoo bolted awake and hissed. She leapt
out of bed and warily regarded the three. Her expression was a mix of
fright, curiosity, and something else that her three observers couldn't
identify.
"Shampoo?" Mousse ventured.
She hissed at him and hers eyes turned fierce. LinLin bonked
Mousse again as RanRan slowly approached the strangely acting Amazon.
"Sister, what wrong?" asked.
The response she got was not what she expected. Shampoo swiped
her hand at RanRan to back her up, then glanced rapidly around the room.
After seemingly coming to a decision, she dashed out of her room, right
through the closed window.
"SHAMPOO!" Mousse cried, running to the broken window along with
the twins. "What's happening to her!?"
"Her eyes," RanRan said, her voice containing not a little
amount of quavering. "They not look human."
LinLin nodded. "Know what you mean, sister. Almost seem...
feral. Is Shampoo's body, but not Shampoo's mind."
Mousse produced a small container from his robes. "That's it!
I'm going after her."
"No!" came the twins command.
"We go after her," LinLin continued. "You stay here!"
Mousse's final restraint snapped. "Dammit! Forget your stupid
Amazon pride for once! You can't do this alone. If you'd asked for help
in the first place, we could have helped her before it came to this!"
With that, he unscrewd the lid and dumped the water over his
head. His robed promptly fell to the ground, leaving a duck in their
place. After giving the twins a contemptuous quack, he took to the air,
chasing after his beloved.
The two young Amazon girls watched him go.
"Maybe he right?" LinLin admitted after a moment.
"Maybe," her sister answered.
The two girls looked to each other, nodded, and dashed outside.
After closing the restaurant, of course.
Ranma walked home from school in silence, a bit depressed. Not
that he'd admit it, but he was worried about Ryoga and Akari. Both had
disappeared after Akari's match. Inwardly he hoped those two would get
together and stay together. They seemed to be good for each other. She
knew and accepted his curse, and loved him anyway.
There was one other issue that had him on edge. Akane had asked
him to help stop Hinako from working her charms on her father. His
mother had interrupted his first attempt, and had told him in no
uncertain terms to NOT interfere. And then she wanted him to be a
daughter as well as a son!
He sighed. he asked himself. I can't
talk to Akane about this. She wants me to stop Hinako's attempts, and
momma wants me to stay out of it. He sighed again, a little louder this
time. He was more than on edge. He needed a release.
There's an old saying: Be careful what you wish for, because
you just might get it. In this case, Ranma got it.
"Saotome Ranma, I challenge you!"
"And I'll take that one, and maybe that one as well," Nabiki
said, pointing at two new dresses.
"Very good," the sales lady replied. "I'll wrap them up for you.
Anything else?"
"No, that should be it." Nabiki grinned and added, "For now."
The sales lady began to ring up the purchases. "And how will
you be paying for this?'
Nabiki's grin grew wider and handed the lady a piece of paper.
"Charge everything to this account..."
Ranma eyed the youth standing several yards away. "Who're you?"
The man grinned. "Call me Sukebe. I've heard you're one of the
best martial artists around here. Though, after my past few fights, I
wonder if that means anything." He exaggerated a yawn. "The others were
hardly a challenge."
A notion popped into Ranma's seldom used brain and he pointed
accusingly. "You're the one who beat up on Hiroshi, Daisuke, and Kuno!?"
Sukebe laughed. "Ah yes, the martial artist wanna-bees and
bokken boy. They almost put up a fight. Though I'll have to admit that
bandanna boy gave me a good run, he fell as easy as the rest."
Ranma blinked. "You can't tell me you're the one who beat
Ryoga?"
Sukebe merely nodded and examined the nails on his hand.
"Hell with that!" The past few days events had found their
release and Ranma assumed an attack stance. "I don't know what you did
to Ryoga, but you beat up those that couldn't defend themselves. If you
wanna see what a real martial artist can do, then I accept your
challenge!"
Sukebe mirrored him. "Excellent!"
For a few seconds, the two martial artists studied each other,
then Ranma lost patience and attacked, leading off with a jump kick that
Sukebe artfully dodged and countered with elbow to Ranma's back side.
Ranma recovered quickly and flipped away.
"Lucky shot, " he commented. "I was a bit sloppy, so don't
expect to get another."
Sukebe motioned with his finger. "Come try me."
Ranma led off again and the two martial artists collided in a
flurry of attacks.
Mousse-duck continued to fly through the sky as he followed his
beloved. It wasn't easy, since Shampoo was moving with a speed and
agility that he hadn't known she possessed. In fact, the only reasons he
could keep up with her, was the fact that she was somewhat impeded by
obstacles, such as buildings, while his flight was through the empty
sky.
He watched as she jumped from rooftop to treetop, not letting
either really slow her down. What caused him the most distress, was the fact that
she sometimes ran on two legs, sometimes on four.
Eventually, he followed her into Nerima park, as she pushed or
avoided the various pedestrians that happened to be in her path. She
disappeared into the forested section, and Mousse lost sight of her in
the trees. He circled a bit, while waiting to see which side of the
forest she would exit, but she never did.
Quacking questionably to himself, Mousse descended into the
trees.
The two martial artists parted from their latest melee brawl,
and Ranma grinned. He had only taken a single hit that time, and he had
just about all of this guy's moves figured out. While Sukebe wasn't as
strong as Ranma, he did possess an unnatural agility in close range
combat. His skills were highly trained, but Ranma knew he had the edge.
"It ain't gonna be long now!" Ranma taunted.
"What makes you think that?" Sukebe huffed. I haven't had an
opponent like this for a long time. Maybe I'll fight with him some more
before I unveil my secret technique. After all, he won't last long
afterward once I do.
"'Cause I got ya all figured out," he replied easily.
Sukebe frowned. "Let's see."
He flew foreword again, bringing his right fist up from waist
level to strike at Ranma's face, only his target leaned out of the way.
He then felt an impact in his stomach. Gritting his teeth, Sukebe lanced
out with his other fist, only to have it similiarly dodged. Whipping up
his left foot, Sukebe aimed for the face once again. Ranma simply caught
it his hand, made a "uh-uh' gesture with his finger, then fell back.
Before Sukebe knew what Ranma was doing, a pair of feet
impacted his jaw and sent him flying. He landed on his back with a
*whump*, the wind temporarily knocked out of him.
"It's over, and you lost," Ranma said evenly. "Just give up."
Akane sighed as she walked home from school. She wished Ranma
had waited for her so they could've walked home together. A lazy smile
appeared on her face at that thought. Lately it seemed, she desired to
spend as much time with him as she could. She was a woman in love and it
felt wonderful.
she thought at
last.
A noise interrupted her thoughts, something that sounded
incredibly familiar.
She picked up her pace, running down the street and turning a
corner as she headed in the direction the sounds were coming from.
That's where she found him.
"Ranma!" she called. He was standing over another boy, and it
was apparent they had been fighting.
Ranma turned to her. "Akane! It's all right. This is the guy
that beat up on Kuno and the others." He chuckled. "He really ain't that
tough."
Akane relaxed, then tensed when she noticed the guy on the
ground start to move. "Ranma, look out!"
"Huh?"
Sukebe swept his foot out and tripped Ranma up, sending the
overconfident martial artist to the ground. Ranma landed on his hands,
however, and flipped away while Sukebe kippup'ed to his feet.
"So you still wanna go for it, eh?" Ranma asked, grinning.
His opponent didn't bother to responding. Instead, the couple
watched as Sukebe dropped to all fours.
"Please do not interfer, miss."
Akane turned to find... "Sasuke?"
"My name is Denoki!" the little man yelled while jumping up and
down. "It's Denoki! Denoki! I am not Sasuke!"
Akane blinked. "I'm sorry." She turned back to the
confrontation where Ranma was warily observing his opponent, who was now
walking on hands and legs. "What is he doing?"
"He is finally using his best technique," Denoki replied. "He
came up with it all by himself, due to an unfortunate accident in a
supposedly legendary training ground."
Akane blinked again. "Don't tell me... Jusenkyo?"
"How did you know?" Denoki asked, confused. "Anyway, it's a
dreaded technique he calls the Nezumiken.
Akane found herself blinking yet again. "Nezumiken? The rat
fist?"
Sure enough, Sukebe was rapidly moving around the empty lot on
all fours and... squeaking? Ranma, growing frustrated at his opponent's
unusual behavior, jumped forward to attack. Sukebe dodged the kick
easily.
"What the...!?" he exclaimed, surprised by the quick maneuver.
He tried to rebound off the ground and attack again when a pair of feet
struck him in the back and sent him face foreward into the dirt.
Regaining his feet, Ranma warily regard his advesary.
"He calls it the Nezumiken, Ranma!" Akane called from the
sidelines. "And he's been to Jusenkyo!"
Ranma thought to himself. He flipped over to a
nearby garden hose and turned it on, aiming the cold water spray toward
his opponent, but Sukebe dodged and jumped out of range.
"You fool!" he yelled, standing back on two feet. "I am no
longer cursed, so that will not work!"
Ranma dropped the hose. "You cured? How'd you do it?!"
Sukebe smiled evilly. "If you really want to know, I met a man
awhile back who purged the curse from my body. But I don't know where he
is now." He brought his hands up and crouched. "Now, back to business,
shall we?"
Sukebe sprung and kicked Ranma in the stomach. Then he
continued to move rapidly around the lot, ramming Ranma's backside
whenever he got the chance. On one particular knockdown, Sukebe sped
over to a light pole. After the quick pass, the light pole fell over and
beaned Ranma.
Akane
wondered. "Ranma!"
"At last I have him!" Sukebe said, straightening.
"Not... yet!" Ranma returned, pushing the pole off his head and
standing up.
"How can you stand up after that!?" Sukebe demanded.
Ranma chuckled. "After bein' pounded on by Akane, that was
nothin'."
Sukebe growled, then dropped back onto his hands and feet.
Mousse landed on a tree branch and looked around for any signs
of Shampoo, but detected none. Mousse thought.
He jumped down to ground level and walked along.
A faint sense of movement was his only warning, but it wasn't
enough. Something hit and sent him tumbling along the ground, his
glasses falling away from his face. Before he could recover, two clawed
hands seized and lifted him up.
While the world presented itself as a blur to his eyes, the
rest of his senses were active. He could definitely feel short claws on
the hands that held him, hands with fur. There was also rumbling sound,
almost like a low growling. What he sensed next was the hot breath on
his face, and for some reason felt like he was going to be dinner.
Then his eyes focused in on a pair of eyes looking back at him.
Blue eyes. Eyes that he had memorized since he had first met her.
Shampoo. But there was a slightly different look to these eyes that
scared him, for they didn't seem to recognize him. Then they changed,
and he was thrown to the floor.
By the time he pulled another pair of glasses out of his wings
and put them on, all he saw was something with purple hair disappear
into the brush.
Ranma barely managed to dodge another attack by the speedy
Sukebe. Then he had to jump to avoid the collapse of another light pole.
I can't touch him, he's too quick.
He landed near a brick pile and proceeded to pick them up and
toss them at his approaching advesary, but Sukebe merely chewed them to
pieces. The rat-like boy then rammed Ranma against another wall.
The pig-tailed martial artist huffed. He grimaced and inwardly
shivered at the thought, but decided he had no choice; Sukebe was too
fast.
As he slid off the wall and onto his feet, he glanced around
the area, but didn't see what he was looking for. Barely dodging another
pass by his opponent, he decided to try another tactic.
He took a deep breath, then removed the controls on his fear.
Akane was watching the fight with her own fear growing inside
her. Ever since Sukebe had resorted to using this `Nezumiken', it seemed
Ranma was outmatched. Then she blinked her eyes in puzzlement as her
fiance's movements changed.
No longer were they the moves of a martial artist, but like
someone running and hiding from a scary attacker. Ranma seemed to be
trying to avoid Sukebe's attacks by running from them, and his face
showed more fear than should be there. Her brow furrowed.
Then it hit her.
She looked around the lot
and frowned. She gasped as Ranma blocked an
attack and struck back with a speed only his best technique could
produce.
He then promptly lost it and Sukebe sent him into a pair of
trashcans with another ram/kick. When Ranma didn't get up, Sukebe
laughed in triumph.
"Take that! I am the greatest martial artist! I-"
His premature vicotry speech was cut short by a high-pitched
yowling. All eyes turned toward the trashcan pile where movement could
be detected. Ranma slowly stood up, then dropped to all fours.
Akane's breath caught. On his back, was a black and white cat,
who was apparently digging it's claws into Ranma's back. He snarled and
batted the cat away.
she wondered.
"Master!" the little man called to her right.
Akane glanced over to where the other martial artist was
crouched in fear, seemingly still in his Nezumiken state. With a howl,
Ranma launched himself at the other boy, invisible ki claws shredding
the ground where Sukebe once was.
She watched as the new battle unfolded, but it seemed to be
more of a chase than a fight. Nekoken pursued Nezumiken with a
vengeance, while the latter was desperately trying to escape the former.
Various objects were chewed through and shredded, leaving the lot
looking like a tornado had blown in.
Without warning, Sukebe darted from the enclosed arena and
bolted into the street, squeaking in terror. Ranma was hot on his trail
and the chase sped down the road. Akane and Denoki called after their
charges, even as they took off running after them.
Ranma finally caught up to his prey in an alley and knocked him
into a wall, shredding the rat-like boy's clothing in the process.
Sukebe squeaked/squealed/screamed in fear as Ranma raised another paw
and prepared to finish him.
"Ranma!" Akane called. "Don't do it! Here kitty, kitty!"
Ranma stopped snarling and looked up, then bounded over to her
her, rubbing against her legs. Akane, remembering what happened the last
time Ranma went into the Nekoken on their date, froze and hoped he
wouldn't repeat the embarrassing actions. To her relief, he didn't.
Sukebe stirred and stood up on all fours, squeaking
questionably. Ranma looked up and yowled menacingly, preparing to strike
again. Sukebe lost it again and took off running down the street.
Akane grabbed ahold of Ranma's shirt collar. "No Ranma! Let him
go. You've won."
Ranma looked up and mewed at her in confusion, but her hand now
petting his hair convinced him to stay.
"Master! Come baaaaaaaaack!"
The two teens looked up to see Denoki disappear into the
distance, chasing after his terror-filled sensei.
"How was your day, Kenji-kun?" Ukyo asked.
It was his official day off, and he had spent it jogging around
the town to see all the sites. It was something that he had neglected to
do ever since he began to live here, and he had found himself wanting to
know a little about the town.
"Enlightening," he answered after a few moments. "This is
actually a pretty nice town. Most of the people I met were friendly, and
with the exception of the minor disturbance in the park, it was pretty
quiet."
Ukyo continued to make okonomiyaki, but raised an eyebrow.
"Quiet?" She supposed it was for the most part. "What happened in the
park?"
Kenji took a seat by the grill. "I don't know. Some people were
saying something about a girl and a monster, but when I checked, there
was nothing there."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," she replied while flipping
him his dinner.
He caught the japanese pizza/pancake on a plate and set it
down, then continued to stare at it. Ukyo looked up, expecting him to be
digging in, but instead doing nothing at all.
"Alright, what happened?" she asked, stopping her cooking. When
he didn't respond, Ukyo went around the grill to sit beside him. "I can
tell something's bothering you. If you don't tell me, I'll beat it out
of ya."
Kenji almost smiled at that. "I went to withdraw some money at
an ATM before coming over here. According to that, my account is down by
200,000 yen."
"What have you been buyin'!?" Ukyo asked, shocked.
"It wasn't me!" Kenji protested loudly. "Somebody bought a bunch
of stuff with my account!"
Ukyo flinched back. "Ouch! Do you know who?"
Kenji nodded. "Only one person I can think of. She got me good
this time."
The chef sighed. "Nabiki. And knowing her, there's probably no
real evidence that points to her?" He nodded weakly. "I swear Kenji-kun,
you've gotta give this up. You aren't going to win."
He look up and stared at her. "So you don't think I can beat
her!?"
"That's exactly what I'm sayin'."
"Fine then! I'll show you! I'll show everyone! I'll prove no
mere girl can stand up to Soyokaze Kenji! HAHAHAHA-" *CLANG* "Ouch!
Hey!"
"Sorry," Ukyo said while removing her battle spatula from his
head. "Now shut up and eat."
Kenji rubbed the goose egg sized lump on his head and glared at
the back of the chef as she went back to the grill. Though he did `shut
up and eat.' He also thought about how to get Nabiki back. Someway to
make her as unhappy as he was now.
Then he recalled a conversation he had awhile ago and smiled.
Akane sighed as she petted her nekofied fiance's hair. She looked up.
She pushed her iinzauke off her lap when her legs began to
protest. Ranma meowed his discontentment. "Oh, be quiet you. I can't
stay like that for long before my legs fall asleep. Come on, let's get
you home."
Ranma meowed at her, then trotted by her side as they left for
the dojo. It soon became obvious that, with all the chasing and running
around, they had ended up actually very close to the Tendo dojo. It was
only a few minutes walk, and then they were home.
Akane had to laugh as Ranma bounded into the house, then turned
to meow after her, almost as if he was telling her to hurry up. "I'm
coming, I'm coming," Akane replied.
Ranma disappeared into the house, and Akane found him curled up
on some cushions in the living room. He was practically asleep already,
as he lifted his head lazily to gaze at her upon her entrance into the
room. Then he layed his head back down and went to sleep.
"Well, I was gonna splash some water on you to snap you out of
it," she said softly. "But it looks like you really wore yourself out
today. I think I'll just let you sleep it off." She plopped down next to
him and turned the TV on, keeping the volume low.
That's when it happened.
Without warning, something burst through the wall, sending wood
fragments everywhere. Akane rolled away from it and Ranma stood up,
hissing. A spilt second later, he went flying and hit his head against a
wall. Then, the thing burst through another wall and was gone.
Akane stood up. "What in the world was that!?" She wasn't even
able to get a good glimpse of it, since it moved so fast. It did seem
vaguely human, but other than that she just didn't know. Then she saw
her fiance. "Ranma!"
She ran over to his prone form and rolled him onto his back,
but was relived to see him still breathing. He was just out cold from
hitting his head. The next thing she knew, something white flew into the
dojo and impacted her side. She `oofed', then grabbed the duck by the
neck.
"Mousse!?" she exclaimed. "What in the world is going on?" The
duck quacked wildly at her, and tried to get away. "You're not getting
away until you tell me what's going on!" He stopped and looked up her,
quacking once. "Oh right, hot water."
As she stood up, Mousse produced a robe and kettle from his
feathers and turned himself back to normal.
"Okay Mousse, explain. What was that?"
Akane was shocked at the fearful and worried expression he
wore, and he tried several times to speak. At last, with tears forming
in his eyes, he said three words.
"It was Shampoo."
