Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections
A. V. Morgan
Part Twenty-Three: Those Who Help and Those Who Help Themselves
Dr. Tofu had a rather exclusive practice, working almost exclusively by himself, so his clinic was rather small. The cozy atmosphere was one of its charms. With eight people crammed into an examination room, with half the lights blown out, cozy was perhaps a bit understated. Ranma-chan had moved to a different exam table to distance herself from Happosai, who Dr. Tofu had finally gotten around to diagnosing. The withered old man had been sent for quite a loop by Fa Shen's special attack, but his lingering problem was that, electrically charged or not, she had thrust a tremendous amount of feminine energy into the old man and he was, to paraphrase the good doctor, rather high. Currently, he was covered with a blanket and sleeping it off. Ranma had taken a moment to talk with Ranma-chan about what had happened. He ended up being distracted when the hot water he brought to her was refused, and Shampoo and Ukyo cut in to insist that she change back to normal.
"But, if you stay a girl, that- that- amazon might come back, Ran-chan!"
"Yeah," Ranma-chan sighed. "I'm sure that's all you're worried about."
"Airen very strange! Act like no want be boy again!" Shampoo frowned.
"Shampoo very strange! Act like no understand never be Ranma again!" Ranma-chan turned on her, mimicking her broken Japanese with caustic sarcasm. "Just leave me alone! I don't need anyone pushing me around right now!" She jumped up and slipped out from between them.
Akane was looking at her in agonized concern. Ranma felt a spike of angry resentment flare as he noticed this, and tried to throttle it. For a second he felt like he would welcome the curse back if it meant Akane looked at him like that. Like some one real, in real pain. Someone she cared about. It was maddening. He was cured, he still had his identity, he would soon be able to face his mother without shame, and Akane was still promised to him. Unfortunately, even he wondered if he was the real thing. The way Ukyo had acted that afternoon, the way she and Shampoo were fighting over the "real" Ranma, the odd looks he got from Akane from time to time, it was all starting to get to him. Worse, the "real" Ranma had swallowed his pride and bowed out. Or rather, her pride. He had sensed it on their return from the mansion. He had not understood, when Cologne asked him, why he called the original "her". He thought about it later, and realized that from the moment Ranma-chan had embraced him there on the road, in the rain, she had really been a girl in his mind. He could even remember, from before the copies' return to the mirror, how he had prepared himself to give everything up for the boy Nodoka and Akane deserved. He did not even question the change in her. It made sense, if you had to stop being someone, you had to stop wanting what they wanted, being what he was. When you gave up everything you cared about, you would have to be grateful for anything that was left.
It would have been different if it had been about wanting to change his life, or wanting to create a new identity for himself. He had fantasized about that many times, following some particularly painful or demeaning ordeal with his father. That was certainly how Ukyo and Shampoo saw it. He stepped in between them and glared at them. "You just don't get it, do you!?" he paused, until they were both staring at him. Before they could retort, he continued, "Original or no, that's not Ranma anymore! She's more like the real Ranko right now, or who she'd be if she had always been a girl but was raised as a boy. When she gave up being Ranma, she gave it all up, rights and responsibilities… Even you two."
"What!?" Ukyo snapped alert. "That's stupid!"
"Shampoo no give herself to Airen twin!" the amazon was instantly enraged. She shifted posture to attack.
"If you mean that, you better not fight me," Ranma warned calmly.
Shampoo blinked and subsided in realization. He might not be Ranma in her eyes, but she had seen him fight Fa Shen, and knew he could easily beat her. She had heard of how certain amazons had ended up married to twin brothers because of circumstances such as this.
"Akane mentioned something to me about what you said to her, Ukyo, and I agree," he turned to his old friend with a sad smile, "I don't think it's fair that she's sorta being forced to be a girl. If she chose it, even if I can't imagine her wanting to, I'd say it was fine. This isn't a choice between bein' a guy or a girl, though. You don't want her to be a guy, you both want her to be Ranma, and she's already given her word she wouldn't do that! You're both pushin' her to go against that promise!"
The pair stared at him in anger and confusion.
"You have got to be joking! Why would he make a promise like that!? Who did he make that promise to!?" Ukyo shouted in despair.
"It's not a joke. Cologne warned us about what could happen if we fought over being Ranma. Ranma made a promise that that would not happen with us. One suicide contract is enough to deal with in a lifetime. As for who he promised, well, I suppose that would be me, since he made the promise to himself. Man, that's weird."
"No offense, but, you're a copy!" Ukyo cried.
"Spatula girl right, very good copy, but still is just copy!"
He had expected it, and braced himself, but it still stabbed him to the quick. It was too bad he could never have imagined what it would be like before it happened. He might have stayed in the mirror, trapped by the curse, never a true man again. It was not as bad as the idea of never being a true "Ranma" again. He took a calming breath, to keep the pain from becoming anger. "Except for the curse, there isn't anything different about me now than before that stupid mirror. You wanna know something about Ranma!? It would be nice not to have to be him sometimes! Maybe I wouldn't have everyone trying to dictate my life for me anymore!" Another deep breath, the anger kept rising up. "Look, it's not a bad thing that you care for her- him- whatever. It's HER right now, and if you have a problem with that…" he paused as the conversation with Ryouga that morning popped into his head. "You know, she doesn't know who or what she wants to be. Akane said this about Ranko, and it sorta applies to Ranma-chan: She'll never be Ranko and want to be a girl. She has to be a girl and want to be Ranko. That confused the hell outta Ryouga, but it kinds makes sense to me. Ranma-chan can deal with bein' a girl or a boy, but with no sense of the person she wants to be, it doesn't matter much which one she is.
"If you want her to be a guy, so you can marry him, you need to help her figure out who that guy is and why she might wanna be him," Ranma suggested, scratching his head and wondering if it all came out right. Shrugging he concluded, before walking away, "If you can't do that, then just leave her alone so she can figure it out for herself."
Ranma-chan was across the room, talking with Akane. She was relieved that Ranma had stepped in to talk to Shampoo and Ukyo. She had no idea what he was saying to them, but at least he was giving her a breather. Akane was a bit more receptive to her main concern tonight. Fa Shen's appearance had rocked her to the core. She had pushed the fear of what happened to her during that aside and approached Akane for an answer to a question she had been pondering before hand. She felt calm enough now to ask, "So, what was she like?"
Akane studied her a moment, before thinking back, "Well, she seems incredibly powerful, for one thing! According to Dr. Tofu she used her aura to fill the room with an electrostatic charge to set up Happosai for some kind of lightning bolt attack. She also fought Ranma with some other impressive chi attacks, but no one's explained how she did that bomb thing, or what the big energy ring attack was supposed to do. Seems she created those attacks to fight some guy like Herb. Ukyo says she talks and acts like an amazon, except that she's polite when she isn't violent and kind of shy around guys. She was really apologetic about fighting with Ranma when she calmed down, and was being friendly and smiling with me. She really took the news of her death hard, and she doesn't seem to like the idea that she was reincarnated as a boy."
"Yeah, somehow that doesn't surprise me. From the memories I've experienced so far, she had to put up with a lot of the same stuff you did because of Kuno," Ranma-chan sighed. "If I was still the old me, I would have freaked over bein' told I was a girl in a previous life. I get the feeling that her life was as messed up as mine; people tryin' to force her into marriage, people tryin' to kill her all the time. I wonder if her mom was as crazy as Pops though?"
"Well, she did say that her mother took her to Jusenkyo once," Akane grinned. "She didn't say if she'd been cursed though."
"I doubt she was, Akane-chan," Dr. Tofu interrupted. Neither Ranma-chan nor Akane had paid attention to him sitting nearby the whole time. Considering the topic of the overheard conversation, he felt his input would be welcome. "When I mentioned my study of Jusenkyo she got upset and wanted to know if she had been cursed. I don't think she would have been as shocked if she had experienced something like that before. She would have asked what kind of curse, first, I imagine."
"What did you think of her, doc?" Ranma-chan looked up at him.
"I think she was a very nice, very confused girl."
"Ah, well, I'm used to the second part at least," she sighed.
"You seem to have the first part down too, Ranma-chan!" he smiled at her. Seeing her reaction, he started laughing. He winked at Ranma as he slipped over toward them. "Oh yes, I have noticed the change in your personality. I hoped to talk with you about what you are going through. I am sure you have a lot of questions and anxieties about it. Fortunately, I devoted one of my sabbaticals to transgender therapy on the chance something like this might come up as the result of your curse."
Everyone who heard that looked a little shocked.
"You expected me to turn into a girl!?" Ranma choked, standing just behind Ranma-chan, waiting for her to finish talking with Akane.
"Until recently, you did turn into a girl. Several times a day," Tofu reminded him, trying to stifle his chuckling. "However, my research was not because I expected you to adopt a feminine perspective, but to deal with issues arising from being a man in a female body, even on a temporary basis. My intentions were simply to be of use in resolving any conflicts between gender and identity you might experience. That means I may be of some use to this Ranma-chan, here," he explained, putting a hand on that girl's shoulder.
Ranma-chan blushed. In a way, it was encouraging to know. She had been hoping she could speak to someone about what was going on, and her attempts to confide in her friends and former fiancées had been complicated and painful for everyone involved. With Tofu, she might even be able to unload all the mental mayhem caused by inheriting the unique experiences of Copy-chan and Copy-kun. The two sex fiends had opened every door that Ranma had strained to avoid, and there was no way for her to restore her ignorance. The minute her mind was not occupied with her current life or death struggle, the topic of sex loomed rather large and penetrating. Full of innuendos and really bad puns, but, most dangerously, a host of powerful temptations. It absolutely burned her up that she often could not look in Ranma's eyes without fantasizing about kissing him, caressing him, undressing him, and of course remembering in detail doing those very things! She stared down at her feet and wondered if… An image of Ryouga came just as easily. "Do you wanna make love with me?" she remembered saying, and meaning it.
She gulped. Oh, Kami! Ranko was really in for it!
She looked up and met Ranma's eyes. Her insides began to melt. With a staggering effort, she shoved these thoughts and feelings aside and frowned at him. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with Akane?" she demanded.
He blinked. "Oh! Yeah! We only came here to warn you!"
"What?"
"Mom showed up at the dojo and found out about Ranko's date. She jumped in and insisted on playing chaperone, so Ryouga wouldn't drag her off to Egypt or something. She's going to spend the night there, so we have to sleep somewhere else," he informed her.
"Oh! That's just great! That is FAN-TAS-TIC!" she growled, hiding the stab of pain she felt. The one person Ranko was real to, that Ranko mattered to, was no longer thinking of her as Ranko. She was totally unprepared for her emotional reaction. She wanted to fall down and cry, but there were too many people watching her. Her hands fisted, her knuckles going white with tension, and warm pools filling her palms as her nails bit through them. When she could control her voice she nodded, "Alright. Thanks for warning me. You two better get going, or you won't have time to do anything fun."
They looked at her, feeling something odd in her response, but she just bowed her head and looked away. Ranma jerked. He knew that pose. It screamed, "Please don't throw me in the pit, Poppa! Please!? See!? I am not crying! I am not afraid. I'll do anything you want! Please don't give me to the cats…"
"Ranma…" he began.
"I'd better go talk to Shampoo and Ukyo," she interrupted. "They've been talking to each other and giving me odd looks. I'll see if I can scrounge a place for us to sleep by the time you get back, so don't worry about it."
"I-if you're sure…" he tested.
"'S not a problem. See you when you get back," she smiled, though it did not touch her eyes, and walked away. It was hardly reassuring, but it offered no room for a response.
Ranma turned to Akane and gave her a similar smile, "She's right, we should get a move on."
After a moment, Akane nodded and took his hand. They walked out of the clinic and into the cold night air. For a while they walked in silence, letting what had happened sink in while they tried to decide what it meant for the future. If the past few days were anything to go on, guessing what tomorrow might hold was simply beyond them. As it became evident to each that they could not settle their troubled thoughts, it was inevitable that they would start talking about it. The only alternative was to talk about their date, and that meant talking about themselves. Even that came back around to what was happening, and the uncertainty that now surrounded the topic of Ranma.
"That was something I never expected," Akane broke the silence.
Ranma looked at her, and then noticed they were passing back through the part of the park that had been trashed by the battle. He frowned, remembering the efforts of his counterparts to warn him about Fa Shen. "They told me she would probably attack me on sight," he replied a bit sheepishly.
"Really?" she glanced over in surprise. "I remember Ranma worrying about becoming Fa Shen, but that was just about having her memories. She didn't really go into what she had already remembered. Do you have any idea why she went ballistic like that?"
"Uh, I think so. She had a brother who was a Musk warrior. They didn't get along very well, and he betrayed her a lot. He even dug the spring she drowned in. Seems he looked a lot like me. I should have believed them. I have one memory from when she died. He was there to watch her die, and when she looked at him, I could feel her hatred," he confessed.
"Oh. I think Cologne mentioned some of that when she told us about Fa Shen's history," Akane murmured. It was funny how her brain had refused to associate the spoken legends with the girl who had possessed Ranma-chan, until she was reminded of it. One usually did not need to associate ancient history with current events. For a moment she imagined being drowned in a spring and waking up over a thousand years later. Not likely to happen, but it was unnerving to think of what it would be like. "The idea of Ranma being taken over by her completely like that is frightening."
"When I go n- ne- neko, I don't know it. Things jump around suddenly and I have no idea what happened while I was possessed. It's not that scary when it happens—I mean, the blacking out part—but I used to wonder about never coming out of it," he commented, offering some perspective. "This seems to be the same, so actually she's sort of used to it. Once she figures out the trigger, she can probably keep it from happening. Either she can avoid what causes it, or she can fight to keep control. Of course, Fa Shen is in all of us, so we all need to keep our guard up."
"I didn't think of that. Do you think it could happen to you?"
"Sure," he rubbed the back of his head, then shrugged off the nervousness roused by the idea. "Of course my Fa Shen would probably freak out to find herself turned into a guy!" he laughed ruefully. "I doubt she'd wanna come back after the first time."
"That's not funny."
"I know."
"There you are, Ranma-Sama!" a painfully familiar voice intruded from the darkness. From out of the trees, Kodachi leapt towards them, her ribbon lashing out. As they jumped apart to dodge the strike, the silhouette of a boy fell out of the tree Kodachi had been perched in and crashed to the ground with a sharp yelp. The gymnast landed gracefully a few feet from where Ranma and Akane had been standing, and laughed, "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! Did you think I would stand by while you endanger my dear Ranma-Sama!?" She leveled an accusing finger at Akane, "Once I have taught you a lesson, I will see to it that you cannot harm him again!"
"How are you going to do that exactly!?" Akane demanded, fuming.
"I shall defeat you, of course!"
"Idiot. I mean, how do you plan to 'protect' Ranma!?"
Even more so than her brother, Kodachi was easily diverted into verbal sparring. With neither Ranma nor Akane making any move toward combat, she automatically shifted into posturing and pontificating. "I shall escort him to my home, where—once my brother rescues that red-headed trollop—they shall have adjoining rooms they may reside in without fear of fatal separation!" Kodachi sneered.
"Scary," Ranma quipped, "that almost sounds like they're trying to be helpful." He shuddered and shook his head, "It also sounds like they plan to throw us both in padded cells."
Akane crossed her arms and snorted. "The house probably comes equipped with them."
"Enough!" the gymnast went taut with fury. Incensed by the insulting remarks, particularly from Ranma, her mind rapidly contrived a defense for his perceived contempt, neatly shifting the blame for it to Akane, who had clearly been poisoning his mind against her! She sprung into motion and lashed out at her rival, "It is time for me to punish you, Akane Tendo!"
While Akane dove out of the way, Ranma shifted his weight, leaning casually out of the path of the clubs and ribbons Kodachi assailed them with. Treacherous as always, her "straying" attacks had a purpose, and became more obviously designed to incapacitate the elusive boy. Out of pure frustration, Kodachi focused all of her attention on "accidentally" subduing Ranma. This freed Akane to collect herself and nurse her temper.
"Are you going to fight her?" Akane growled at Ranma.
"You know I don't like to fight girls," he shrugged, ignoring Kodachi to look at Akane. Not that he stopped dodging either, his hands shoved into his pockets and a minor scowl of irritation on his face. When he bounced close enough for a stage whisper, he added, "Even the psychotic ones."
"So it's up to me?" Akane developed an eager, evil grin.
"Is this how you rescue people!?" he glared at Kodachi. The gymnast had stopped her assault to stare at him in disbelief and catch her breath. He came to a stop next to Akane. He slipped his hands out of his pockets and studied them for a moment, "I never thought I'd miss turnin' into a girl!"
"You're an idiot, you know that?" Akane rolled her eyes.
"And you're a clutz, remember?" he crossed his arms and grinned.
"Baka!" she shouted and summoned her mallet.
"Don't get hurt, okay?" he turned serious.
Kodachi, staring in confusion at the whole exchange, was beginning to fume. Pouting, because Ranma refused to play along with her plans, she refocused on the foe she knew she could sink her claws into. In a poisonous voice, she challenged Akane, "I don't see your little playmate around, so don't think you have any chance against me this time, Tendo!"
"Ah!" Ranma smacked his fist into his palm. He turned to Akane with a big grin, "So that's why she isn't going all out! You and Ukyo beat her up the other day!"
"You're really not going to fight her!" Akane gaped.
"I'm hoping she just goes away, actually," he shrugged.
"Ranma-Sama! You wound me!" Kodachi sobbed.
"See? I didn't even touch her, and she starts cryin'!" Ranma stomped. "Girls never fight fair!"
"Hey! I'm not as bad as her!" both girls cried, pointing at each other.
"No, you're worse," he mumbled under his breath.
"What was that!?" Akane reared up.
"I said, 'Duck!'" he pointed behind her.
"Huh? Yaaaah!" Akane looked around then jumped over Ranma to escape the mallet Kodachi was about to pound through her skull.
A quick assessment by the three teens established that the damage to the clinic, from Fa Shen's attack, was cosmetic, aside from the blown florescent tubes. In a matter of minutes, the lighting was restored to normal from spares Dr. Tofu stored in a closet. Hopping down from the ladder, after replacing the last florescent, Ranma-chan decided the distraction had been too brief. Ukyo and Shampoo met her with anxious, pleading looks. They had finished cleaning the walls and counters and sweeping the floor. Once she put the ladder away, she could not delay the conversation they had demanded any longer. With a sigh, she folded the ladder and carried it back to the closet. Stopping by the doctor's side, Ranma told him she would be outside for a few minutes. He offered to speak to the girls in her place but she shook her head.
"That's okay, Doc, I really owe them some kind of explanation."
"Well, that's very honorable, Ranma-chan, but do you really know what you want to say to them?" he asked.
"No, but I still have to listen to them and try to explain things. They're my friends and I owe them that much," Ranma-chan rubbed her head, looking down in consternation. "I also wanna know what Ranma said to them."
"Alright then. If you need me, just shout," he smiled.
"I'll probably be doin' that anyway," she grinned and led the two girls out of the clinic. When they stepped outside, she looked up at the moon and took a deep breath. She searched her mind for a way to start, but got caught up in the immensity of how much had changed in the past three days. Shampoo and Ukyo tried to wait for her to begin, but they sensed she could not. They both drew a steadying breath and Shampoo stepped forward.
"Is true? Ranma think is girl now?" she opened, with a pained expression. Ranma-chan sighed and nodded, shifting to meet her eyes.
"A girl who wants to be Ranko?" Ukyo choked out.
Ranma-chan paused, tensing. Ranma had apparently spelled things out better than she expected. "If that was an option," she began hesitantly, "then, yeah. I mean, bein' a girl and wantin' to be myself sorta means bein' Ranko. Not that I can. I just couldn't let go of everything at once."
"No can be Ranko, same as no can be Ranma?" Shampoo tried.
"Somethin' like that," Ranma-chan admitted. "I know you don't understand me actin' like a girl, but the thing is, I'm not acting. I'm not much of a girl, so maybe that's puttin' it the wrong way. It's more, I understand now." She turned her body so she was facing both of them. "This is my body. MY body. In this form I am female, and that's… normal. Kinda confusing, but I'm comfortable with this. It's real, and I've accepted it." She spread one hand flat over her abdomen, and looked down. "The feelings I have are real. I can't ignore them or pretend they don't have anything to do with me anymore. That's what I realized when I stopped being Ranma. Bein' a guy… I am used to that, but this is something I am still figuring out. I thought I had to, because the only identity left for me is Fa Shen. I thought, if I just get used to this, I can survive becoming her. I can survive." Taking a deep breath and turning away to stare at the moon again, she hugged herself, "Then she just kicks me out of my own body, and I don't know anything anymore."
"But the fact is, you are a girl?" a male voice intruded.
The three girls turned around to see Mousse standing at the clinic gate, his glasses down over his eyes, his gaze locked on Ranma-chan. He had been standing there in shocked silence since the three emerged from the clinic. With Cologne and Shampoo both out, it had been necessary to close the Cat Café, and he proceeded to the clinic in search of Cologne. Not one of them had taken note of him. He had heard the entire exchange and one thought had risen to take command of his mind. The bit about Fa Shen tickled something in the back of his brain, but he dismissed it to focus on her main assertion. Was Ranma now a girl? When Ranma-chan offered a confused frown and nodded in confirmation, he suddenly grinned in malicious glee. "So then. By declaring yourself a girl in truth, and forsaking all claim to the identity of Ranma Saotome, the Kiss of Marriage is dissolved and no longer negates the Kiss of Death!" he pointed at Ranma-chan dramatically.
"Stupid Mousse! Great-grandmother warn you not interfere! Why you start trouble!?" Shampoo narrowed a killing look on Mousse, her body trembling with sudden rage.
"I am not here to start trouble, my sweet Shampoo," he sighed dramatically, before hardening his gaze again. "I am here to see that it ends! Your honor demands her death! That she has toyed with your heart and messed with your mind for almost a year, changes nothing. If anything, it is more imperative she die so that your honor may be restored!"
"Kiss of Marriage not is dissolved. Is also still man, still Ranma inside, and even Kiss of Death no mean can kill innocent. Even if Council say Shampoo must marry all male Ranma, Shampoo no can kill cursed Ranma or all female Ranma without kill husband!" Shampoo frothed, wishing Mousse had not overheard Ranma-chan's confession. Wishing he could listen to and see reason, but knowing he was as blind to the truth as he was to everything else.
"Mousse! Now is not the time for stupid games!" Ukyo stepped in, verbally and literally, shielding Ranma-chan's body with hers. Her spatula was in her hands, ready to deflect his hidden weapons. "There's a lot more going on here, and things are going to go back to normal as soon as they are sorted out!"
"This is tribal business, Ukyo. Stand aside or you will get hurt," Mousse promised her, shifting into a more aggressive pose. Focusing on Shampoo again, he droned on, "You know as well as I that if the one who administers the Kiss of Death fails in her mission due to any manipulation on the part of her foe—if she is seduced by her enemy—she may be considered lost or even to have joined the enemy. She may only be redeemed if another amazon, male or female, fulfills her mission and takes responsibility for redeeming her!"
Shampoo gasped and choked on her disbelief.
"Rather than permit you to be shamed so, I remind you that this one," he pointed at Ranma-chan, "can die without any harm befalling her twins! Because of the mirror, she will die in time, but such a death will not avenge your honor! So, the choice is yours, Shampoo! Finish what you started, or I will, and you will become mine to redeem!"
Ranma-chan blanched as a presence gushed up within her, thoughts and images spilling forth to reveal in detail the nature of Mousse's threat to Shampoo. "Shampoo would be your slave if you did that!" she gasped painfully, fighting the spirit of Fa Shen within her.
"How Airen know that!?" Shampoo demanded in a tiny voice.
"Ran-chan? You look… ill," Ukyo glanced over her shoulder in alarm.
"She's trying to take over," Ranma-chan hissed through clenched teeth. Her eyes were wide and unseeing as she focused her will inward to battle for control, her limbs twitching as another struggled to command them.
"Aiyaa! Mousse, you stop now! Very bad you provoke girl!" Shampoo paled and turned all her attention to Ranma-chan, taking her into her arms and lowering the shaking girl to the paving stones. "Ukyo, go bring Great-grandmother at once! Ranma! You stay awake!" she leaned in to meet the red-haired girl's eyes, slapping her face to keep her attention.
"I can't leave you here with Mousse!" Ukyo cried, stepping forward to better shield the other two. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Cologne! Tofu!!!"
"What the hell? What's going on here!?" Mousse scowled, beginning to advance on the trio. "For the last time, Shampoo! I beg you to finish it, or get out of my way!"
Cologne and Dr. Tofu rushed out in response to Ukyo's alarming cry.
"Mousse! You idiotic boy! What have you done!?" Cologne glared.
"He's trying to make Shampoo kill Ran-chan!" Ukyo declared.
"It would seem our master of hidden weapons had decided to play lawyer," Cologne snarled, guessing at the loopholes the boy was trying to exploit against Ranma-chan and Shampoo. "Very clever, Mousse. Very stupid as well. I had your word you would not interfere with or exploit Ranma's weakness to further your pursuit of Shampoo!"
Mousse straightened in outrage, "Yes, you did. And I obeyed. I will not exploit RANMA's weakness. But I have it from the GIRL'S own mouth that she is not Ranma Saotome any more." Even as he shielded himself in that argument and indignation, he stared down at the girl he intended to see die, and wondered why she had suddenly collapsed in a fit. She would be ridiculously easy to kill in this condition, and yet still Shampoo refused to do the lawful thing.
"I expected you to understand my prohibition applied regardless of assumed identity, when it was obvious that the original Ranma faced the loss of that identity," Cologne glared.
Dr. Tofu stepped forward, taking a guard position next to Ukyo. "Mousse, while I empathize with the difficulties you have faced in your rivalry with Ranma, she is my patient and I cannot allow you to bring her further harm. Moreover, if you push this, you will ultimately lose the very thing you are fighting for," he warned in a calm, collected voice. That made everyone pause. Everyone here knew Tofu was a skilled martial artist, but no one, simply NO ONE had ever seen him rise to a fight.
Mousse sagged a little. He had the laws of his people on his side, but Cologne and Shampoo were not backing down. Even if they did bow to his logic, Tofu and Ukyo would not just step aside. Ukyo was a manageable threat, but the doctor was an unknown. There was a good chance Mousse could not defeat him in a preliminary engagement. But would Ranma-chan ever be this vulnerable again? Steeling himself, he tried one more time, "Do the laws of our people mean so little today? I truly do not wish to kill this person, since there is no grounds for rivalry between us now," except for the fact that he knew Shampoo still considered the cursed teen her "Airen". "But the fact remains that she is legally condemned and my beloved Shampoo cannot return home as long as she lives."
"Even the most rigid laws must bend in extraordinary circumstances, and interpreting them to suit selfish, individual desires is an offense to the spirit of those laws, Mousse," Cologne stated carefully. She knelt beside Ranma-chan's twitching form and studied her tortured features. She gently smoothed the girl's face with a tender hand and continued, "When, in one person we find a man, and a woman, both outsiders, as well as an amazon, there can be no easy, quick solutions."
"A- an A-amazon!?" Mousse stammered in confusion.
There was a general pause.
"I suppose I should have explained things to you in greater detail. Unfortunately, until this evening, that last fact was still in question," Cologne sighed tiredly, rising to her feet from where she had checked on Ranma-chan's condition quickly. "This girl carries the spirit of Fa Shen, and because of your intrusion, she is fighting it to keep control of her body. You should be glad that you were stopped before Fa Shen could emerge. If you happened to defeat her before she oriented herself, things would have become a great deal more complicated."
"You can't be serious," Mousse frowned.
"Great-grandmother deadly serious!" Shampoo looked up with a tear stained face. "If you cause Fa Shen take over Ranma forever, Shampoo make Mousse wish never born!"
"Is that possible," Ukyo demanded of Cologne in sudden fear.
"There is a struggle going on inside her right now. It may have started as an attempt by Ranma-chan to hold onto consciousness, but now that she has slipped into a trance, this might become a battle for permanent dominance," Cologne diagnosed in a resigned tone. "There is little we can do to help, I am afraid. Any direct interference could tip the balance catastrophically."
"There is one thing," Tofu proposed. "If we move Ranma-chan to an environment more familiar to her, it could help her regain dominance. If you girls will keep an eye on Mousse, and see that he behaves, I can carry her to the Tendo dojo."
"An excellent suggestion," Cologne stepped back to allow the doctor near Ranma-chan. She turned to Mousse. "I am tempted to send you packing, child, but if you can listen and heed instruction, I will allow you to come along. Perhaps you will get to meet the illustrious Fa Shen and change your mind about trying to kill her. If not, and if you still believe you have cause for action against her, you can discuss terms with Ranma-chan. She might appreciate the chance to put you in your place."
"It is for Shampoo to decide. If she fails to see what she must do, then for her sake I will continue to pursue this," Mousse scowled.
"Well, that's rather complicated by the fact that I have restrained Shampoo from pursuing the Kiss of Death until such time as it can be established precisely who and what the original Ranma has become."
"What!? Why was I not informed of this!?"
"Simple. You did not ask."