P-Chan's Revenge

Chapter 5: Success and Defeat

"Thank you come again!' called Shampoo with a bow to the last customers of the day who had just exited the Cat Café. Shampoo let out a sigh of relief as they left, glad that this hectic day was almost at an end.

"Great-Grandmother!" Shampoo called, as she headed into the kitchen area, "We done for the day?"

Cologne nodded her head from where she sat at the counter, her nose deep into some ancient Chinese parchment.

"Do you think...?" murmured Shampoo pulling a chair over to where her Great-Grandmother sat, "That Ranma back to normal?"

"I'm not sure," muttered Cologne, "We have no proof that Ryouga managed to switch bodies with Ranma, or even is her was the culprit!"

"Aiyaa..." sighed Shampoo, looking around, "Where Mousse anyway?"

"Mousse..." pondered Cologne, "I haven't seen him all day, but I thought that I heard his voice earlier.

"Oh!" cried Shampoo, placing her fist in her open right palm.

"What is it, child?" questioned Cologne at the familiar gesture.

"Oh!" said Shampoo, "it's nothing! Nothing at all!" But Shampoo did remember the events that had occurred earlier that day and felt a little bad for leaving Mousse in his duck form for that long. "Let me just check in back for him."

Shampoo headed into the back room, which was eerily dark for this time of night. "Mousse...Mousse..." called Shampoo fearfully. "Come, I sorry for what I did..." Shampoo noticed that the faucet was turned on, which Shampoo hastily turned off. "He must have changed back and left..."

Shampoo knew there was only one place left to look. She cautiously opened the back door and let out a terrified shriek at what she saw.

"Here are your menus!' greeted the waitress to Akane and Ryouga as they entered the sushi restaurant. Ryouga and Akane took the menus and headed towards the bar and took their seats. In front of them was a conveyer belt that completely surrounded the kitchen area. In the kitchen area where 3 sushi chefs, a visible glass fridge in front of the customers displaying the different types of seafood that could be prepared into different dishes. All one had to do was tell the chef your order and they would prepare it in front of you and then simply place it on a dish along with your tab on the conveyer belt and it would come right to you.

"Hmm..." murmured Akane, scanning the menu, "I don't know what to get!"

"Me neither..." cooed Ryouga, who actually knew what he was going to get but was content gazing at Akane.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the restaurant, two new customers had just entered the shop. "Why must I live with torment such as her?!" moaned a man, sitting down at a table, placing his wooden sword by the chair.

"I'm sure she was just trying to be helpful sir," chirped another voice, a small man taking a seat across the table.

"Close thy mouth, fool." Spat the first man angrily, soon rising to his feet, wooden sword in hand and proclaimed, "I, Tatewaki Kuno vow I doth have no relation to that retched girl you call my sister!"

At this sudden outburst of yelling, the whole restaurant became quiet, all eyes watching Kuno.

"M-Master Kuno!" cried the feeble voice of the second man, Satsuke, Kuno's personal ninja bodyguard. "We are in a public restaurant! Not at the Kuno estate sir!"

"Silence vermin!" cried Kuno pointing his wooden sword in Satsuke's face, but soon putting it down, "But alas, I see your point."

The wondering onlookers gave one last glance at Kuno but soon returned to their meals, the whispers of "mental retardation" lingering in the air.

Akane blinked in surprise from across the room. "Why's Kuno here?! He's got a whole estate full of food, and a sister to-"Akane paused, digesting the fact. "Ooh... I get it."

"Huh?" questioned Ryouga, putting down his menu, "What do you mean Akane?"

"Numbskull." Sighed Akane, bopping Ryouga lightly on the head, Ryouga giving a small flinch. "Kodachi! She probably put something in his food again!"

"Wh-why would she do that?" questioned Ryouga dumbfounded.

Akane gave Ryouga a questioning look and said, "Are you really Ranma?!"

Ryouga turned numb with shock. Oh no!! The voice screamed in his head, does she know?! Gotta think...gotta think...!! "WHY THE HELL WOULDN'T I BE?!"

Ryouga was in such turmoil that (unbeknownst to him) he had yelled out the first thing that came to his mind.

The restaurant once again went silent, and Akane stared at Ryouga with a dumbfounded look on her face. "It was..." murmured Akane, "Just a joke, Ranma..."

Ryouga nerves then took over, causing him to laugh hysterically. "Y-yeah! Funny! Hehe!"

"Isn't that..." questioned Satsuke the other side of the restaurant, standing on his chair to get a better view, "Ranma?"

"What?!" cried Kuno, getting to his feet. "Why it is- and wait! He's with Akane!!"

"A date?" questioned Satsuke.

"No!" spat Kuno venomously, "Why would dear Akane go on a date with such a loathsome-"But Kuno stopped short as he watched as a nervous Ryouga attempt to wrap a trembling arm around Akane's shoulder and gasped. "It can't be!"

"What are we to do master Kuno?" asked Satsuke

"How am I supposed to know?!" cried Kuno, folding his arms, scanning the restaurant. Soon his eyes caught upon something on his plate and his eyes gleamed wickedly.

Kuno turned to Satsuke and whispered, "Satsuke my boy, I'm going to need you to pick up something for me."

"Shampoo?!" called Cologne in concern running to where her Great-Granddaughter's voice had come from. "What is it?!" Reaching the doorway to the back alleyway, Cologne gasped at what she saw before her. On either side of a terrified Shampoo lay two unconscious bodies. On her left lay Ryouga, and on her right, Mousse.

"I..." started Shampoo frightfully, glancing around her, her eyes welling up with tears, "T-they like this when I find them."

"Oh dear..." murmured Cologne, stepping down from her staff and heading over to Mousse. He had several bruises on his face, and next to him lay his cracked glasses. "It's alright Shampoo..." murmured Cologne after some time, "Mousse is just unconscious. It looks like he got into a fight with Ryouga, that's all."

"But...but...Ryouga..." stammered Shampoo, "He's..."

"Haha. I aggress that it is odd that they both knocked each other unconscious but-"Cologne stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the expression that was plastered on Ryouga's face.

His face didn't bear the typical swirly-eyed expression of unconsciousness, but rather, something that looked like it came from a horror movie. His mouth was open in a silent scream, his eyes wide open, and expression of true horror and pain.

"My God..." gasped Cologne, "What happened here?!"

"Great-Grandmother!" cried Shampoo, "You must help him!"

"I'll do all I can child cooed Cologne, examining Ryouga closely.

Soon Cologne gasped, something coming clear. "Shampoo..." whispered Cologne, "you didn't know that Ryouga was out here did you, child?"

"No..." spoke Shampoo, "Why?"

"Don't you thing it's odd..." murmured Cologne thoughtfully, "that when Ryouga is usually around, you're able to detect his presence?"

"Aiyaa!' cried Shampoo, "That right!"

"Someone's presence is linked to something very important in a persons body..." commented Cologne, "it's linked to someone's martial art spirit, or rather, their chi."

Shampoo gasped. "So you mean...that the reason that I wasn't able to detect Ryouga was because his chi is missing?"

"Yes." Said Cologne. "I think we best wake Mousse and question him about this."

Shampoo nodded, and picked up both of the men and carried them inside.

"Mousse!" called Shampoo to Mousse, who lay unconscious on the floor of the Cat Café. "Mousse! MOUSSE!" With the last yell, Mousse's eyes opened, and he yawned.

"Shampoo?" murmured Mousse, reaching for his glasses, "What...?"

"Mousse!" cried Shampoo happily, putting her arms around him in a moment of relief.

Mousse turned a crimson shade of red as he put on his glasses and let out a happy wail of "Oh Shampoo!!"

Shampoo soon realized what she was doing and removed her arms from around him and retorted, "You need to tell us what happened."

"Well..." sighed Mousse, "You were calling to me and I heard your voice, so I woke up and found myself-"

"With a hand in your face." Finished Shampoo, punching Mousse in the face.

"Now, now." Chuckled Cologne, "Mousse, you need to tell us how you got the injuries."

"That's right!" chirped Mousse, rubbing his sore face. "It was a while after Shampoo turned me into a duck. I heard you guys fighting out in the restaurant so I hid back here for a bit. Ranma was in the back room, and then Ryouga came in. Ryouga seemed different somehow. I couldn't even detect Ryouga's presence when he came in. It was like he was translucent or something. But soon I heard strange noises. It sounded like Ryouga was casting a spell or something. And then I heard a thunk. I looked from where I was hiding and I saw Ranma pulling Ryouga's body into the back alley."

"So Ryouga did cast the spell!" gasped Cologne. "That means we let Ryouga escape in Ranma's body!"

"Oh no..." moaned Shampoo, "What have we done?!"

Mousse shook his head and continued. "After that, I managed to get the faucet running and change back and I headed to where Ryouga had dumped his body. Everything seemed normal at first. But when I was about to bring Ryouga's body back inside, it became really hot. So I put him back down and was going to bring him some water...but I saw Ranma."

"Ranma?!" cried Shampoo, "where?!"

"He was coming out of Ryouga's body." Stated Mousse.

"I see..." murmured Cologne. "The seal of the ink was too weak. Ranma was able to escape from Ranma's body."

Mousse nodded. "After that, I tried to stop him, but look what he did to me. He seemed to be drawn to something. He was trying to leave. That's all I remember."

"Hmm." Muttered Cologne, "Where could he have been trying to go?"

"I'm not sure." Sighed Mousse, "But he seemed to have plans of his own."

"Here Master Kuno." Said Satsuke after he had returned from his side quest to the supermarket, "But I still don't see why you needed a whole tube of wasabi. I mean, they give a free little dab with every order."

Kuno laughed. "What I need is not a dab my dear boy. What I need is enough of this green kerosene to make dear Ranma's breath fresh for a year. Here's your mission."

Satsuke sighed. How did he always get himself into these predicaments? Master Kuno had told him to disguise himself and sit before Ranma so that he could switch his sushi with his pre-ordered sushi with enough wasabi hidden underneath the salmon to induce some serious pain. Soon Ranma's order was coming his way. Dressed in his little flower get-up, Satsuke quickly snatched the sushi off the conveyer belt and replaced it with the prank one in the blink of an eye. His training as a Ninja had finally paid off. Now it was time to watch.

"Oh, here comes ours now!" chirped Ryouga happily, having a great time. He carefully pulled his Salmon sushi off the conveyer belt and in front of him. Ryouga put a piece of ginger and a dab of wasabi on his sushi and popped it in his mouth. He smiled to Akane and started to comment on its great taste until his mouth started to burn. It was just a little at first, so Ryouga shrugged it off, taking a sip of his tea. But the burning sensation in his mouth continued and he let out a painful scream.

"Ra-Ranma?!" cried Akane in concern, turning her gaze to Ryouga, "What...?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! IT BURNS!!!" screamed Ryouga, falling out of his chair and running towards the bathroom. The restaurant went silent for the third time that night as a few men ran out the restroom, shocked expressions on their faces as Ryouga's wails and the sound of rushing water was heard.

"What the hell's going on?" someone in the restaurant asked.

"Did that kid get rejected by his girlfriend?" someone else questioned.

"No way!" retorted someone else, "Sounded like the food was bad."

".................."

"Ah..." cried Akane nervously, dropping all the money she had on the counter as people started to look down at their food in question. "It's just...he has...um...diarrhea! Yeah!"

People seemed to digest this fact and slowly went back to their meals as Akane ran to the restroom area and pulled a relieved Ryouga out of the restroom by his ear and out the door where the yelling started. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU RANMA!!" Akane screamed, tears welling up in her eyes, "HOW DARE YOU EMBARRASS ME LIKE THAT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!" And with that, Akane stormed off, leaving a dumbfounded Ryouga behind.

About half and hour later, Ryouga ended up back at the Tendo Dojo, prepared for the worst by Akane, but was greeted by Kasumi. "Akane seemed very angry when she got home so she went directly to bed. But I'm sure she'll be fine in the morning, so would you like some left-overs from dinner?"

Ryouga sighed happily at Kasumi's kind gesture and nodded in response and sat himself at the living room table.

"Here you are," said Kasumi, handing Ryouga a plate of buns.

"Thank you so much!" sobbed Ryouga, picking up a bun in his hand, "I love red bean buns!"

"Don't be silly!" laughed Kasumi, "I made pork buns tonight!"

Ryouga looked down at his half-eaten pork bun and sniffled. He had ruined his date with Akane, and now, he was pretty much resorting to cannibalism.

A/N: Hope you got that last joke. XD. Sorry this took a while but I did this the day before school started and rushed myself a bit. Please Read and review and thanks to everyone who has! I love ya all! ; See you soon!