Chapter 42 The Evil Awakes
Kasumi answered the phone at the Tendo home, "Moshi, moshi. Hello, Mousse, I'll get Nabiki. What, you need to talk to Father? I'll go get him. What's that? A warning? Somebody named Happosai has broken free and is heading here? Okay, I'll tell Father. Bai Bai." Kasumi hung up the phone and went to find her father. She found him in the family room playing shogi with Ranma, who even though he refused to cheat was obviously beating Soun like a drum.
"Father, that was Mousse on the phone. He was forwarding a message that the Chinese Embassy received from the Amazon village at Joketsuzoku. It seems that someone named Happosai has broken free of his restraints and they believe he is heading here to find you and Mr. Saotome," Kasumi said pleasantly.
Soun looked up from the board and his face paled. He began wailing, "I thought Hinako said he was dead! Alas, the master is coming! All hope is lost! We must flee!"
Ranma began to glow with his battle aura and he said, "That's the pervert that corrupted Hinako. Damn him to the uttermost hell!" Slowly he pulled himself together and then asked through gritted teeth, "Did they have anything else to say about where he's been?"
"No, other than to say Elder Cologne is coming back to help and is bringing a war party with her. He thinks they'll be here in a couple of days," Kasumi replied.
"Don't worry, Dad. If he comes here, we'll take care of him," Ranma avowed, "Kasumi, could you ask Akane and Nabiki to join us? I think we need to find out some more about this perverted old master before he arrives here. We need to let Hinako know that he's coming as well."
Kasumi smiled and replied, "Certainly, Ranma. I'm glad you're taking this seriously. Can you take care of Father for me?" Ranma nodded and Kasumi went to find her sisters.
"Dad!" Ranma said calmly to the wailing man. "Mr. Tendo!" he repeated, to no avail. Finally, in disgust, Ranma reached across the board and slapped Soun, knocking him back against the wall. Soun stopped wailing and looked affronted.
"Crude, but effective, Ranma. I need to remember that method," Nabiki drawled from the doorway, "I assume it was necessary?"
"Yeah, Nabiki. We need to find out something from your father. And besides, his crying was beginning to get on my nerves. If he'd gotten me any wetter with his tears, I would have transformed into a girl," Ranma said wryly.
Akane walked into the room, followed by Kasumi. "Kasumi told me what Mousse said, Ranma. What are we going to do?" she asked.
"First, find out everything your father knows about him. Then we can figure out what, if anything, we can do," Ranma replied.
"You already know that he is a perverted old man, who likes to steal women's underwear and do other perverted acts," Soun began, "What you don't know is that he is the Grandmaster of the school, and knows all of its secrets. He is very strong in his abilities, with a battle aura that is immense." He shivered and then continued; "One of the reasons I left him when I did is that he was also beginning to grope young women. I think that is how he gains his energy. If you can keep him away from a source of female energy, I think eventually he runs out of steam and can easily be beaten then. But if he can get to a woman, or just to her underwear, he recharges. The more feminine the woman, the faster he recharges."
Ranma grew grim and he said, "I saw that mentioned in the scrolls that Pop had in his backpack. I didn't go back to it though because we needed to find out how to cure Hinako, and that was more important. It looks like we need to study those scrolls, again, Akane."
Nabiki interjected, "Ranma, I'd like to study those scrolls too. I know I'm not the martial artist that any of you three are, but it wouldn't hurt for me to see if I could find any weaknesses."
Akane replied, "That's a pretty good idea, Ranchan. She's got a much better eye for tactics than either of us do."
Ranma looked at Nabiki and said, "Some of the stuff in the scrolls is pretty perverted. Are you sure you're up to that?"
"Ranma, this is me you're talking to, remember. Nothing will bother me," Nabiki replied.
Ranma smirked and said, "Don't say I didn't warn you." The three youths went up to Ranma and Akane's room to study the scrolls that Happosai had written all of his secret techniques in.
A half-hour later a blushing Nabiki was seen running from the room, her hands against her flaming cheeks.
Ranma handed a note to the childlike Hinako as he walked into the classroom and sat down. Hinako read the note and suddenly stood up and walked outside, calmly shutting the door. After the class heard several loud crashes and bangs from outside, the door opened and she calmly walked back inside and sat down at her desk, waiting for the bell to ring to start the day.
The first period was about halfway over, when suddenly from outside an uproar arose. There were the sounds of many feet, and over the noise, a girl's voice screaming, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Give me back those panties!"
The class rushed to the windows and saw below a small old man, wearing a school uniform, carrying a large bag over his shoulder being chased by what seemed like an endless horde of schoolgirls, carrying brooms and other things to hit the old man with. The girls were crying, "You dirty old man!"
The old man was laughing as he ran, saying, "I'm no old man, don't you see this school uniform!"
"That old geezer, he must be Happosai!" Ranma exclaimed from the window.
Hinako's eyes grew wide as she said, "A delinquent!" She jumped out of the window and plummeted to the ground, crying, "You there! Stop this instant!"
Ranma screamed, "Agh! You idiot, this is the second floor!" He dove out after her, and caught her in his arms, and then landed on top of the old geezer's head, driving him into the ground, and allowing all of the girls to catch up. They proceeded to beat the stuffing out of the old man, and when they left, he was laying on the ground battered and bruised, with lumps everywhere.
"Curse you, young man! Do you know who I am?" the old man growled, clearly angry.
Ranma glared at him and said, "I think you're an old pervert named Happosai. That's who I think you are!"
"That's right! How did you know?" Happosai said, puzzled, his anger dissipating.
"My father-in-law mentioned your name as the biggest pervert he ever knew, and the Amazons said that you had escaped and might be looking for him," Ranma replied.
"So who are you and why aren't you cowering in fear of my reputation?" Happosai blustered.
"The name's Ranma Saotome, and I ain't afraid of nobody!" Ranma replied.
"Are you related to that wimp Genma Saotome?" the old man growled.
Ranma looked at Happosai with cold eyes, and replied, "He is my father, old man."
The old man began to glow, as he shrieked, "I'm tired of people always getting in my way, preventing me from enjoying the good things of life. Today, you have gone too far, so, Ranma, you will pay!"
An enormous battle aura showed around the gnome-like figure. Akane screamed, "Ranma, run!"
Hinako pulled out her five-yen piece and responded, "I know how to handle a delinquent like you." She cried, "Happo Go-en Satsu!" and promptly drained Happosai of his entire battle aura. Happosai fell to the ground, totally drained and powerless to move.
Ranma started forward only to be grabbed by the now adult Hinako. "Ranma, you have to help me! Draining him was a mistake. His aura is so perverted it makes me want to, no, it's too horrible to contemplate. Get me out of here, away from all the other males, hurry." She began pressing her body up against Ranma. Ranma began feeling very uncomfortable.
"Akane, tie up the old freak. Something's wrong with the teacher. Meet me at her apartment as soon as you can," Ranma cried. He gathered Hinako up in his arms and took off running. Hinako laid her head against his shoulder and began nibbling on his ear, turning Ranma's face beet red. As he vanished from sight, Akane heard him scream, "Akane, hurry!"
Akane ran downstairs with several of the other students as fast as she could. Quickly, under her direction, two of the boys wrapped chains around the old man, and dropped him into a barrel, and then nailed the lid onto the barrel. After wrapping a dozen more chains around the barrel, they rolled it into the boys' locker room, where Akane directed the entire boys class to stand guard. Once she was satisfied that she had done all that she could, she ran to Hinako's apartment.
Akane burst in to see Ranma being chased around the apartment by a half-naked Hinako. The furniture was scattered all over the comfortable apartment. Hinako was yelling, "Take me, Ranma, please! I need you!"
Akane started growling, "Ranma!"
"Less anger, more cold water!" Ranma gasped as he ran by, "Change me into a girl, quick!"
Akane filled a cup with cold water from the sink in the kitchen, and as Ranma ran by again, she splashed him. Ranma sighed with relief as he felt the transformation take place. She made the mistake of slowing down, and Hinako tackled her. Suddenly, Hinako rolled off her and said, "Thanks, Akane, Ranma. Put me to sleep quick, before I lose control again."
Ranma reached over and pushed the five pressure points that would cure her of her chi-draining abilities. Hinako promptly collapsed onto the floor. Ranma began gasping for breath, saying, "That was close, Akane. I was just about exhausted from her chasing me. If you hadn't of gotten here when you did, I was gonna be in big trouble."
"Why don't you start from the top and it'd better be a good explanation, Ranma," Akane said icily.
"Let's get her onto her bed first, and covered up," Ranma said with a sigh.
Akane grimaced and said, "Thank Kami we've only got fifteen more days before she's cured, and I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. She's staying adult much longer each time she transforms, too." She helped Ranma carry Hinako into her bedroom, where they left her, covered by her sheets.
"Okay, start talking mister, and your story better be good," Akane growled as they reentered the living room of the apartment.
"Like I said, something went wrong when she absorbed the chi from the old freak. I guess his chi is so perverted it overpowered her libido. She told me to get her away from all of the other males, while she was still barely in control of herself. She said on the way over to her apartment that she was extremely aroused and wanted to rip my clothes off right there on the school grounds. Once I got here, and put her down, she tore her clothes off and started chasing me. It was weird, first she'd yell for me to take her, and then she'd cry, 'no, don't let it happen this way.' Fortunately for all of us, you got here when you did," Ranma said quickly.
"That's crazy enough to be true, Ranma. All right, I believe you. But you're making it up to me tonight," Akane said, with a leer.
"Okay, who's the hentai now?" Ranma quipped. "What did you do with the old freak?" he asked.
"Chained him up, put him in a barrel, and then nailed the lid shut. After that, we chained the barrel up, and then put him in the middle of the boys' locker room," Akane replied.
"All right, I better get on over there. You stay here with Hinako, and don't let her out of the apartment. Especially keep her away from any guys until she reverts back to her child form. I think she'll be safe then. While you wait, try to get in touch with Mousse at the embassy and let him know we have Happosai," Ranma said.
"Okay, Ranma. I'll feel better knowing you're there with the old freak," Akane admitted. 'ANd not here with Hinako!' she thought.
Ranma left the apartment while Akane headed toward the phone. Akane called the Chinese Embassy and asked to speak to Mousse of the Joketsuzoku. When he got on the phone, Akane quickly briefed him on the situation. Mousse promised that he would get over to the school as quickly as he could. Akane then stared around the apartment, looking at the wreck that Hinako and Ranma had made of it. She sighed, and began placing the furniture back where it belonged. Every few minutes she would check on Hinako who was still in her adult form, writhing around the bed.
Ranma ran into the boys' locker room to find that everything appeared to be okay. The barrel was still intact, surrounded by the chains, and the boys guarding it swore that nothing had happened. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. He ordered, "Don't let any women in here. The old pervert gets his strength from woman's chi. I don't know how close he has to be to use it, but we better not take any chances. I really don't know how strong he is when he's at full strength, and I don't want to find out the hard way."
Ranma waited for what seemed like hours, watching the barrel. Finally, the barrel began to rock, just as Mousse arrived with several male guards. "Okay, Ranma. We can send these boys back to class," Mousse suggested, "I think you and I can take care of things now." The boys groaned but left at a glare from one of the guards.
"It looks like the old man is beginning to recover, Mousse. At least, if the fact that the barrel is rocking means anything," Ranma pointed out, "What do you suggest we do?"
"I got another message from Cologne after they reached the airport in Beijing. She said to keep him away from hot water, and to surround him with cold water," Mousse replied.
"Well, we can turn the cold water on in the shower room and roll the barrel in. I can also get the janitor to turn off the hot water to the locker room completely," Ranma suggested. 'So the old freak has a Jusenkyo curse, I wonder which one it is?' Ranma thought. Ranma hesitated and then told Mousse, "I need to stay away from the cold water as well."
"I know, Ranma. Cologne told me about you as well. Don't worry; I'll get him into the shower. You find the janitor," Mousse ordered. Ranma smiled in relief and headed off to find the janitor, while Mousse went into the shower and turned all of the cold water taps on. The guards slowly and carefully dragged the barrel into the middle of the spraying water. Just as they did so, the barrel exploded and Happosai jumped out, right into the middle of the spray.
The old man stopped, took in his surroundings and said, "Oh my, did he get out again? Did I do anything wrong?" Instead of the evil expression that had been on his face previously, now his features had resolved into a benign, almost grandfatherly expression.
"That's not important now, old man," Mousse replied, carefully, "The important thing is that you're back. Elder Cologne will be here tomorrow to take you home."
The old man smiled and said, "That's good. I always enjoy talking to her about the books I'm reading at the retreat."
Ranma walked in and stopped at the edge of the shower and asked, "Is everything okay now, Mousse? I found the janitor, and he's taking care of that other matter."
Mousse said, "Yes, the old man is back, and the pervert is gone."
"Do I know you, young man?" the old man asked.
Ranma face-faulted and then replied, "I'm Ranma Saotome. I don't guess we've actually met. What's going on here, Mousse?"
"I'm not sure. Cologne said she'd explain when she arrived. Apparently, he doesn't remember anything that happens when he is in the other form, though. That's all I can figure out," Mousse replied, "We'll take him back to the Embassy, now." Mousse walked out of the shower, followed by the old man, the guards taking up stations around him.
"Are you sure that's the wisest thing to do with him?" Ranma asked.
Mousse grimaced and replied, "That's what Cologne told me to do, and after this many years of obeying her, I'm not about to change now."
Ranma gave a wry smile of agreement, and replied, "Good luck, then. Will we see you at the Tendo's soon?"
"As quickly as I can get away. Tell Nabiki I'll call her as soon as I get back to the Embassy," Mousse replied. The cavalcade marched out of the locker room, with Ranma following, thoughtfully.