Miss Ranma

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"THOUGHTS"

"You've done well, Son-in-Law," Cologne said, perched on her walking stick, regarding Kenji.

"I'm not your son-in-law. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back home. It's been a long day," Kenji said before turning away from the matriarch.

"Not so fast, Son-in-Law. There's still the fact that you're married to Shampoo," the old woman said zipping in front of Kenji, keeping perched on her walking stick.

"I'm not married to her! Sheesh! What do you want from me?!"

"We want you to come back to Joketsuzoku with us where you can take on your responsibilities as Shampoo's husband."

"Why don't you just leave?!" Ranma called out.

"And as for you, young lady, there's no way you'll ever be the matriarch of the tribe despite Elder Deodorant's delusions of grandeur. That position is reserved for Shampoo." With that, Cologne leaped into the sky and onto the city below.

Then Kenji turned towards his sister. "Why didn't you leave with Ranma when I asked you to?"

Akane responded, her eyes getting red with rage. "I'm a martial artist too. Why do you keep underestimating me?!"

Then Kenji shook his head.

"It's not about underestimating you, Akane. You know what this guy was going to do to you and Ranma. You saw how quickly he tore off your clothes and terrified you. If I hadn't defeated him what do you think he would have done to the both of you?"

Akane regarded her brother for a moment. Then she shot a glare at Ranma.

"It would have been Ranma's fault if that had happened! She's the one who cheated on you with Ryoga and dragged us all the way over here!"

"Akane, you know that's not true. Ryoga had used some sort of mind control device on Ranma, thus I came here of my own free will. And nobody forced you to come along."

"Well, why were you so afraid of this guy anyway?!" Akane demanded with her hands on her hips, staring at her brother as if she had won an argument.

"Because he's the most powerful creature on the planet! And if it wasn't for the brutal training I've gone through recently he would have killed me and had his way with both you and Ranma. You saw how he manhandled Kuno. He decisively defeated Ryoga who lies on the ground over there despite the fact that he had gotten an increase of power himself recently. I've done everything I could to help you get better. What more can I do to get your head in the game?!"

Akane looked upon her brother for a moment. Then she looked down and blushed deeply in shame.

"So I've finally found you. Missed me Ken-Chan?!" a feminine voice called out to him.

Thus Kenji turned to see, "Aiko?!"

Aiko Murasaki was a tall young woman with a voluptuous yet slender figure, large, milky white breasts, and long purple colored hair that extended halfway down to her waist. In line with her matured physique, Aiko dressed quite provocatively, wearing a purple tube top that was two sizes too small, showing off generous cleavage that stood at attention while leaving her bare from her ribs to her belly button. In addition to that, she wore dark purple denim shorts that were also a size too small. Aiko also wore black boots and a black jacket.

"You've been training I see. How else could you have defeated one of the most feared fighters on the planet?" the girl called out as she seemed to glide on the ground towards him.

"Uh, yeah. Nice seeing you too, Aiko."

"Who is she?" Ranma asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Shut up, Ranma! As if you're in any position to judge!" Akane snapped back.

"I wasn't judging, Akane. I was simply curious."

Akane glared at Ranma for a moment. Then she turned towards Aiko.

"My name is Aiko Murasaki. Greetings," the newcomer said, looking at the two other girls from one to the other, bowing as the others did likewise.

"All right, Aiko. This is Akane Tendo, my sister, and this is Ranma, my fiancée," Kenji said as he pointed each girl out.

"Oh, I see." Aiko noticed the resemblance between Akane and Kenji, but Ranma was a mystery to her. The sparkling redhead had a body to rival her own. Some might have said she was even better looking, being both beautiful and sexy while Aiko was sexier than anything else.

At that time, Ryoga began to stir. Then he stumbled to his feet, blinking his eyes and looking around, noticing everybody there.

"What happened? Ranma?" Ryoga called out as the redheaded girl made her way towards him.

"You know that koi you put on me?"

"Um."

Ryoga was a little suspicious. Unlike in the recent past, Ranma wasn't jumping up and down, happy to see him. And where was the koi that had been on Ranma's stomach? As it was Ryoga couldn't see or sense the koi fish on her.

"This is for you, you rapacious bastard!" Ranma screamed upon gliding on the ground at an inhuman speed towards her former lover, knocking him into space with a powerful, upwards, forward thrust kick.

"Aaaagghh!"

Aiko had regarded Ranma sending Ryoga into the sky with interest. The sculpture of Ranma's legs and hips impressed the lavender haired girl. Not only was there a beauty there but there was an underlying strength Aiko didn't fail to see.

"So, when are you and I getting back together?" she motioned to Kenji.

"It's not happening, Aiko. Look, I'm rather tired after having had such a long, hard fight so I'm going home. Let's go, guys!" Kenji called out to Ranma and Akane as he swung his ki hammer, throwing it into the air with him attached to it as his fiancée and sister followed after him.

"What the… Are they flying?!"

Upon snapping out of her malaise, Aiko ran towards the departing crew up to the edge of the cliff, watching them leave as they got further and further away.

"Does his family still live in that dojo? I wonder."

As the group left, another set of eyes watched them depart.

"So Kenji has gotten so much more powerful and has taken Ranma back home with him. At least Ranma is free of Ryoga's control."

"What will my plans be now?"

After floating in a desolid form behind some trees, he turned towards Aiko who had leaped up and over the cliff down to the city below using her acrobatic skills to land safely much to Gosunkugi's surprise. Then she chased after Kenji and company leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

XXX

"All right, Mousse, I want to give you an advantage and an increase in power over Kenji and the others," Elder Deodorant said.

"Great! How will you do that?"

"The two of them were in the vacant lot behind the restaurant which was closed at the time. Thus only Mousse's Grandmother and a couple of other amazons were watching what was happening along with Elder Deodorant who presided over the events.

"I'm going to merge you with your cursed form. In addition to that, I'm going to douse you with the Spring of Drowned Android, your original body being more prominent. You'll be able to fly faster and handle higher altitudes. Your eyesight will also be better. Thus you'll get the best of both worlds, becoming stronger and faster in the process."

"All right, I'm ready," Mousse said as he took a deep breath and braced himself.

Upon snapping her fingers, Deodorant made a bucket of water appear. Then she doused Mousse with it.

Upon being drenched with the modified Jusenkyo water, Mousse changed, turning into a golden, brown winged warrior. In fact, his hair and eyes had turned into a golden brown color as well. He had also increased to a height of five feet ten inches tall and a weight of 175 pounds with a more muscularly defined physique. In addition to that, his eyes became sharper, prompting him to take off his glasses as he breathed in and took a better account of his environment.

"He's gorgeous!" the two amazon girls watching the event gasped.

Then one of the amazon girls unconsciously made her way towards the more beautiful amazon until she found Deodorant's staff barring her way.

"Get back, child. You know why we're here."

"Oh, yes!" the girl backed up, blushing beat red as everybody there regarded her.

Then Deodorant turned towards Mousse. "Now you need to train in your new, more powerful body. The next time you see Ranma, she'll be blown away!"

Then Mousse struck his palm with his fist. "Yes! And if Kenji gets in the way too much, I'll cook him a stew he will choke on."

XXX

"So, what happened?!" Soun demanded with Genma behind him as Kenji, Akane, and Ranma came making their way into the Tendo home. Soun and Genma had their eyes raised and their mouths open in shock at the banged-up appearance of Kenji and the near-naked appearance of the girls. Even Nabiki and Kasumi were curious as to what had happened as they walked into the main room of the home.

"Kenji defeated some guy named Yujiro Hanma," Akane blurted out.

"Yujiro Hanma?!" both Soun and Genma gasped in stereo with a shiver.

"Yeah, can I get cleaned up first? I'll explain everything during dinner," Kenji said as he made his way to the bathroom.

After everyone had cleaned up, all of them sat in the dining room with Soun, Genma, and Nabiki's eyes trained on Kenji. As soon as Kasumi had set the table, Kenji was about to speak when Nabiki interjected first, placing her hand on the table.

"The word on the street is that Yujiro Hanma is the strongest fighter on the planet. Did you really defeat him?"

"Yes, Nabiki. I defeated him." Then Kenji explained everything that had happened.

"Wow! I've never been so proud of you as I am now, Kenji," Soun said, beaming with his chest out.

"That's true, Tendo! The future of Anything Goes is assured!" Genma announced with aplomb.

"Father, it's best not to brag too much about this. The last thing we need is for Yujiro Hanma to show up here and assault Ranma and my sisters."

"Nonsense! The school of Anything Goes has every right to boast a victory over the likes of Yujiro Hanma," Genma stated with pride.

"That's right! And if this guy shows his face around here, I'll give him a beating worse than Kenji gave him," Akane said, raising a balled-up fist, making her bicep expand.

"Akane…"

"That's the spirit, Akane!" Soun broke in, cutting Kenji short as Ranma shook her head.

"Um, Kenji?"

"Yes, Ranma."

"You said something about entering an alternate dimension. Were you training in a time warp of some kind?"

Kenji's eyes widened at this. "Yes, how did you know that?"

"I spent a year in a place called the Room of Time where I learned several exotic techniques from a couple of girls before I arrived here."

"That's not exactly what happened with me. I simply went into a cave where there was an inter-dimensional doorway where I could train at a more painful and faster rate. I felt as if I had been there for years, but when I came back it was as if I had been gone for only a second."

"I've heard of such training dimensions, Kenji. Such places are horribly dangerous. It takes a lot of mental and spiritual strength to survive much less thrive and get stronger in them. You risked your life going in there," Soun commented.

"Well, Dad, I wanted to get stronger and faster. Fortunately, my mental strength was up to par for that course," Kenji responded.

"That's my boy!"

Akane beamed with pride along with Soun, but Kenji ate his meal somberly.

"I hope I never have to fight Yujiro Hanma again. He was the strongest, most ruthless opponent I've ever faced."

XXX

Later the next day, Akane and Ranma made their way to school when they ran into, "Sakura! It's been some time since we've seen you!"

"It has, Ranma. There's a rumor going on that your boyfriend defeated Yujiro Hanma, the strongest creature on earth."

"That's right. My brother, Kenji, defeated him all right," Akane answered, pointing her thumb to herself as if she had won the fight.

"Yes, he won, but the last thing we want is to brag too much about that. That guy swore revenge when Kenji knocked him into the sky," Ranma commented with a shiver that prompted her to hold her shoulders at the thought of what had almost happened to her and what happened to her anyway.

"Nonsense! Kenji proved to everyone how powerful the Tendo School of Anything goes is. The fact that you're so afraid of a guy Kenji defeated is your problem," Akane said as she turned towards Ranma with a narrowed eyed look on her face.

"Akane, you were practically paralyzed with fear in the face of this guy. The last thing you'd want is to face this guy without Kenji there to protect you."

"Shut up, Ranma! That's not what happened!" Akane stammered, her face reddening.

"Anyway, Kenji is a powerful guy. He's also drop dead gorgeous. He's so wonderful!" Sakura sighed, staring off into space.

Both Akane and Ranma looked at Sakura with their eyes raised for a moment but said nothing else as the trio kept walking.

As the girls continued to make their way to school on the sidewalk on the street, Ranma decided to comment on the fact that Sakura was wearing the same kind of uniform she and Akane were wearing.

"What happened to your sailor outfit, Sakura?"

"I've decided to go to your school where the martial arts battles are much better than the school I used to go to."

"I hope you've practicing a lot, Sakura."

"I sure have, Ranma," Sakura said holding her fist up.

At that moment, a winged Mousse swooped down, landing a few feet in front of them.

"Ooh!" Sakura moaned at the sight. Even Ranma and Akane sighed at the sight of the improved aviator's appearance, their bosoms heaving a little.

"Hi, Ranma. Miss me?"

"Um, hi, Mousse. Did you merge your cursed form with your normal form?"

"Yes, well, my great-grandmother did. I'm surprised you're not freaking out over my avian appearance," Mousse stated.

"I've been working on controlling myself around b-birds."

"And it looks as if you're free of Ryoga's control too. How did that happen?" Mousse asked searching for the koi.

"It's a long story, but I am free of that jerk's control over me. Well, anyway it's been nice talking to you, Mousse. Good-bye."

However, as Ranma and company walked past the amazon on their way to school, Mousse flew upwards, doing an aerial double backflip, landing right in front of the object of his desire. Then he retracted his radiant wings into his shoulder blades, making them disappear.

"Wait, Ranma! Since you no longer find me repulsive, how about having some great Chinese food with me?"

"Mousse, I need to go to school right now. And I'm really not interested in you that way. Good-bye."

"Oh, come on, Ranma!"

"She's not interested in you, birdbrain, so bug off!"

Everyone turned to see Ryoga, making his way towards Ranma with his umbrella in hand.

"What do you want?!" Ranma demanded as she glared at her former captor.

"We were doing so well together until that Yujiro guy showed up and ruined everything. So how about…"

"Get away from me, Ryoga!" Ranma sneered, glaring at the lost boy as she narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth at him.

"Oh, come on, Ranma."

Then Ranma got in Ryoga's face, her eyes getting intense and moist.

"You used mind control on me, Ryoga, forcing me to be your love slave, allowing you to put your hands all over me. That smacks of rape in my book. And this was after you made all kinds of crude remarks about my body. Now do what you do best and get lost!" Ranma practically sobbed out.

"You done heard what she said, Ryoga. Git now," Yukio said as he appeared a few feet behind him.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Ryoga stammered, looking over his shoulder then turning around to face his new adversary.

"I'm warning you, Ryoga!" Yukio stated with a huge ki powered spatula appearing in his hands.

"Don't warn me, punk!"

As the two squared off, the girls made her way to school when they noticed a mob of women chasing after a gnome sized man with a huge bag slung over his shoulder.

"Can't Happosai control himself better? Must he keep stealing women's underwear?" Akane said with her arms folded on her chest.

At that point, the girls noticed Kenji Tendo flying several yards overhead. Then they saw him toss an apple a few feet in front of the greedy, little man who quickly grabbed it, chomping on it while ignoring the group of angry women who promptly caught up to him and proceeded to beat the daylights out of him with their brooms, shovels, and other tools.

"Take that, you pervert!"

"Yeah!"

"Aaaugh!"

"Good work, Kenji!" Ranma called out as the hammer wielding warrior touched down a few feet in front of them.

"I figured that would have put the kibosh on Happosai's underwear stealing."

"So do you have something going on at school today?" Sakura said as her bosom heaved and her eyes widened at the sight of the strapping young man while the wind tugged his long hair back.

"I've heard about what Happosai was doing around here thus I've gotten tired of the old man's antics," Kenji explained.

"Won't he get angry at you for what you've done?" Sakura asked as the angry women clobbered the little gnome.

"I'm not really worried about it. After taking on Yujiro Hanma, I'm not really afraid of anything or anyone," Kenji responded.

That's the spirit, Kenji!" Ranma announced.

XXX

Later that day during lunchtime, Happosai arrived at the Tendo home with his clothes torn and countless lumps on his little head.

"Look what you've done, Kenji!" Happosai called out from the entrance of the main living room.

"I'm happy to see you're doing so well, Gramps," Kenji said as he sat at the main table eating a meal Kasumi had made for them.

Happosai glared at Kenji from his battered face in a seething rage, his aura surrounded him in red!

"The master's angry about something!" Soun gasped.

[I know nothing!] Genma-Panda's sign said.

"You ruined a good haul today, Kenji, and for that you will pay!" the old man said as a heated, red battle aura emanated from him. However, the muscular martial artist simply ignored the little gnome and tended to his meal.

"Did you hear me?! Your punishment is moxibustion!" the old man screamed as he went flying towards Kenji with a small ball of energy in his hands, tossing it at him. However, as Kenji used his chopsticks to take hold of the marble-sized energy ball, Happosai landed on his back, using his pipe to place a hot, searing ember therein.

"Yeeaarrggh!" Kenji screamed in pain, jumping out of his place as the old man laughed from behind him.

"Serves you right, Kenji. You think you're so invincible because you defeated the mighty Yujiro Hanma, the so-called strongest creature on earth. But there are things you still don't understand. I am your master. Don't you ever forget that!"

"That hurt, but I've already recovered," Kenji answered.

"That's what you think, boy! Watch this!"

"Yeow!" Kenji screamed as Happosai used his pipe to knock Kenji into the sky crashing through the roof.

"Did you have to damage the roof after I spent so much money fixing it?" Nabiki asked with her eyes rolled. Nabiki had some business to take care of that prompted her to take a day off from school so she was having lunch at the house.

"Shut up, girlie! I'll deal with you later after I've finished humbling your arrogant brother!" Happosai called out as Kenji came crashing to the ground.

"Ungh! Let's step outside, Happosai!"

"All right." Once again the old man knocked Kenji into the sky with his pipe. However, this time, when Kenji went crashing to the ground outside near the koi pond he felt pain all over his body.

"What's happening? That shouldn't have hurt so badly," Kenji thought as he struggled to get to his feet.

Then the little gnome went flying into Kenji after forming himself into a ball, knocking him backward off of his feet and into the koi pond.

After getting out of the pond, Kenji announced, "it's hammer time!"

However, when he swung his ki hammer, he found he couldn't swing it fast enough to get airborne. Then to his surprise, he did no damage when his ki hammer struck the Happosai's head when the little gnome came flying towards him. It was so bad that he didn't even move the old man at all.

"What the…"

Then the dirty old man laughed in Kenji's face right before flicking his finger in Kenji's jaw and knocking him up into the sky.

As Kenji came back and went crashing to the ground, stunned and flat on his back, Happosai bounded towards him, landing on his barrel chest as he looked down on him.

"You feel it, don't you? That's the moxibustion that weakened you. You're as weak as a kitten right now. Here, let me show you."

At that point, the old man began to bitch slap Kenji, his little hands leaving temporary scuff marks all over his face.

As the old man continued to humiliate him, Kenji reached deep down inside for that little something extra. Then he balled up his fists, shaking them and his head violently until he built up enough energy and shoved the little gnome off of himself.

"How did you do that?! You should have been too weak to do anything much less push me away!" Happosai exclaimed as Kenji got to his feet.

"Moxibustion?!" Kasumi thought to herself as she watched the events taking place. Then she went into the area of her room where she kept her medical books.

At that point, Kenji made his way towards the old man winding his hammer albeit in a much slower fashion than he normally did.

"I don't know what this moxibustion is, but despite what you've done to me, I've gone through too many kinds of brutal training to be done in by something like this. In time, I'll simply get through this. Until then…" Kenji stated as he tossed his ki hammer at the wily old man who easily sidestepped the attack.

"Is that the best you got? Let me show you how it's done!" the old man screamed as he zipped into the muscular martial artist and struck him with his pipe, knocking him into the sky once again.

"Aaaaaaah!"

XXX

Sometime later, a phone conversation was taking place inside a building that resembled an ancient Japanese temple with sliding doors and tatami mats inside. Despite the archaic appearance of the place, there were still modern conveniences inside.

Mitsunari Tokugawa was a very short and slim old man with a bald head, as well as grey and slightly bulging eyes. He was dressed in a brown, kimono that the elders of his high-class clan normally wore.

In addition to being a billionaire and well-connected, Tokugawa was the chairman and owner of an underground fighting tournament that took place in a large round shaped forum where the most powerful fighters of the world would compete against each other in fights to the death or until one fighter could no longer continue.

Even though Tokugawa had long since retired from fighting himself, he was more than just an expert on fighting and had extensive knowledge of practically all of the martial arts and fighting styles of the world. He also knew almost all the best fighters in the world.

"What do you mean somebody defeated Yujiro Hanma? That's practically impossible!" Tokugawa exclaimed.

"It's true!" the voice on the other side of the phoneline confirmed.

"Well, who defeated Hanma?!"

"The guy's name is Kenji Tendo of Anything Goes Kempo! He's from Nerima, Tokyo where many of the martial artists are considered to be crazy!"

"I've heard of that martial art, but it's known to be a total joke! How could anyone from that school defeat the likes of Yujiro Hanma?!"

Then the voice at the other end of the line explained how things happened.

"No way!"

At that point, a man called Doppo Orochi walked in well dressed in a simple light green suit while wearing sunglasses.

Doppo Orochi was a bald, young man of above-average height, muscular bulky build and two noticeable scars on his face one on his right cheek and the other on his left near his head and ear. He was the master and founder of Shinshinkai Karate, a fighter so competent as to have defeated a Siberian tiger unarmed. In addition to being the current champion of Tokugawa's underground tournament, he was one of the best fighters on the planet.

As soon as Tokugawa noticed him, he motioned him to sit down. "Have you heard the news?" he said upon placing the phone back in the receiver.

"What news?" Doppo asked.

"A student of a no-account school of martial arts has defeated Yujiro Hanma."

"Really?"

"Yes! The kid's name is Kenji Tendo of Anything Goes," Tokugawa answered.

"Hmm," Doppo said as he furrowed his brow.

"That's right!" a voice called out.

"Who are you?!" Tokugawa exclaimed as he turned around to see a gnome sized old man regarding him, standing on the table in the center of the room.

"I'm Happosai, Grandmaster of Anything Goes! It was my student, Kenji Tendo who defeated the mighty Yujiro Hanma."

"Anything Goes is a complete joke."

"Is that so? Well, my student, Kenji Tendo beat Yujiro Hanma. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to have to face this Kenji Tendo and see what he's made of," Doppo said, cracking his knuckles.

Happosai regarded the powerful warrior. Then he smiled.

"He lives in Nerima. Here's his address." That having been said the gnome vanished.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Be here next time when Kenji has to take on some of his enemies in his weakened form.