(Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the characters and stories associated with it.)

Cologne's Story

From the last chapter: Cologne coughed twice as she leaned on her stick, "That's a pretty good analogy, Miss Tendo. When she attacked, we had no idea what hit us. By then, it was far too late to do anything about it…."

"I had just sent Mousse out to pickup some stocks for the restaurant. Shampoo was taking care of the customers and I was cooking the ramen as usual. Normally on a day like today, we would have quite a few customers, but something was different and we were a bit light today. Suddenly, I felt a chill down my back as if someone was sizing me up. I guess I wasn't that surprised when I turned around to find your ex-fiancé smiling cutely behind my back. I was about to attack her with all I had, when she smiled with complete innocence and bowed deeply to me. This I found somewhat confusing and dropped my guard as she stood back up. Unfortunately, I noticed too late the red glow behind her eyes and took the full force of her ki attack at point blank."

Ranma interrupted, "Whoa! Ki attack? Akane doesn't have any ki attacks…unless you count that damned mallet of hers."

"That's precisely what I mean, Ranma. From out of nowhere and without my senses picking it up, she not only produced largest version of that hammer I have ever seen, but she hit me square across the head as well. Before I could recover from the first attack, I was hit once again and slammed into the wall over the stove with enough force to knock most of the cooking supplies off of the shelves. How I missed getting burned, I don't know. I tried to get up from the mess, but was pinned under the debris. I wasn't trapped for long before she reached through the rubble, grabbed me around the neck, and jerked me free. I can still feel those evil red eyes glowing at me as she ordered me to give her the box. Of course I refused, but unfortunately, Shampoo picked that time to interrupt our little chat."

Tofu picked that moment to look up, "I'm sorry, elder. There isn't much I can do under these circumstances. I need to get to a phone and call an ambulance."

Cologne nodded, "Our phone was destroyed but the bakery shop right next door will have one. Tell them I sent you and they won't mind you borrowing it for an emergency call."

After Tofu had left, the old woman knelt down by Shampoo and gently stroked her hair, "Knowing what I know now, it was foolish for either of us to resist her power. The demon in her had become much too strong for either of us to challenge alone. Of course, neither of us knew that at the time and all shampoo saw was her former rival attacking me. Akane threw me roughly aside and although I was prepared for a rough landing, some loose packages of rice cushioned me enough that I could maintain my wits and observe the battle. Shampoo had produced her bonburi and was warily watching the Tendo girl. When Akane attacked with her mallet, Shampoo was able to deflect the weapon with her own. In a move I found somewhat surprising, Akane tossed the mallet aside and assumed a fighting pose. Shampoo attacked once again, but her weapons were knocked clear by Akane as she jumped up and kicked both of them free from her hands."

Ranma whistled, "She never could do that before. Even I would have a hard time knocking Shampoo's weapons down like that."

The old woman nodded, "The demon within your ex-fiancé is enhancing all of her fighting skills, as well as her senses. You had best forget any clumsy tomboyish views you had about the girl, Ranma. With that demon assisting her, she's just as dangerous and capable as any other martial artist here."

The pig-tailed martial artist glanced down at the quiet form of the young Amazon, "Shampoo is no easy target. Even if Akane is more powerful, how could she have gotten though all that Amazon training?"

"In the end, it was her own foolish pride that beat her. She couldn't believe the Tendo girl was a threat and was not using her full skills as an Amazon warrior. Instead of grabbing a knife from the stove, she assumed the other's weaponless stance as a challenge to fight hand to hand. When she leaped towards Akane, she never imagined the girl would grab her legs and swing her overhead like a sack of rice. She certainly felt the impact when her body slammed up against those wooden crates, though. Shampoo was not to be put down by a first attack and was back on her feet if a little shaky at first. This time it was the Tendo girl that moved to the offensive. I yelled at Shampoo to be careful, but as I watched them fight hand to hand, I knew Shampoo was going to loose in the end. Akane was punching with massive amounts of power that were overwhelming Shampoo's defenses. Shampoo was able to get one or two hits in, but the Tendo girl was taking them as if she was in a pillow fight. As Shampoo began to wear down, Akane became even more aggressive until finally she got the opening she was looking for. As Shampoo blocked a kick, Akane moved in with a powerful one-two combination that struck with bone crushing force directly in her chest. I was still too weak to help and watched helplessly as Shampoo crumpled to the floor. Akane reached down and grabbed her by her blouse and then called to me, 'Old woman! Tell me where the box is, or she dies right now. Tell me! Or I'll snap your Great Granddaughter's neck right here and now.'."

Nabiki gasped, "No! That isn't Akane…no way that's her. She isn't capable of killing anyone."

Ranma shook his head, "Yeah. Sure she used to smack me around, but that was because I could take it. She'd never hurt someone like that when they were down…even a rival like Shampoo."

Silent tears crept down the old woman's cheek as she gently stroked the young Amazon's hair, "I think that Shampoo would probably disagree with you now, Ranma. When your ex-fiancé demanded I tell her where the box was, all I could think of was Shampoo. In a fleeting moment, my eyes glanced over to the cabinet where I kept the Amazon treasures we had here. I thought she didn't see me do it, but I was wrong. Realizing my mistake, I quickly snapped my gaze back at the girl, only to see her laugh at me. Akane violently threw Shampoo against the food shelves next to me, causing everything to fall on top of the two of us. I was pinned under the stocks, but I heard the girl break apart the cabinet and her yell of satisfaction when she uncovered the box. It must have been about 30 minutes later before you and the good doctor arrived."

A Siren could be heard coming close and Nabiki knelt down next to the old woman, "So she has the box now. What can we do about it, Cologne."

The old woman looked over at Nabiki with tear streaked cheeks, "We need to find her Nabiki. We need to find her before it's too late. Before she can complete the spell and the demon is fully summoned. For if she does complete that spell, all of us, as well as Akane herself will be in mortal danger."

The siren sounded like it was outside the café and Ranma asked, "What do you mean she's in danger?"

The old woman sighed, "I didn't tell you this before, because I thought everything was under control. The truth is, no one has ever saved a host from a summoned demon. In all cases, the only way to send the demon back, is to kill the host, in this case, Akane."

There was a collective gasp from the room as a pair of paramedics along with Dr. Tofu worked their way through the rubble towards Shampoo. When they arrived in the room, Tofu pointed out the young Amazon and the Paramedics immediately went to work. While they worked, cologne hobbled over to Ranma and grabbed his hand in an iron grip, "You must find her Ranma! You've seen the damage she did here. It's nothing compared to the power that will be released if she completes that spell tomorrow night. You must find her before it's too late!"

Nabiki placed her hand on the old woman's shoulders, "Demon or not, she's still my little sister. Don't worry, Cologne. We're going to do everything we can to locate her."

Cologne reached out and touched Shampoo's hand as she was rolled past in the gurney. "I know you will, Miss Tendo. I'm sorry if I can't assist you right now, but I need to be with my Great Granddaughter. I promise that I will join up with you later."

As the old woman hobbled after the gurney, Nabiki turned towards Ranma, "This is beginning to get out of hand. If she has become that powerful, it's going to take more than just you to stop this from going any further."

Ranma puffed out his chest and smirked, "Hey, you know me. I always come out on top."

Nabiki moved close to Ranma and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling herself closer, "Listen, you. That may well have been true in the past, but this is different. Akane was able to take out both Cologne and Shampoo without breaking a sweat. You need to use your head and not get all macho when you confront her."

"Don't worry, Nabiki. I'll make it though this okay."

Nabiki rested her head against Ranma's chest, "This isn't me. A year ago, I could care less about what happened to you. If anything, I would have found a way to blame this on you and charge you for the trouble. Now I'm scared to death you're going to get yourself killed."

Ranma patted her softly on her head, "That's not gonna happen."

She reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek before pulling away, "I'll hold you to that, Ranma."

"Huh?"

She smirked playfully, "If you let anything happen to yourself this time, I'll have to charge you for the trouble."

"What do you-?"

She laughed a bit, "You do know I'm just kidding. Right?"

"Oh…Oh yeah. I knew it all along."

Nabiki smiled in an unusually warm way, "Alright then. What say we get out of this place before it falls on top of us?"

Ranma flashed her a smile of his own, "Sounds like a plan to me."

When they got outside, the paramedics already had Shampoo inside the ambulance, and Nodoka and Genma were just arriving as it began to pull away. As Genma took a peek inside the ruined café, Nodoka shook her head, "What happened here? Did you find Akane?"

Nabiki leaned against Ranma, "It was Akane that did this, Auntie. She tore this place apart looking for the box, and she beat the Amazons doing it. Shampoo is badly hurt, and although she isn't saying, I think Cologne took some damage as well. There was a nasty battle in there, but in the end, Akane was able to get the box."

Genma walked back over to the group, "So she's got the box now. What can we do about it?"

"Mr. Saotome, we're going to have to find it before tomorrow night. If she still has that box in her possession by then, she will complete the spell and release the demon."

Genma looked from his wife, to his son and back to Nabiki. "It's the duty of a martial artist to fight off demons and monsters. Tell me what it is you need me to do."

Ranma blinked a few times and wondered what if he was hearing right while Nodoka allowed herself the smallest of smiles as she nodded her head to Nabiki. The middle Tendo daughter raised an eyebrow for a second before answering, "You and Ranma are the best martial artists we have at the moment and I need the both of you to begin searching for her. Scour the city for every little hiding place you can find. From what I understand, she's going to be staying out of sight until tomorrow night and we must find her before then!"

Genma smirked, "That's all I need to know. Let's go, Ranma! We have a demon to catch."

As the portly martial artist took off, Ranma shook his head, "Man, I hope this wasn't a bad idea."

Nodoka chuckled softly to herself as her son and husband took off, "As bad as all of this is, it may prove to be a good thing for my dear husband."

Nabiki gave the older woman a questioning look, "I thought you were still angry with him?"

The older woman smiled, "Just because I'm angry with him doesn't mean I don't love him. He has much to atone for and this may well be his first opportunity to prove himself to me. The fact he took the initiative, says there is still a bit of the old Genma left in him."

Nabiki smirked, "If you say so, Auntie. He's your husband after all. I just hope Ranma doesn't kill him before we find Akane."

Nodoka laughed as she patted the sword she carried, "Oh, I'm sure he will be on his better behavior. We had a nice little chat about just that very thing earlier."

"I can imagine."

Nodoka smirked playfully, "You can call me 'Mom' if you wish, Nabiki."

The young woman stammered, "I-we aren't ready for that yet, Auntie. I care for him a lot, believe me I do. But we're not ready for that right now."

Nodoka smiled warmly, "Alright dearie. Just don't keep us waiting too long for you two to decide."

"Don't worry. When we make that decision, you will be one of the first to know."

The older woman smiled again, "So, my someday in the future daughter in law. Where do we go now?"

Nabiki shook her head as she smiled, "We need to gather reinforcements."

"Oh? You have someone in mind?"

"I have a few, actually. Our first stop will be the Kuno Estate."